David Leakey

Lieutenant-General Arundell David Leakey CMG, CBE
Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 February 2011
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Sir Freddie Viggers
Personal details
Born	18 May 1952 (1952-05-18) United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Alma mater	University of Cambridge, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom European Union
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1971–2010
Rank	Lieutenant-General
Commands	European Union Military Staff
Battles/wars	EUFOR Althea (Bosnia and Hercegovina)
Awards	Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Lieutenant-General Arundell David Leakey CMG, CBE (born 1952) is a former British military commander. He was Director General of the European Union Military Staff in the Council of the European Union, Brussels. In 2010 he was appointed Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod.

Army career

Educated at Sherborne School, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge (where he read law) and the Royal Military College Sandhurst, Leakey was commissioned into the Royal Tank Regiment as a Second Lieutenant in 1971. He served in the UK, Northern Ireland, Germany, Bosnia and in Canada in armoured vehicles and in tanks (Chieftain and Challenger).

After a tour at Staff College, Camberley in 1984, he was appointed Chief of Staff at 7th Armoured Brigade (Germany), Military Assistant to the Chief of the Defence Staff and then Commanding Officer of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment. He went on to be Colonel Military Operations in the Ministry of Defence with responsibility for Operations Planning and Policy affecting Eastern and Western Europe in 1993 (in which capacity he was the UK Military Representative at the Bosnia peace negotiations in Dayton), Commander of 20th Armoured Brigade in Germany in 1996 (in which role he was deployed to Bosnia) and Director of Military Operations in the Ministry of Defence in 1997.

After that he became Chief of Staff at Headquarters Northern Ireland in 2001, Director General Army Training and Recruiting in 2002 and Commander of EUFOR Althea, the European Union peacekeeping force, which replaced the NATO-led SFOR in Bosnia and Hercegovina in December 2004. In 2007 he became Director General of the European Union Military Staff in Brussels a post he held until 2010.

He was Colonel Commandant of the Royal Tank Regiment 2006 - 2010 and previously Deputy Colonel Commandant since 1999. He is Honorary Colonel of the Dorset Yeomanry, and Colonel of Cadet Force Music.

He was appointed as Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod in the House of Lords from 1 February 2011.

Personal information

He is a Governor of the National Children's Orchestra, plays the piano and sings very amateurly. He is married with two sons. He enjoys playing squash, tennis, golf, most field sports, chain sawing and classical music.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• David Leakey speaks to BBC Hardtalk on his mission in Bosnia and Hercegovina

Government offices
Preceded by Sir Freddie Viggers	Black Rod 2011–	Succeeded by incumbent