The Army isn't woke and I loved my soldiers to bits, says former chief of the general staff
The former head of the British Army has used his final speech as a serving officer to quash suggestions that the British Army has gone woke.
General Sir Patrick Sanders added that the men and women he commanded were among the "hardest-to-beat soldiers in the world".
He made the remarks when he addressed officer cadets graduating from Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Gen Sir Patrick, who handed over his role as Chief of the General Staff in June, also said that he loved his soldiers "to death", revealing they were "the only reason I stayed in uniform".
His 15-minute speech included a direct warning that the British Army would likely face its next conflict while being under-manned and under-equipped.
He also included passages by poet Tennyson and amusing moments dealing with the grimmer challenges that lay ahead for the young officers – including winter months in Brecon.
"I've been to Brecon quite enough for one lifetime," he said to sounds of laughter from the crowd.
But his address also included rousing references to the capacity British soldiers have to inflict violence on their enemies and the pride Gen Sir Patrick had in commanding the Army until he left his role as CGS in the summer.
Invoking themes made by another general two centuries earlier, Sir Patrick spoke about the unlikely character of many recruits to the Army.
He said: "You will soon learn that we don't recruit supermen and women. British soldiers are often scrawny, ill-educated and underprivileged.
"But they have a nobility of spirit, a streak of cheerful and irrepressible defiance, a joyful wildness and above all a capacity for sudden violence that when tempered by discipline, values and esprit de corps makes them amongst the most hard-to-beat soldiers anywhere in the world.
"And whatever nonsense you hear or see written about a woke generation – I don't recognise it.
"The soldiers, the friends, I've been privileged to serve with these 40 years – and whom you're about to command – will scare you to death under pressure and under fire, and sometimes in barracks too.
"I love them to bits and so will you. They're the only reason I stayed in uniform."
The general's appearance at the parade – known as the Sovereign's Parade and which marks the end of officer training for incoming leaders into the Army – was effectively Gen Sir Patrick's last duty as a serving soldier.
This fact, and in light of the ongoing Strategic Defence Review, announced by Labour after winning the summer's General Election, made remarks included elsewhere in his speech around the Army's capability timely.
Referencing the UK's position in Nato and ongoing tensions with Russia, Gen Sir Patrick said: "If you fight, and my experience has been that you will sooner or later, it will likely be as the British Army always has: isolated, overmatched in numbers, equipment and technology, with tenuous supply lines and before the country has mobilised.
"And yet despite these conditions, improbably we have a gilded reputation for military prowess based on an extraordinary record of success. Our country is proud of us, and our adversaries and allies respect us."
The parade, held in front of Old College, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, saw 128 officer cadets graduating in front of proud friends and families.
Among them were 28 international cadets, including from Qatar and Kosovo.
The Sword of Honour was won by now-Second Lieutenant Fergus Flory, who said winning the prize was "ultimately a bit of a surprise".
The Sovereign's Parade takes place three times per year, marking the culmination of a year-long course delivered by some of the most talented Non-Commissioned Officers in the British Army.
Join Our Newsletter
