UTAC Millbrook
16th - 17th September, 2026
Major General Chris King CBE commissioned into the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in 1993. As a junior officer, he served in the armoured role in both the United Kingdom and Germany, including deployments to Northern Ireland and Kosovo. His Light Aid Detachment command tour was with the Royal Regiment of Wales in Paderborn, Germany.
On promotion to Major and following completion of the Intermediate Command and Staff Course (Land) (ICSC(L), he undertook his initial staff appointment in Abbey Wood, as the requirements manager for the Close Armour IPT, during which time he gained Chartered Engineer status. In 2008 he took command of 5 Armoured Company, 3 Close Support Battalion REME, deploying the Company to Afghanistan on Operation HERRICK 9 as part of 3 Commando Brigade. Thereafter, he spent two years working in MOD Main Building as the Chief of Staff of the Special Projects Capability Branch, before promotion to Lieutenant Colonel.
Major General King completed the Advanced Command and Staff Course and the King’s College Defence Studies Master of Arts in 2013. After a short period as Directing Staff on ICSC(L) he took up post as Military Assistant to the Chief of Materiel (Land) and the Quartermaster General. In June 2015 he assumed command of 2 Close Support Battalion as it arrived in Leuchars, Scotland. In August 2017, on promotion to Colonel, he assumed the appointment of Assistant Head Capability Plans in the Army Headquarters and was subsequently selected for and attended the Higher Command and Staff Course in 2019. He returned to Abbey Wood in September 2019 to work on the Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme.
In September 2021 he took command of 104 Theatre Sustainment Brigade on promotion to Brigadier. Under his tenure, the Brigade played key roles on Op PITTING; the British withdrawal from Afghanistan, and Op INTERLINK, when in February 2022 he deployed the HQ to establish and evolve the International Donor Coordination Centre as it cohered the flow of multinational military aid into Ukraine for which he was awarded a CBE. He returned to the Army Headquarters in June 2023 to take up the role as the Head of Military Capability Planning.
Major General King assumed the role of Director Programmes in October 2025 with the appointment being redesignated as the Land Capability Portfolio Director in September 2026. He is married to Karen, has two boys, Andrew and William and a Labrador called Benji. He enjoys cycling, skiing, sailing and golf.