SO1 Leadership
Lieutenant Colonel Dean Canham OBE (Mercian Regiment), graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2000, spending most of his regimental duty at 1 WFR and 2 Mercian, on tours in Northern Ireland, Sierra Leone and as the Reconnaissance Platoon Commander in Afghanistan in 2004. He was the Ceremonial Adjutant on State Ceremonial Duties in London, and the Battle Group Operations Officer back in Afghanistan in 2007. He subsequently commanded A (Grenadier) Company 2 MERCIAN in Afghanistan in 2011, led the Battalion’s contingent at the 2012 Olympic Games, and deployed to the Falkland Islands.
He has instructed junior soldiers and officers, at the Infantry Training Schools in Catterick and Brecon, and on the Intermediate Command and Staff Course. He has worked at the Army Personnel Centre, as an Executive Officer in Army HQ, on the Army Strategy team, and as a Plans Officer for Africa in the Joint Headquarters, for which he was appointed an OBE in 2018.
He took command of 1 Mercian in 2020, taking the Battle Group on operations in Estonia in 2021, and commanding the Lead Armoured Battle Group until spring 2023, when he became Head of the Centre for Army Leadership, based at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
SO2 Leadership
Major Dave Love (Royal Military Police) was commissioned into the Royal Military Police (RMP) in 2007. Following deployments to Afghanistan with HQ 16 Air Assault Brigade and HQ 3 Commando Brigade, he was assigned to the UK Permeant Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) as a desk officer for the Rest of the World, Africa and Counter Terrorism operations world-wide, where he undertook several deployments to Mali, Libya, Somalia, Djibouti, Uganda, DR Congo, South Sudan, Kenya and Bosnia. While at PJHQ he was also instrumental in bringing the General Service Medal (2008) into Service for a range of operational theatres.
On promotion to Major in 2014 he deployed on an RMP Close Protection tour in Sudan, before attending the Intermediate Command and Staff College in 2016. Assigned as SO2 Doctrine and International Policy at HQ Provost Marshal Army, he was responsible for the generational rewrite of RMP doctrine and special to army training – subsequently being assigned as Deputy Commandant of the Defence School of Policing and Guarding in 2018 to oversee implementation. In 2020 he was assigned as Force Provost Marshal to the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, before taking up appointment as SO2 Leadership with the Centre for Army Leadership in July 2022.
WO1 Leadership
Warrant Officer Class One (WO1) David Chant (1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards) joined the Army in September 2000 and undertook recruit training at the Army Training Regiment Bassingbourn and subsequently went onto complete Phase 2 specific to arm courses in Bovington, the home of the Royal Armoured Corps. On completion of recruit training in October 2001, he joined 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards “The Welsh Cavalry” in Catterick.
WO1 Chant’s Junior and Senior Non-Commissioned Officer roles were spent at Regimental Duty, where he deployed on multiple operations. Successfully completing Crew Commanders in 2008, he was specifically employed within the Squadrons of a reconnaissance unit and found himself taking up the responsibilities of lead Call-Sign. WO1 Chant has deployed on: Op TELIC 1, 5, 8; and Op HERRICK 9, 15, 20. In 2018 he completed a tour of Poland as a Squadron Sergeant Major before deploying on Op NEWCOMBE 3 as the Task-Group Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM).
After serving as Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) of 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards and completing a deployment as the RSM of the Long-Range Reconnaissance Group, in 2023 WO1 Chant took up the position of WO1 Leadership at the Centre for Army Leadership.
WO1 Chant has a BA Hons in Business Management and enjoys spending time with his family and keeping fit.
Director of Research
Professor Lloyd Clark is Director of Research at the CAL, and a Professorial Research Fellow in the Humanities Research Institute, University of Buckingham. Lloyd is also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Royal Geographical Society, and the British Commission for Military History, and sits on the advisory boards for several leading think tanks, academic journals and international research led organisations. He has worked with and for the British Army for over 30 years.
More information: Professor Lloyd Clark | University of Buckingham
Deputy Director of Research
Dr Linda Risso is Senior Researcher at the CAL. She is the Head of the Richard Holmes Library and the editor of the CAL Leadership Insights. Before joining the Ministry of Defence, Dr Risso worked as historian at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, in Mons (Belgium). She is an expert on European Security and Defence since 1945 with a particular focus on NATO. She is Senior Fellow of the Institute of Historical Research and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.