General Sir Nicholas Patrick Carter, GCB, CBE, DSO (born 11 February 1959) is a Kenyan-born former senior British Army officer who served as Chief of the Defence Staff from June 2018 to November 2021. Carter served as commanding officer of 2nd Battalion, Royal Green Jackets in which role he was deployed to Bosnia in 1998 and Kosovo in 1999. After service in Afghanistan, he took command of 20th Armoured Brigade in 2004 and commanded British forces in Basra. He was subsequently appointed General Officer Commanding 6th Division, which was deployed to Afghanistan with Carter as Commander ISAF Regional Command South, before he became Director-General Land Warfare. After that he became Deputy Commander Land Forces in which role he was the main architect of the Army 2020 concept.