General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir Kevin O'Donoghue, (born 9 December 1947) is a retired

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer and former Chief of Defence Materiel. He retired from the service in December 2010, being succeeded as Chief of Defence Materiel by Bernard Gray.

Early life

O'Donoghue was born on 9 December 1947, to Phillip James O'Donoghue and Winifred Mary O'Donoghue. He studied at

University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) was a university based in the centre of the city of Manchester in England. It specialised in technical and scientific subjects and was a major centre for Research univer ...

. He graduated in 1971 with a first-class Bachelor of Science.

Military career

O'Donoghue joined the Territorial Army in 1968. He was commissioned in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

as a second lieutenant (on probation) on 10 October 1968. He was attending university and had previously been an

officer cadet Officer cadet is a rank held by military personnel during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by personnel of University Service Units such as the University Officers' Training Corps. Th ...

. In 1971, after approximately two years as a troop commander in 75 Engineer Regiment, he converted to a Regular Commission and spent the next 5 years in the

British Army of the Rhine British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was the name given to British Army occupation forces in the Rhineland, West Germany, after the First and Second World Wars, and during the Cold War, becoming part of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) tasked ...

. In 1976, O'Donoghue moved to the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

as an instructor. He then attended the Canadian Forces' Command and staff Course in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

before being posted to the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

Military Assistant A military assistant is sub-specialty of secretarial duties in the British Armed Forces and many of those derived from them, is an officer appointed to the personal office of a general officer. Whilst aides de camp (ADCs) are responsible for ad ...

to the Chief of the General staff. O'Donoghue returned to Germany as Officer Commanding 4 Field Squadron RE (21 Engineer Regiment) in support of 7th Armoured Brigade. During this time he was instrumental in the development and introduction of the mini minefield defence concept. On promotion he returned to the UK and became a member of the Directing staff for the Army staff Course. Command of 25 Engineer Regiment included a deployment to the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

. He then attended the

Higher Command and Staff Course The Higher Command and Staff Course is a staff course for senior military officers of the United Kingdom armed forces and allies. It is taught at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. The course is ...

in 1990 and was promoted to

brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

and assumed the appointment of Commander Corps Royal Engineers 1 (British) Corps (which became Chief Engineer Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps) and Commander Hameln Garrison. In 1993 O'Donoghue attended the

NATO Defence College NATO Defense College (NDC) is the international military college for NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries. It is located in Rome, Italy. History The idea of a NATO Defense College originated with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, t ...

in Rome, before moving to

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe The Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) is the military headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) that commands all NATO operations worldwide. SHAPE is situated in the villag ...

to become the Director of staff Operations. He was promoted to major general in April 1996 on appointment as Chief of staff, Headquarters Quartermaster General, following which he moved to the Ministry of Defence to become the Assistant Chief of the General staff. O'Donoghue was promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

and became the UK Military Representative to NATO, the EU and WEU. He then served as Deputy Chief of the Defence staff (Health), responsible for the Defence Medical Services, from 2002 to 2004. On 10 May 2004, he was appointed to the honorary role of Chief Royal Engineer. His tenure ended on 10 May 2009. O'Donoghue was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

in the

2005 New Year Honours New Year Honours were granted in the United Kingdom and New Zealand at the start of 2005. Among these in the UK were knighthoods awarded to Mike Tomlinson, the educationalist; Derek Wanless, who led a review of the National Health Service; ...

, and became Chief of Defence Logistics on 1 January. When the Defence Logistics Organisation merged with the Defence Procurement Agency on 2 April 2007, he became the first Chief of Defence Materiel. He was appointed Honorary Colonel Commandant of the

Royal Logistic Corps The Royal Logistic Corps provides logistic support functions to the British Army. It is the largest Corps in the Army. History The Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) was formed on 5 April 1993, by the union of five British Army corps: * Royal Engine ...

on 1 February 2007, and to the honorary role of Master General of Logistics on 1 June 2009. He was the first to hold this appointment. His tenured ended on 1 June 2012. O'Donoghue relinquished the post of Chief of Defence Materiel in December 2010,MoD website: Bernard Gray appointed Chief of Defence Materiel
/ref> and officially retired from the

on 19 March 2011.

Later life

From 2010 to 2017, O'Donoghue was Chairman of SSAFA. He has served as the Gentleman Usher to the Sword of State, an officer of the Royal Household, since 2013.

Personal life

O'Donoghue has a wife named Jean and together they have three daughters. His hobbies include dog walking, reading

military history Military history is the study of War, armed conflict in the Human history, history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to Politics, local and international relationship ...

and gardening.

References

External links

Biography at UK MoD website
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Odonoghue, Kevin 1947 births British Army generals Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Living people Royal Engineers officers Alumni of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology 20th-century British Army personnel 21st-century British Army personnel British military personnel of The Troubles (Northern Ireland)