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 ...

Stuart Richard Skeates, (born 1966) 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 served as Deputy Commander of JFC Brunssum from December 2018 to December 2021. He also previously served as Commander,

Standing Joint Force Headquarters The Standing Joint Force Headquarters (SJFHQ) is a rapidly deployable component that provides operational command and control to the Joint Expeditionary Force and the Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (Anglo-French alliance) when on small and m ...

from 2015 to 2018.

Early life and education

Skeates was born in 1966. He was educated at

The Judd School The Judd School (often known simply as Judd) is an 11–18 voluntary aided, grammar school and sixth form in Tonbridge, Kent, England. It was established in 1888 at Stafford House on East Street in Tonbridge, where it remained for eight years bef ...

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) (historic spelling ''Tunbridge'') is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Mall ...

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

(BA History, 1988; MA Defence Studies, 1999) 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 academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

Military career

Skeates was commissioned into 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 ...

in 1989. He served in the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

and in the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

, took part in the

invasion of Iraq An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression. Generally, invasions have objectives ...

in 2003 and then served as Military Assistant to the General Officer Commanding

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

in the final years of

Operation Banner Operation Banner was the operational name for the British Armed Forces' operation in Northern Ireland from 1969 to 2007, as part of the Troubles. It was the longest continuous deployment in British military history. The British Army was initia ...

.Leaders
US Marine Corps He became Commanding Officer of 26th Regiment Royal Artillery in

Gütersloh Gütersloh () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the region of Ostwestfalen-Lippe and the administrative region of Detmold (administrative region), Detmold. Gütersloh is the administrative centre for a Gütersloh (distric ...

, then Deputy Commander of 52nd Brigade (deployed as Task Force Helmand) and then Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff Operations at

Permanent Joint Headquarters The Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) is the British tri-service headquarters from where all overseas military operations are planned and controlled. It is situated at Northwood Headquarters in Northwood, London. The Permanent Joint Headqua ...

. He became Commander of 19th Light Brigade in December 2009, and Deputy Commander of

I Marine Expeditionary Force The I Marine Expeditionary Force ("I" pronounced "One") is a Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) of the United States Marine Corps primarily composed of the 1st Marine Division, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, and 1st Marine Logistics Group. It i ...

(Forward) in 2011. Skeates was appointed Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in August 2013. He was appointed as Commander,

on 24 June 2015. He was promoted to

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 ...

and appointed as Deputy Commander JFC Brunssum from 4 December 2018. From 12 October 2022 he was seconded to the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

, tasked with commanding the Manston refugee processing centre and dealing with an increase

English Channel migrant crossings English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

. He was Colonel Commandant of the Royal Artillery until 1 June 2023, and retired from the army in August 2023. Skeates was appointed

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

(CB) in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Skeates, Stuart 1966 births Living people Alumni of King's College London Alumni of Cranfield University British Army lieutenant generals British Army personnel of the Iraq War British Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Companions of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People educated at The Judd School Royal Artillery officers