General Sir Christopher Michael Deverell, KCB, MBE (known as Chris), is a retired British Army officer who served as Commander of the UK's Joint Forces Command and member of the UK Chiefs of Staff Committee from April 2016 to May 2019.
Sir Christopher Deverell | |
|---|---|
 Deverell in 2016 | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1979–2019 |
| Rank | General |
| Commands | Joint Forces Command 4th Armoured Brigade Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiation and Nuclear Regiment |
| Battles / wars | The Troubles Iraq War |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Member of the Order of the British Empire |
Early life and education
editDeverell was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire.[1] He studied philosophy, politics and economics at Mansfield College, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1982.[2] He was subsequently admitted to the Degree of Master of Arts (MA), and became an Honorary Fellow of Mansfield College in 2022.[3]
Military career
edit
Deverell was commissioned into the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment in 1979.[1] He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1991 Birthday Honours,[4] and went on to command the Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment.[1] He commanded 4th Armoured Brigade in Iraq (Basra and Maysan Governorates) and Germany (Osnabrück and Münster) from January 2005.[1]
He was a Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Defence George Robertson, and later Geoff Hoon, from 1997 to 2000.[5]
Deverell became Director Equipment Capability (Ground Manoeuvre) from April 2007[6] and was made Director General Logistics Support and Equipment at HQ Land Forces in December 2008.[7] He became Chief of Materiel (Land) and Quartermaster General from May 2012.[8] Appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2015 New Year Honours,[9][10] Deverell was promoted to general on 5 April 2016 on appointment as Commander of Joint Forces Command.[11][12] He was appointed as an Aide-de-Camp General to The Queen on the same date.[13] He retired from the British Army in September 2019.[14]
Later career
editIn 2019, Deverell founded an Innovation, Strategy and Leadership Consultancy, called Deverell Innovation Ventures.[15] Amongst other roles, he is a Mentor for the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL)[16] at Saïd Business School, and an External Member of the Council of the University of Oxford.[5] He was a member of the Commission for Smart Government in 2020.[17]
In September 2020, he wrote a The Daily Telegraph article advocating radical innovation at the Ministry of Defence, including spending 10% of budgets on digital innovation and the creation of a Chief Digital Officer.[18] He has since continued to comment occasionally on Defence matters, including about the conflict in Ukraine.[19][20][21][22]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Major General Chris Deverell, Director General Logistics Support and Equipment at HQ Land Forces Speaks at International Armoured Vehicles this February". International Armoured Vehicles. 21 January 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
- ^ "Deverell, Gen. Sir Christopher". Who's Who 2020. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2019. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U262555. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4.
- ^ "Honorary Fellows". Mansfield College. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ "No. 52563". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 1991. p. 6.
- ^ a b "Sir Chris Deverell". University of Oxford. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
- ^ "House of Commons – Public Accounts Committee – Written Evidence". Retrieved 29 January 2016.
- ^ Ministry of Defence: Senior Responsible Owner House of Lords, 14 January 2009
- ^ Defence View points June 2011
- ^ "No. 61092". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2014. p. N2.
- ^ "New Year Honours for service personnel and defence civilians 2015". Retrieved 31 December 2014.
- ^ "No. 61545". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 April 2016. p. 7739.
- ^ "The Secretary of State announces new Senior Appointments in the Armed Services". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
- ^ "No. 61656". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 July 2016. p. 16081.
- ^ Deverell, Sir Chris (9 May 2019). "Well, career 2.0, here we go!". @chris_deverell. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
- ^ "Deverell Innovation Ventures". Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ "Mentors at Creative Destruction Lab - Oxford". Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ "Members of the Commission for Smart Government". Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ Sir Chris Deverell (7 September 2020). "Only by innovating will MoD cut the 'Gordian knot' of too many threats and too little money". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
- ^ "What Putin believes". @chris_deverell. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ "Deterrence and Ukraine". @chris_deverell. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ "A road to peace?". @chris_deverell. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ "We must do more for Ukraine". @chris_deverell. Retrieved 18 April 2022.