General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

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

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 and former

Chief of Defence Materiel The Chief Executive Officer of Defence Equipment and Support, formerly the Chief of Defence Materiel, is a senior post in the UK Ministry of Defence created in April 2007. It merges the roles of Chief of Defence Procurement and Chief of Defence Log ...

. He retired from the service in December 2010, being succeeded as Chief of Defence Materiel by

Bernard Gray Sir Bernard Peter Gray (born 6 September 1960 in Redhill, Surrey) is a British businessman, journalist, and former government worker. Education Gray read chemistry at the University of Oxford. Career Gray worked for five years in investment b ...

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. On 1 Oct ...

. 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 a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

(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 cadets during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by members of University Royal Naval Units, University Officer Training Corps and University Air ...

. 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 There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility located a ...

. 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 academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of ...

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

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

before being posted to 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 ...

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 adm ...

to the

Chief of the General staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (United States) * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Afg ...

. O'Donoghue returned to Germany as Officer Commanding 4 Field Squadron RE (21 Engineer Regiment) in support of

7th Armoured Brigade 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...

. 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 (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) 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 about from Cape Dubouzet ...

. 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 p ...

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, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

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 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, the f ...

in Rome, before moving to

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

to become the Director of staff Operations. He was promoted to

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

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 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 ...

and became the UK Military Representative to NATO, the EU and

WEU The Western European Union (WEU; french: Union de l'Europe occidentale, UEO; german: Westeuropäische Union, WEU) was the international organisation and military alliance that succeeded the Western Union (WU) after the 1954 amendment of the 1948 ...

. 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 The Chief Royal Engineer (CRE) is the official head of the Corps of Royal Engineers of the British Army. Origin and development Before the English Restoration a Chief Engineer was a pay grade and not defined. In 1660 King Charles II appointed S ...

. 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 George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

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 ...

, and became

Chief of Defence Logistics The Chief of Defence Logistics was a senior post in the British armed forces. As of 1 April 2007 the Defence Logistics Organisation was merged with the Defence Procurement Agency to form a new organisation called Defence Equipment and Support. This ...

on 1 January. When the

Defence Logistics Organisation The Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO) was a key element of the UK Ministry of Defence, responsible for supporting the armed forces throughout the various stages of an operation or exercise; from training, deployment, in-theatre training and ...

merged with the

Defence Procurement Agency The Defence Procurement Agency (DPA), was an Executive Agency of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence responsible for the acquisition of materiel, equipment and services, for the British armed forces. Led by the Chief of Defence Procurement, ...

on 2 April 2007, he became the first

. 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 SSAFA – the Armed Forces charity, the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association, is a UK charity that provides lifelong support to serving men and women and veterans from the British Armed Forces and their families or dependents. Anyone ...

. He has served as the

Gentleman Usher to the Sword of State The Gentleman Usher to the Sword of State is an officer of the British Royal Household. He is responsible for bearing the Sword of State before the monarch on ceremonial occasions. However, the Gentleman Usher was removed from the procession at th ...

, 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 Dog walking is the act of a person walking with a dog, typically from the dog's residence and then returning. Leashes are commonly used for this. Both owners and pets receive many benefits, including exercise and companionship. Description ...

, reading

military history Military history is the study of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to local and international relationships. Professional historians norma ...

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