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General Sir Richard Dannatt calls for 'aid army'
Telegraph (UK), 13 Jun 08
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Britain's top soldier has called for the Army to draw up plans for a complementary military force which specialises in bringing stability and aid to unstable foreign nations.
General Sir Richard Dannatt, chief of the general staff, said the Army's future role would be to provide long-term support for troubled nations, rather than prepare to defend Britain in a large-scale war.
Britain was more likely to be involved in "liberal interventionism" abroad and soldiers would have to take on the tasks more commonly performed by international aid and development organisations.
He said troops' training should include work delivering aid or working in an undeveloped country's police force, which would help create an Army "capable of both fighting alongside local forces and delivering tasks in area where the civil agencies cannot operate".
The Army's main role would be to provide "military assistance, security and development" in line with the government policies of the day, he told the Royal United Services Institute conference.
"It is essential that the military continue to adapt to ensure that we are relevant to policy ends," he said "If we fail to continue to adapt, if we fail to make ourselves relevant in the modern world to the needs of government policy, then we will simply develop a self-serving military machine with no rationale based on realistic policy."
But the emphasis on "stabilisation" did not mean fighting wars was a thing of the past, he said.
General Sir Richard Dannatt calls for 'aid army'
Telegraph (UK), 13 Jun 08
Article link
Britain's top soldier has called for the Army to draw up plans for a complementary military force which specialises in bringing stability and aid to unstable foreign nations.
General Sir Richard Dannatt, chief of the general staff, said the Army's future role would be to provide long-term support for troubled nations, rather than prepare to defend Britain in a large-scale war.
Britain was more likely to be involved in "liberal interventionism" abroad and soldiers would have to take on the tasks more commonly performed by international aid and development organisations.
He said troops' training should include work delivering aid or working in an undeveloped country's police force, which would help create an Army "capable of both fighting alongside local forces and delivering tasks in area where the civil agencies cannot operate".
The Army's main role would be to provide "military assistance, security and development" in line with the government policies of the day, he told the Royal United Services Institute conference.
"It is essential that the military continue to adapt to ensure that we are relevant to policy ends," he said "If we fail to continue to adapt, if we fail to make ourselves relevant in the modern world to the needs of government policy, then we will simply develop a self-serving military machine with no rationale based on realistic policy."
But the emphasis on "stabilisation" did not mean fighting wars was a thing of the past, he said.
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