John Reith

General Sir John George Reith KCB, CBE (born 17 November 1948) is a retired British Army general officer who was the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR) with Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) from October 2004 to October 2007.

Reith was born on 17 November 1948 in Northumberland, and attended Eliots Green Grammar School (merged with Vincent Secondary Modern School to become Northolt High School in 1974) on Eastcote Lane in Northolt.

Reith was commissioned into The Parachute Regiment on 19 December 1969. He was promoted to lieutenant on 19 June 1971 and to captain on 19 December 1975. He was further promoted to major on 30 September 1980, lieutenant-colonel on 30 June 1985 and to colonel on 30 June 1989. Early appointments included 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment as a company commander, tours of Northern Ireland, (for which he was mentioned in despatches on 11 November 1986) command of 1st Battalion The Parachute Regiment, and Chief of Staff of the 20 Armoured Brigade, Detmold, West Germany. He was promoted to brigadier on 31 December 1991 (seniority 30 June).

On 1 July 1997 he assumed the appointment of Commander Allied Command Europe Mobile Force (Land), with the rank of major-general; during this tour he commanded AFOR, the NATO-led multinational deployment to Albania to help resolve the Kosovo refugee crisis. He also negotiated the undertaking by the KLA to disarm during the closing stages of the crisis. In January 2000 he assumed the post of Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Policy) in the Ministry of Defence central staff.

In August 2001, he was appointed Chief of Joint Operations at the Permanent Joint Headquarters, Northwood, and was promoted to lieutenant-general on 6 August. During this 3 year appointment, he was the UK joint commander for all world wide UK overseas operations including Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans and Sierra Leone. Reith gave evidence to the Iraq Inquiry on 15 January 2010 regarding this role.

Promoted to the acting rank of general in 2003, on 1 October 2004, Reith assumed the appointment of Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, and was promoted to the substantive rank of general.He retired from this post in October 2007, and retired from the army the following 4 March.

Reith was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 31 October 1989 for service in Northern Ireland, and advanced to Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1991 Birthday Honours list. For his service in Yugoslavia, Reith was awarded the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service on 22 November 1994. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 2000, and was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 31 October 2003 for services during the invasion of Iraq.

Other

He is the chairman of the board of governors of Millfield School in Somerset.