Newcastle University

For many years the predominantly popular view of British generals during the First World War was that they were donkeys leading lions to their almost certain deaths in a war of absolute futility. Some commentators continue to apply such a judgement to more recent wars. In this lecture the Vice-Chief of Defence challenges such a judgement, arguing that the true complexities of strategic decision making and military operations are very often the casualties of populist viewpoints.

General Sir Nick Houghton was born in 1954 in Otley, West Yorkshire. He was educated at Woodhouse Grove School in Bradford, RMA Sandhurst and St Peter's College, University of Oxford, where he did an in-service degree in modern history.

Commissioned into the Green Howards in 1974, he had a variety of Regimental and Staff appointments before attending the Army Command and Staff Course at both Shrivenham and Camberley. Thereafter, he was Military Assistant to the Chief of Staff British Army of the Rhine and a member of the Directing Staff at the Royal Military College of Science, Shrivenham.

At Regimental Duty, General Houghton was a Company Commander in, and Commanding Officer of, 1st Bn The Green Howards in the Mechanised and Airmobile roles, and in Northern Ireland. He was Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff, G3 (Operations and Deployment) in HQ Land Command 1994–1997 and attended the Higher Command and Staff Course in 1997.

He commanded 39 Infantry Brigade in Northern Ireland from 1997 to 1999 and was the Director of Military Operations in the Ministry of Defence from December 1999 to July 2002. He was Chief of Staff of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps from July 2002 to April 2004, before becoming the Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Operations) from May 2004 to October 2005.

Most recently, General Houghton was the Senior British Military Representative Iraq and Deputy Commanding General of the Multi-National Force-Iraq from October 2005 until March 2006 when he assumed the appointment of Chief of Joint Operations at PJHQ (UK). He became VCDS in May 2009.