The General was in need of a portrait to be placed in the gallery of former Chiefs of the General Staff and for his official Role as Regimental Lieutenant Colonel of The Irish Guards. Leaving the Chiefs office it is the tradition of the incumbent to hang a signed portrait. The sitting was indeed very historical and constitutes my 2nd portrait on the wall. The final image will be viewed by the General’s successors for many years to come.
Carleton-Smith was commissioned into the Irish Guards on 3 September 1982. He then spent three years studying at university. He was promoted to lieutenant on 6 September 1985, with seniority from 9 April 1985, to captain on 9 April 1989 and to major on 30 September 1995. After operational service in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, he was deployed to the Gulf War in spring 1991 and then saw active service as an SAS squadron commander in Bosnia later in the 1990s.
Carleton-Smith also became Regimental Lieutenant Colonel of the Irish Guards on 18 March 2012 and Honorary Colonel of Oxford University Officers Training Corps on 18 February 2017.