Deputy Supreme Allied Command Europe (DSACEUR)

2004-2007

General Sir John Reith KCB CBE

General Sir John Reith was commissioned into The Parachute Regiment in 1969.

Early appointments included; Chief of Staff of 20 Armoured Brigade, Detmold, West Germany, 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment as a company commander, tours of Northern Ireland and command of 1st Battalion The Parachute Regiment.

He was appointed Chief of Staff 1(UK) Armoured Division in Verden, West Germany in 1988 and deployed to the Gulf for Operation GRANBY 1990/91. Upon return he undertook a study on the future management structure for the Army in Germany. After attending the Higher Command and Staff Course in early 1992, he assumed command of the 4th Armoured Brigade, initially at Munster and subsequently at Osnabruck.

During the Headquarters’ deployment to the Former Republic of Yugoslavia, he was Commander British Forces and subsequently Commander UN Sector Southwest and supervised the separation of Croat and Muslim forces in what became the Washington Agreement. In July 1994 he moved to the MOD; he was appointed Director International Organisations and then Director Military Operations in July 1995.

On 1 July 1997 he assumed the appointment of Commander Allied Command Europe Mobile Force (Land); 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 MOD central staff.

In August 2001, he was appointed Chief of Joint Operations at the Permanent Joint Headquarters, Northwood. 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.

In October 2004 General Reith assumed the appointment of Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe.