Field Marshal Richard Frederick Vincent, Baron Vincent of Coleshill, (23 August 1931 – 8 September 2018) was a British Army officer. After serving with British Army of the Rhine he served with the Commonwealth Brigade in Malaysia during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. He commanded 12th Light Air Defence Regiment in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, and later commanded 19th Airportable Brigade. Although he never served as one of the individual service heads, he went on to be Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff in the late 1980s and then Chief of the Defence Staff in the aftermath of the Gulf War. He subsequently became Chair of the Military Committee of NATO in the mid-1990s. Military career Vincent was born in Uxbridge, the son of Frederick Vincent and Francis Elizabeth Vincent (née Coleshill). He was educated at Aldenham School in Hertfordshire. Vincent joined the British Army, initially in the ranks, but after attending Mons Officer Cadet School, he was commissioned as a National Service officer with the rank of second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery on 7 July 1951. He served with the British Army of the Rhine for the first few years, securing a short service commission in the Regular Army on 16 February 1953. Promoted to lieutenant on 13 March 1953 and to captain on 23 August 1958, he became a gunnery staff officer in 1959. He was seconded to the Radar Research Establishment in Malvern in 1960 and returned to the British Army of the Rhine as a troop commander in 1962. He attended the technical staff course at the Royal Military College of Science at Shrivenham in 1963 and attended Staff College, Camberley in 1965, following which he was promoted to major on 23 August 1965 and deployed with the Commonwealth Brigade to Malaysia during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. Vincent was appointed to a staff officer role at Department of the Master-General of the Ordnance at the Ministry of Defence in 1968 after which he became commanding officer of the 12th Light Air Defence Regiment on 27 February 1970 with promotion to lieutenant colonel on 30 June 1970. He commanded the Regiment in Germany and in Northern Ireland during the Troubles for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He returned to Camberley as an instructor there in August 1972 and then attended the Administrative Staff College at Henley late