A FORMER commanding officer of the Green Howards Regiment has been given the top job in the Armed Forces.

General Sir Nicholas Houghton has been appointed as the new chief of the defence staff for the British armed forces and will take over in July from General Sir David Richards, who has held the post since 2010.

Sir Nicholas became vice-chief of the defence staff in 2009.

Among other roles, Sir Nicholas was previously the senior British military representative in Iraq and deputy commanding general of the multi-national force in Iraq from 2005 to 2006.

He was commissioned into the Green Howards as a second lieutenant in 1974, was promoted to captain in 1980 and major in 1986.

He became commanding officer of 1st Battalion The Green Howards in 1991 and was deployed to Northern Ireland in 1993.

Sir Nicholas will be in charge of the armed forces as the government implements its Future Force 2020 plans, which will see the Army lose 17 major units as it cuts 20,000 regular soldiers by 2020.

The number of regular soldiers is set to fall from 102,000 to 82,000, while reservists will double to 30,000.

Under the plans, the Royal Navy will also face restructuring and a reduction of some 5,000 personnel by 2015, along with a reduction in numbers of some types of warships.

The Royal Air Force will face a similar personnel reduction and some of its aircraft are being withdrawn early, while its jet fleet will be restructured to comprise of Typhoon and Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.