General Sir Patrick Nicholas Yardley Monrad Sanders, (born 6 April 1966) is a senior British Army officer serving as Chief of the General Staff since June 2022.

Early life and education

Sanders was born on 6 April 1966 in Tidworth, Wiltshire, England. He was educated at

Worth School Worth may refer to: Places In the United States: *Worth, Georgia *Worth County, Georgia *Worth, Illinois *Worth Township, Cook County, Illinois *Worth Township, Woodford County, Illinois *Worth Township, Indiana *Worth Township, Michigan *Worth, ...

, then an all-boys independent

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

attached to the Benedictine Worth Abbey. He studied at the University of Exeter, and

Cranfield University , mottoeng = After clouds light , established = 1946 - College of Aeronautics 1969 - Cranfield Institute of Technology (gained university status by royal charter) 1993 - Cranfield University (adopted current name) , type = Public research uni ...

Military career

Sanders was commissioned into the Royal Green Jackets on 23 September 1984. He served as a junior officer in Northern Ireland during the Troubles and then undertook tours in Kosovo in 1999 and in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2001. He became Chief of Staff of 1st Mechanised Brigade in 2002 and then became commanding officer of 2nd Battalion the Royal Green Jackets in 2005. In the latter role he managed the transition of his battalion to become 4th Battalion The Rifles and then saw action with his battalion at the

siege of UK bases in Basra The Battle of Basra was initiated by the Mahdi Army to capture the city of Basra in 2007. Following the reported major failure of the coalition forces, whose purpose was to stabilise Basra and prepare it for the turning over of security to Ir ...

in 2007 during the Iraq War. On 25 July 2008, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Iraq during the period 1st October 2007 to 31st March 2008". Sanders became commander of

20th Armoured Brigade The 20th Armoured Brigade Combat Team, previously the 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade, is an armoured infantry brigade formation of the British Army, currently headquartered at Wing Barracks, Bulford, Wiltshire, as part of the 3rd (United Kingdo ...

in August 2009, in which role he was deployed to command

Task Force Helmand Task Force Helmand was the name given to a military unit of the International Security Assistance Force in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Task Force Helmand was part of Regional Command Southwest and consisted primarily of personnel from the Briti ...

in Afghanistan in October 2011. On 28 September 2012, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Afghanistan during the period 1 October 2011 to 31 March 2012". He served as Chief of the Defence Staff's Liaison Officer to the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2012 and

Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Operations) The Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (ACDS) is a senior British military officer. There are a number of ACDS appointments and they are held by officers of two-star rank (rear admiral, air vice-marshal, or major general). They work in the Minis ...

in March 2013. In 2014, he took part in the Prime Minister's Cobra meetings on the floods crisis.

General officer

Sanders took over command of the

3rd (United Kingdom) Division The 3rd (United Kingdom) Division is a regular army division of the British Army. It was created in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, for service in the Peninsular War, and was known as the ...

in April 2015. In December 2016, he was appointed Commander Field Army and promoted to lieutenant general. Sanders was appointed Colonel Commandant and President of the Honourable Artillery Company on 31 January 2019, in succession to General Sir Richard Barrons. Sanders was promoted to full general on 6 May 2019 and appointed as Commander

Joint Forces Command The United Kingdom's Strategic Command (StratCom), previously known as Joint Forces Command (JFC), manages allocated joint capabilities from the three armed services. History Background In August 2010 the then Defence Secretary, Liam Fox, as ...

. Joint Forces Command was renamed as Strategic Command on 9 December 2019. Sanders was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the

2020 New Year Honours The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...

. He was the preferred candidate of the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

to succeed General Sir Nick Carter as Chief of the Defence Staff in 2021, due to his expertise in cyber capability, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson picked Admiral Sir Tony Radakin instead. Following an announcement in February 2022, Sanders became Chief of the General Staff in June 2022. On 7 June 2022, Sanders took the decision to cancel an overseas deployment by

3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment The 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment (3 PARA), is a battalion sized formation of the British Army's Parachute Regiment and is a subordinate unit within 16 Air Assault Brigade. Roled as an Airborne light infantry unit, the battalion is capable ...

, after a number of incidents which demonstrated a poor standard of discipline in the battalion. The minister, James Heappey, was said to be "sorry and embarrassed" by the "disgraceful" behaviour. On 16 June 2022, Sanders told British soldiers they are the generation that must prepare "to fight in Europe once again" as the conflict in Ukraine continues. He wrote how "There is now a burning imperative to forge an Army capable of fighting alongside our allies and defeating Russia in battle."

References

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Patrick 1966 births Alumni of Cranfield University Alumni of the University of Exeter British Army generals British Army personnel of the Iraq War British Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Living people Military personnel from Wiltshire People educated at Worth School