Vice Admiral

Vice Admiral

Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...

 Peter John Wilkinson CB

Order of the Bath

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

 CVO

Royal Victorian Order

The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...

 (born 28 May 1956) is a Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 officer. He was promoted to Vice Admiral

Vice Admiral

Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...

 and appointed as Deputy Chief of Defence Staff

Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom)

The Chief of the Defence Staff is the professional head of the British Armed Forces, a senior official within the Ministry of Defence, and the most senior uniformed military adviser to the Secretary of State for Defence and the Prime Minister...

 (Personnel) in August 2007.

Naval career

Educated at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe

Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe

See Royal Grammar School for the other schools with the name RGS.The Royal Grammar School High Wycombe is a selective grammar school situated in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. As a state school it does not charge fees for students to attend, but they must pass an entrance exam...

, and the University of Wales, Lampeter

University of Wales, Lampeter

University of Wales, Lampeter is a university in Lampeter, Wales. Founded in 1822 by royal charter, it is the oldest degree awarding institution in Wales and may be the third oldest in England and Wales after Oxford and Cambridge...

 (B.A. 1978), he joined the Royal Navy in 1975, where he initially served in submarines. He commanded the submarines HMS Otter

HMS Otter (S15)

HMS Otter was an Oberon-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 15 May 1960 from Scotts Shipbuilding, Greenock and was laid down on 14 January 1960. She was commissioned on 20 August 1962. Otter was paid off on 31 July 1991....

, Superb

HMS Superb (S109)

HMS Superb was a nuclear powered fleet submarine of the Swiftsure class serving in the Royal Navy.She was built by Vickers Shipbuilding Groups, now a division of BAE Systems Submarine Solutions. HMS Superb was launched on 30 November 1974 at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria and commissioned into the...

, and Vanguard

HMS Vanguard (S28)

The eleventh HMS Vanguard of the Royal Navy is the lead boat of her class of Trident ballistic missile-armed submarines. The submarine is based at HMNB Clyde, Faslane....

, being promoted to Captain

Captain (Royal Navy)

Captain is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy. It ranks above Commander and below Commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a Colonel in the British Army or Royal Marines and to a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. The rank of Group Captain is based on the...

 in 1995. He was Captain of 2nd Submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

 Squadron

Squadron (naval)

A squadron, or naval squadron, is a unit of 3-4 major warships, transport ships, submarines, or sometimes small craft that may be part of a larger task force or a fleet...

 from 1999 to 2001.

He was the Director of Naval Service and Conditions (as a commodore

Commodore (rank)

Commodore is a military rank used in many navies that is superior to a navy captain, but below a rear admiral. Non-English-speaking nations often use the rank of flotilla admiral or counter admiral as an equivalent .It is often regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6, but is not always...

) from 2001, and then Naval Secretary

Naval Secretary

The Naval Secretary is the Royal Navy appointment of which the incumbent is responsible for policy direction on personnel management for members of the RN. It is a senior RN appointment, held by an officer holding the rank of Rear-Admiral. The Naval Secretary's counterpart in the British Army is...

 and Director-General Human Resources (Navy) from 2004. From 2005 to 2007 he was Defence Services Secretary

Defence Services Secretary

The Defence Services Secretary is a senior member of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. Reporting to the Private Secretary's Office, he is responsible for liaison between the Sovereign and the British Armed Forces...

 in the Royal Household

Royal Household

A Royal Household in ancient and medieval monarchies formed the basis for the general government of the country as well as providing for the needs of the sovereign and his relations....

 of the Sovereign

Monarch

A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...

 of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Personnel and Reserves).

He is a trustee of the Armed Forces Memorial

Armed Forces Memorial

The Armed Forces Memorial is a national memorial in the United Kingdom, dedicated to the 16,000 servicemen and women of the British Armed Forces killed on duty or through terrorist action since the Second World War.-History:...

 appeal, which has built a new memorial to service personnel who have lost their lives on duty. The memorial is located at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. Wilkinson was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 2010 Birthday Honours.