Tri-Service

Armed Forces Should Be About "Avoiding, Preventing & Deterring War"

General Sir Nicholas Houghton gave his address the title ‘Interesting Times’ to reflect the increasing complexity of the challenges facing the country. It’s just weeks after the Strategic Defence and Security Review and a time to reflect on its outcome.

The Chief of the Defence Staff described the Government’s announcements last month as positive but said it highlights that the armed forces need to do more.

He said the focus needs to be on utility and agility and shifting the focus away from the battlefield, adding “recent experience of Iraq and Afghanistan burn into the public psyche the false idea that armed forces are predominately about fighting wars, but in truth armed forces should be much more about avoiding, preventing and deterring war.”

General Sir Nicholas Houghton visited the British Military Advisory and Training Team (BMATT) in Nigeria to see their counter-insurgency work first hand

He said the armed forces must look beyond the battlefield and play a greater part in counter terrorism and UN peace keeping missions in the future.

These increased demands mean the forces need to have a more sophisticated approach. Sir Nicholas said he was looking at the terms of service on offer and said the armed forces need to work harder to attract skilled people that would not normally volunteer for the "rigours of military service".

He admitted that while “the armed forces have never been held in greater esteem, they have never been more deeply questioned” and they now have a wider role and more threats to tackle than ever before.