Vice Admiral Duncan Laurence Potts, (born 10 March 1961) is a retired senior

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer. He served as Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Capability) and

Controller of the Navy The post of Controller of the Navy (abbreviated as CofN) was originally created in 1859 when the Surveyor of the Navy's title changed to Controller of the Navy. In 1869 the controller's office was abolished and its duties were assumed by that of ...

from 2013 to 2014, and as Director General of the

Defence Academy of the United Kingdom The Defence Academy of the United Kingdom provides higher education for personnel in the British Armed Forces, Civil Service, other government departments and service personnel from other nations. The Director General of the Defence Academy is ...

from September 2014 to 2018.

Early life

Potts was born on 10 March 1961 in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. He was educated at Wellington School in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

Military career

Potts joined the

in 1979. He became

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

in 1996, commanding officer of the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

in 1997 and a member of the policy and programmes cell at the

Permanent Joint Headquarters The Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) is the British tri-service headquarters from where all overseas military operations are planned and controlled. It is situated at Northwood Headquarters in Northwood, London. The Permanent Joint Headquar ...

in 1998 before becoming Commander Sea Training to the Flag Officer Sea Training in 1999. He was appointed commanding officer of the frigate as well as captain of the 4th Frigate Squadron in 2000 and deployed to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. Potts went on to be Captain Navy Plans and then military assistant to the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff at the Ministry of Defence. He was appointed commander of the

Commander United Kingdom Task Group The Commander United Kingdom Task Group (COMUKTG ) was a senior Royal Navy operational appointment from April 1992 to March 2015. In March 2015 the post was renamed Commander Amphibious Task Group. History In April 1992, the Royal Navy re-designa ...

in 2007 (in which role he was deployed to the Gulf) and Assistant Chief of Staff (Crisis and Deliberate Planning) at Permanent Joint Headquarters in 2009. He became

Commander United Kingdom Maritime Forces Commander United Kingdom Strike Force (COMUKSTRKFOR or CSF) and Rear Admiral Surface Ships (RASS) is a senior post in the Royal Navy. The post is the highest seagoing command in the Royal Navy. Its role is to direct UK, Allied or Coalition mar ...

in January 2011 (deployed as commander of EU maritime operations off

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

from August 2011) and Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Capability) and

in April 2013. Potts was appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

in the 2014 Birthday Honours, and made director general of Joint Force Development and director general of the

, with the rank of vice admiral, on 19 September that year.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Potts, Duncan 1961 births Companions of the Order of the Bath Living people People educated at Wellington School, Somerset Royal Navy vice admirals Royal Navy personnel of the Iraq War