The announcement about Patrick Sanders early retirement as Chief of the General Staff this week is not a surprise given the current state of play in the Ministry of Defence. With so much of the Defence budget squandered on questionable capabilities that have been procured piecemeal (e.g. Aircraft Carriers) and cyber capabilities used by other government departments (e.g. Home Office), British land forces have suffered a “death by a thousand cuts”. Given the government’s reluctance to re-constitute the Army after hollowing it out of tanks and ammunition to support Ukraine, it was inevitable that the head of the Army, who is one of the very few Chiefs since Dwin Bramall to have commanded his regiment in battle, would fall on his sword.
I worked alongside Patrick in 2008 after we both returned from Iraq and know that he is willing to compromise up to a certain point, but he also understands that no longer are we able to deploy and sustain a combat armoured brigade, let alone a division as we twice did during my time in the Army. I suspect the next chief of the general staff will be chosen for their human resources skills, rather than their battlefield decision-making, but this would be a huge mistake as it will only play into the hands of President Putin and make him smile even more.
Bombing Up Before Battle
Rupert Wieloch 