Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) 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 ...

Richard Edward Nugee, CB, CVO,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born 3 June 1963) is a retired senior

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer. He served in several senior roles including Defence Services Secretary (2015–2016) and Chief of Defence People (2016–2020), before ending his career leading a review into

climate change policy The politics of climate change results from different perspectives on how to respond to climate change. Global warming is driven largely by the emissions of greenhouse gases due to human economic activity, especially the burning of fossil fuels ...

in the Ministry of Defence between March 2020 and May 2021.

Early life and education

Nugee was born on 3 June 1963 in Hampstead, England. He is the son of Edward Nugee, a notable barrister, and his wife Rachel, a Bletchley codebreaker and active

lay Lay may refer to: Places *Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada *Lay, Loire, a French commune *Lay (river), France *Lay, Iran, a village *Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community People * Lay (surname) * ...

Anglican. He was educated at

Radley College Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley, is a public school (independent boarding school for boys) near Radley, Oxfordshire, England, which was founded in 1847. The school covers including playing fields, a golf course, a lake, an ...

, an all-boys public school near

Radley Radley is a village and civil parish about northeast of the centre of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Lower Radley on the River Thames. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfor ...

, Oxfordshire. He studied anthropology at Durham University, where he was a member of Grey College, and graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

(BA) degree in 1985. He later studied military affairs at King's College London, and completed a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

(MA) degree in 1995.

Military career

Nugee was commissioned into the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1985. He became commanding officer of 40th Regiment Royal Artillery in 2003 and was deployed to

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

in that role. 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, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

, he was deployed with Headquarters Allied Rapid Reaction Corps to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

in 2006. He went on to be Director of Manning (Army) in March 2009, Director General of Army Personnel in June 2012 and Chief of Staff (Operations) in October 2013: in the latter role he was deployed as Chief of Staff, Combined Force Command, Afghanistan in November 2013. He was appointed Defence Services Secretary and Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Personnel) in March 2015. Nugee was awarded the US Legion of Merit in the Degree of Officer on 18 March 2016 for services in Afghanistan. Nugee was promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) 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 ...

on 29 April 2016. On 12 May 2016, it was announced that Nugee would become the next Chief of the Defence People. Nugee handed over to then Major-General James Swift in February 2020. Since March 2020, he has led a review into climate change policy and sustainability in the Ministry of Defence. Nugee retired from the army on 12 May 2021. Nugee was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the

2012 New Year Honours 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, a

Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

(CVO) on 25 October 2016 and a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 2020 New Year Honours.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nugee, Richard 1963 births Alumni of King's College London British Army generals British Army personnel of the Iraq War British Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Companions of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit Living people People educated at Radley College Royal Artillery officers Military personnel from London Alumni of Grey College, Durham