General David Julian Richards, Baron Richards of Herstmonceux, (born 4 March 1952) is a retired senior British Army officer who was formerly the Chief of the Defence Staff, the professional head of the British Armed Forces. He succeeded Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup in this role on 29 October 2010. Richards served in the Far East, Germany and Northern Ireland with the Royal Artillery before commanding forces in East Timor and most notably Sierra Leone, where his action without official sanctioning protected Freetown from rebel attacks during the Sierra Leone Civil War. Richards has also served with NATO as a major general, and as a lieutenant general he commanded the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan between 2006 and 2007 during its expansion across the whole country. Richards became Commander-in-Chief, Land Forces of the British Army in 2008 and held this role until 2009 when he was appointed Chief of the General Staff, the head of the British Army. He was appointed as Chief of the Defence Staff the following year. He was succeeded by General Sir Nicholas Houghton on 18 July 2013. In 2014, Richards was created a Life Peer taking the title Baron Richards of Herstmonceux. He sits in the House of Lords as a crossbencher. In December 2015, it was announced that he had joined the global advisory board of asset management firm CQS. He has also worked as an advisor to the government of the United Arab Emirates and US-based arms company DynCorp. Early life Richards was born on 4 March 1952 to John Downie Richards and Pamela Mary Richards (née Reeves). Having been born at Fayid in Egypt where his father was an officer in the Royal Army Pay Corps, the family later moved to Devizes in Wiltshire and Cyprus before settling near Herstmonceux, East Sussex. He attended Eastbourne College, and was commissioned into the Royal Artillery as a second lieutenant in 1971. Posted to 29th Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, he passed the Commando course at the Commando Training Centre at Lympstone before deployment to Singapore. He then attended University College, Cardiff, graduating in 1974 with a degree in international relations. Army career Richards served with the Royal Artillery in the Far East, Germany and the United Kingdom, including three tours in Northern Ireland, and served on the staff of the 11th Armoured Brigade in Germany. He was promoted lieutenant in 1974, and captain