General Sir Richard Dannatt KCB CBE MC, Commander-in-Chief Land Command has kindly accepted the position as President of the Army Rugby Union, replacing Major General JM Shaw CBE.

Sir Richard was commissioned into the Green Howards from Sandhurst in 1971. He served with the 1st Battalion in Northern Ireland - where he was awarded the Military Cross - Cyprus and Germany and was Commanding Officer from 1989 to 1991 when the Battalion was based in Catterick Garrison.

He has also served as a Company Instructor at RMA Sandhurst, Chief of Staff at 20th Armoured Brigade, Military Assistant to the Army Forces Minister and an Instructor at the former Staff College in Camberley.

He was appointed CBE when he commanded 4th Armoured Brigade, serving in Bosnia with the UNIF. He returned to the MOD as Director of Defence Programmes. In 1999 he took over command of 3rd (UK) Division as a Major General. After service in Kosovo, he became Deputy Commander of the Stabilisation Force in Bosnia. From April 2001 to October 2003 he was Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff before he was appointed Commander-in-Chief Land Command UK.