Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

David Alan Cranston,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 20 October 1945) is a retired senior

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer. He was Director General of the National Association of Pension Funds from 2000 to 2001.

Education

David Cranston was educated at

Strathallan School Strathallan School is a private boarding and day school in Scotland for boys and girls aged 5-18. The school has a campus at Forgandenny, a few miles south of Perth. School roll The school has 73 full-time staff, and 18 part-time staff. It h ...

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

and the

Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town o ...

Army

Following graduation Cranston was promoted from officer cadet to 2nd lieutenant with the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

on 29 July 1966. He was promoted to lieutenant on 29 January 1968, captain on 29 July 1972, and major on 31 December 1977. Cranston transferred from the Royal Artillery to the Army Air Corps on 1 January 1979. In 1983 Cranston served as Chief of Staff at the headquarters of British Forces in

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

. On 30 June 1984 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. From 1984 to 1986 he was based at

Royal Military College of Science The Royal Military College of Science (RMCS) was a British postgraduate school, research institution and training provider with origins dating back to 1772. It became part of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in 2009, and ceased to exis ...

Shrivenham Shrivenham is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Faringdon. The village is close to the county boundary with Wiltshire and about east-northeast of the centre of Swindon. The 201 ...

. In 1986 he was appointed Commander of 4 Regiment, Air Army Corps and in 1988 Chief of Staff of the 2nd Infantry Division. On 31 December 1990 he was promoted to brigadier. From 1990 to 1992 he was Commander of British Army Aviation in Germany. In 1992 he was appointed Deputy, Head of Mission of the European Union Monitoring Mission to the former Yugoslavia. On 12 June 1993 he was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

. From 1994 to 1995 Cranston was Deputy Commander of the Multinational Airmobile Division based in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He retired from the Army on 14 May 1995.

Executive appointments

* Head of Member Relations, Personal Investment Authority, 1995–1997. * Head of Group Compliance,

The Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Scotland has around ...

, 1997–2000. * Director General of the National Association of Pension Funds, 2000–2001. * Non-Executive Director, Voller Energy Group Plc, 2005–2009. * Non-Executive Director,

Skandia Skandia is a Swedish financial services corporation that provides insurance, banking and asset management services. Between 2006 and 2015, the financial group underwent major changes. From an insurance company with the main emphasis on non-l ...

UK, 2002–2008. * Non-Executive Director,

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

, 2001–2010. * Member of the executive board,

British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA; ) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It represents the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), but also incorporate represen ...

, 2007–2010. * Chairman, British Biathlon Union, 1996–2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cranston, David 1945 births Military personnel of the Yugoslav Wars British Army brigadiers Living people People educated at Strathallan School Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Royal Artillery officers British Army Air Corps officers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Scottish chief executives British corporate directors 20th-century British Army personnel