Air Vice-Marshal Vallance became a Trustee of SSVC in December 2007 and took over as Chairman of the Board a year later.

He joined the RAF as a Cranwell cadet in 1966, subsequently flying Vulcan bomber and strategic reconnaissance aircraft as a squadron pilot and flight commander. He commanded a Victor tanker squadron (1982-84). As Station Commander of RAF Wyton (1993-95), he commanded a composite wing of 4 flying squadrons and several operational ground units operating in the electronic warfare and specialist reconnaissance roles. He has nearly 4,000 flying hours in his log book.

His ground appointments in the RAF included 4 staff tours in the Ministry of Defence, London, one as RAF Director of Defence Studies, and one (very brief tour) as Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of RAF Personnel and Training Command. He spent 4 tours in NATO: one as Chief of Staff to NATO's Reaction Forces Air Staff in Kalkar, Germany, and 3 in NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Belgium.

Air Vice-Marshal Vallance attended the RAF Staff College in 1981 and six years later read International Relations at Cambridge University. He is a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. An authority on air power doctrine, he has lectured and published widely on defence issues and has been awarded a number of prizes for his defence writings. He was appointed OBE in 1988 and a Companion of the Order of Bath in 2003.

Air Vice-Marshal Vallance left the RAF in December 2004 to become Secretary and sole permanent executive of the Defence, Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee (the so-called 'D-Notice' Committee): the independent joint government/media body responsible for setting guidelines and providing advice on the public disclosure of national security information.

Major General Chris Wilson became SSVC's Chairman in December 2018. Chris is the Strategy and Business Development Director of the Land Defence Division of Thales UK.

A former Army officer, he was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1973. Much of his early service was spent in field artillery regiments in Germany, including several operational tours in Northern Ireland, and in weapons staff appointments in the Ministry of Defence. His regimental level career culminated with command of 47 Regt RA, an air defence regiment based on Thorney Island, from 1993-95.

On promotion to Colonel in 1995, he spent 2 years as Director of Staff Operations at HQ AFNORTHWEST, a NATO HQ based outside High Wycombe, which was followed by attendance on the 1998 course at RCDS. Promoted to Brigadier towards the end of the course, he moved to Wilton as Commander Royal Artillery at HQ LAND and Commander 1st Artillery Brigade.

In December 2000, he became Director Capability Integration (Army), a new appointment instituted to advise CGS on matters to do with equipment and sustainability. After 3 years in that appointment, he took up the post of Director Royal Artillery for a year.

Promoted to Major General in January 2005, he returned to RCDS on the Senior Directing Staff for a year before deploying for 9 months as Deputy Commanding General Combined Forces Command, the US led coalition in Afghanistan.

He took up his final appointment as Director (Battlespace Manoeuvre) and Master General of the Ordnance, which brought with it membership of the Army Board, in November 2006. He retired from the Army in 2010 after a military career spanning 37 years and joined Thales in January 2011.

He is a Colonel Commandant of the Royal Artillery and a Trustee of the Services Sound and Vision Corporation. He was made a Commander of the British Empire in 2004 and a Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath in 2009.

Having joined in September 1963, Captain Graham Robinson RN served in the Royal Navy for 35 years. His sea service in 10 ships included 2 in command ' HMS ARLINGHAM based in Gibraltar and HMS GALATEA at the time of the Falklands War. Among his shore appointments were 4 in the Ministry of Defence, 3 years as Commander of Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth and 4 years as the Director of Naval PT and Sport.

On leaving the Royal Navy in 1998, he took up the newly created post of Secretary of the Combined Services Sports Board responsible for establishing and implementing Sports Policy for the Armed Forces and coordinating sporting activity among the 3 Services and at Combined Services level. He fulfilled this role until 2011. As well as being a Trustee of SSVC, he is Chairman of the Lancing College Alumni Association and Vice Chairman of the Britannia Royal Naval College Association.

Mark is Managing Director of ITN Productions, one of the UK’s biggest production companies, working across Television, Digital, Commercials, Branded Content and Sports production.

Since joining ITN in January 2009 Browning has diversified ITN’s Production capability, tripling the division’s turnover in the last 4 years. New ventures include TV Commercial Production including producing the UK’s most popular TV ad for two years in a row, Digital Sport’s Production of the EPL, SPFL, England Cricket, and Premiership Rugby, Branded Content as well as building a post-production division and US business.

Previously, Browning spent seven years with Heart, where he led the station to number 1 in London. In 2005 Browning introduced the new Heart breakfast show with Jamie Theakston, which became the first morning show to topple Capital from the number one spot. Other signings to the station included Emma Bunton, Emma Forbes, and Alan Davies.

He lives in Putney with his wife and three children.

After graduation Deborah spent thirty years as a civil servant, largely in the Home Office but also in the Ministry of Defence. She focussed initially on criminal justice but then moved into HR and corporate services and was HR Director in both Departments.

In 2008 she moved into senior recruitment at Saxton Bampfylde where she is a partner and where she headed the Government Practice and was a Director until 2016. She is still with the firm but now works part time with the intention of retiring later this year. She has wide experience of very senior Government and third sector appointments. In this role she acts as adviser on both top level executive and non-executive recruitment to a number of large third sector organisations.

She is married to the head of an Oxford University College and has two adult sons.