Lieutenant General Simon P. Hamilton is a 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 who has served as the Director General Land at

Defence Equipment and Support Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) is a trading entity and joint-defence organisation within the UK Ministry of Defence. It began operating on 2 April 2007, following the merger of the MoD's Defence Procurement Agency and the Defence Logisti ...

(DE&S) since December 2023.

Military career

Hamilton was commissioned into the

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is the maintenance arm of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's professional engineers". History Prior t ...

in 1995. He has served on operational deployments in Kosovo, Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He held a range of staff appointments at the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

, Army Headquarters, and within DE&S. Hamilton commanded 101 Logistic Brigade and later served as Head of Equipment in Army HQ and Head of the Vehicle Support Team at DE&S. He went on to become Director of Support and was the first Director of Programmes in the British Army. In this role, he was responsible for the delivery of the Army’s capability modernisation portfolio and acted as the Senior Responsible Owner for three Category A programmes.

Director General Land

In December 2023, Hamilton succeeded Chris Bushell as

Director General A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...

Land at DE&S. He is responsible for the delivery and support of land equipment, including vehicles, weapons, and helicopters, with an annual spend of approximately £5 billion. His team includes over 4,000 personnel and manages 57 Category A programmes. Hamilton is also credited with contributing to the UK's Land Industrial Strategy, aiming to foster closer partnerships between the Ministry of Defence and industry.

Honours

Hamilton was appointed

Officer 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 ...

(OBE) in the 2009 Operational Honours list, and later appointed

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 ...

(CBE) in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

References

{{Reflist Living people British Army lieutenant generals Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers officers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Officers of the Order of the British Empire Year of birth missing (living people)