Sir David Eastman leaves in Queen Mother's Land Rover after handing over deputy chief role

Lieutenant General Sir David Eastman KBE has formally handed over as Deputy Chief of the General Staff, one of the British Army's most senior leadership roles.

His departure from Army Headquarters was marked with state trumpeters from the Household Cavalry Regiment, before he was driven away in the late Queen Mother's Land Rover.

Sir David was appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff in 2024 after serving as Assistant Chief of Defence Staff for Capability and Force Design, where he worked on future force development and planning.

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The Deputy Chief of the General Staff is the Army's second-in-command.

Lieutenant General Simon Hamilton has been appointed to succeed Sir David in the role. His appointment was announced in March as part of a wider reshuffle of senior Army posts.

From REME to Army Headquarters

Sir David began his career in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, the corps that keeps the Army's vehicles, weapons and equipment working in the field.

His service took him through Bosnia, Kosovo, Northern Ireland, Iraq and two tours in Afghanistan, before he moved into senior posts which focus on defence planning.

He was made an MBE after the first UK deployment to Helmand in 2006, during which he served as Deputy Chief of Staff for 16 Air Assault Brigade.

His later career moved deeper into operational planning and strategic management, including work on the redeployment of British forces from Afghanistan and the development of the UK military force structure around the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review.

He also held international policy roles covering Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Euro-Atlantic security, and served as Military Assistant to a German four-star Nato commander.

Sir David's later career also included one of the Army's largest domestic support roles. During the Covid pandemic, he served as Commander of the Standing Joint Command.

The command coordinated military support to the civil authorities at a time when troops were used across the country.

Sir David was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2026 New Year Honours.

What does the role entail?

The Deputy Chief of the General Staff is the Army's second-in-command and works under the Chief of the General Staff.

The post is not a battlefield command in the way that running a division or corps is. It is a senior headquarters role, focused on the shape of the Army itself: its people, equipment, capability and future planning.

During Sir David's time in the role, that meant working in an Army trying to absorb lessons from Ukraine, rebuild mass and lethality, modernise equipment and sharpen its contribution to Nato.

At DSEI in September 2025, Sir David used a speech on Army modernisation to argue that future lethality would depend as much on data, networks and uncrewed systems as on traditional platforms such as Boxer and Ajax.

A successor with procurement experience

Lt Gen Simon Hamilton joins Army Headquarters after serving as interim chief executive of Defence Equipment and Support, the MOD organisation responsible for buying and supporting military equipment.

A REME officer by background, he has commanded a close support battalion after its deployment to Afghanistan and later moved into senior posts overseeing vehicle support, land equipment and system integration. 

The role gives Lt Gen Hamilton responsibility for helping shape the future Army, from personnel and equipment to how units are organised and prepared for operations.

"It is an enormous privilege to have been appointed to this role," Lt Gen Hamilton said.