Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Seán Clancy is an

Irish Air Corps The Air Corps () is the air force of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Organisationally a military branch of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Defence Forces of Ireland, the Air Corps utilises a fleet of fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft to carry out ...

general and current

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

of the

Irish Defence Forces The Defence Forces (, officially styled ) derives its origins from the Irish Volunteers. Whilst the Irish for ''Defence Forces'' is , as Ó Cearúil (1999) points out, the Defence Forces are officially styled . is used in other contexts (e.g. ...

since 29 September 2021. On 15 May 2024 it was announced that he would be the next

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

of the

European Union Military Committee The Military Committee of the European Union (EUMC) is the body of the European Union's (EU) Common Security and Defence Policy that is composed of Member state of the European Union, member states' Chief of Defence, Chiefs of Defence (CHOD). Thes ...

(EUMC) with the rank of general. Clancy spent 16 years of his military career as a

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

(SAR) pilot for the Irish Air Corps, before moving up the chain of command as Chief of Air Staff ( GOC Air Corps) and Defence Forces Headquarters appointments such as Director of Strategic Planning and Deputy Chief of Staff (Support). Clancy has also spent a number of years on overseas deployments with the EU and UN. He is the first Chief of Staff from the Air Corps branch.

Early life

Clancy is a native of

Mitchelstown Mitchelstown () is a town in the north of County Cork, Ireland with a population of over 3,740. It is situated in the valley to the south of the Galtee Mountains. Mitchelstown is 13 km south-west of the Mitchelstown Cave, 53 km nor ...

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

and grew up partaking in

scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

, progressing to become a patrol leader in the 30th Cork Scout Troop, competing for the Melvin Cup (an all-Ireland scouting competition). His father Seán 'Jack' Clancy (a native of

Kilrush Kilrush () is a coastal town in County Clare, Ireland. It is also the name of a civil parish and an ecclesiastical parish in Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe. It is located near the mouth of the River Shannon in the south-west of the county. ...

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

) was principal of the primary school he attended, and he attended Christian Brothers Secondary School in Mitchelstown for three years, before moving to

St Flannan's College Saint Flannan's College is an Irish co-educational secondary school located in Ennis, County Clare, which takes its name from the 7th century patron saint of the Dál gCais. It was formerly an all-boys boarding school; however, the first girl ...

Ennis Ennis ( , meaning 'island' or 'river meadow') is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in Cou ...

to complete the

Leaving Certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certificate ...

Military career

Clancy joined the Defence Forces as an Air Corps cadet in 1984, and began flight training in 1986. He was trained on and has flown both fixed and rotary wing aircraft, clocking up 5,000 flight hours. He is a qualified type and instrument-rating examiner, qualified flight simulator instructor and has held type, instrument and NVG ratings on the

AgustaWestland AW139 The AgustaWestland AW139, now known as the Leonardo AW139, is a 15-seat medium-sized twin-engined helicopter developed and produced by the Italian helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland, now part of Leonardo. It is marketed at several differ ...

helicopter. As a search and rescue pilot, Clancy was commander of a crew who received the Marine Medal for Meritorious Service in 2002. Clancy has served in both Air Corps and tri-service Defence Forces Headquarters (DFHQ) appointments including as Squadron Commander,

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately se ...

, Senior Staff Officer Operations, Senior Staff Officer Personnel, Chief of Air Staff Support in Air Corps Headquarters and Director of Strategic Planning Branch (Chief of Staff's Branch, DFHQ). In 2017, he was appointed as General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Irish Air Corps and Director of Military Aviation (DFHQ). He is credited with playing a central role in the establishment of Ireland's first Emergency Aeromedical Service in 2012. Clancy served as military advisor to the Force Commander of the European Union Force Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR/"

Operation Althea Operation Althea, formally the European Union Force Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR), is a military deployment in Bosnia and Herzegovina to oversee the military implementation of the Dayton Agreement. It is the successor to NATO's SFOR and IFOR. ...

"), and spent two years as air advisor to SHIRBRIG, the UN standby brigade. Prior to promotion to Chief of Staff, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff (Support) in DF Headquarters, responsible for logistics, human resources, transport, engineering, ordnance, medical and military policing across the three service branches of the Defence Forces. Clancy became the first Air Corps officer to be appointed as Chief of Staff by the government, and the second from outside the

Irish Army The Irish Army () is the land component of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Defence Forces of Republic of Ireland, Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. ...

(his predecessor Vice Admiral Mark Mellett was from the Naval Service). In May 2024 Clancy was announced as the next head of the European Union Military Committee with the rank of four star general.

Education

Clancy holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) Degree in

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

from

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

and a Masters in Military Leadership and Defence Studies from

Maynooth University Maynooth University (MU) (), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. Maynooth University was formerly known as National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ). It was Ireland ...

. He graduated from the Defence Forces Command and Staff College with the Lt Gen Tadgh O'Neill Award (for best student of combined military and MA components). Clancy co-authored the Defence Forces Leadership Doctrine published in 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clancy, Sean Alumni of Maynooth University Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Military personnel from County Cork Irish generals Chiefs of staff of the Defence Forces (Ireland) Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Mitchelstown