Douglas Chalmers (British Army officer)

Chalmers was born on 26 February 1966 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.[1] He was educated at Reddam House, an Independent school in Berkshire, England.[2] In later life, he completed an MA from the United States Army's School of Advanced Military Studies and an MPhil from Trinity Hall, Cambridge.[1]

After serving for 18 months as a soldier, he was commissioned into the Royal Irish Rangers in October 1986.[3] He became commanding officer of 2nd Battalion Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment in July 2007 and, in that role, was deployed to Helmand Province.[2] He went on to become commander of 12th Mechanized Brigade in October 2011 and was deployed as commander of Task Force Helmand in April 2012.[2][4] After that he became the Chief of the Defence Staff's Liaison Officer to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in October 2013 and Assistant Chief of Staff (Operations) at Permanent Joint Headquarters in August 2014.[2] He was deployed on Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq in September 2015[5] and became Deputy Commanding General-Support, III Corps and Fort Hood in August 2016.[2] Chalmers received the Commander First Class in the Order of the Dannebrog from the Queen of Denmark in May 2018.[6] He was promoted to Lieutenant-General and was appointed Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Military Strategy & Operations) on 18 June 2018.[7][8]