Why Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton is the most powerful head of the military ever
The top job in the Armed Forces is the most powerful it's ever been.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton starts his role as Chief of the Defence Staff with a new-look structure underneath him.
The job now involves commanding the other service chiefs for the first time.
These new powers are part of big reforms being introduced right across defence.
The CDS is now the head of the new military strategic headquarters. That's what's led him to formally take command of the individual service chiefs for the first time.
It means the CDS is responsible for the readiness and endurance of the integrated force supported by the service chiefs.
He's responsible for overseeing the strategy, readiness, budgeting and decision-making for the whole of the Armed Forces.
Beefing up the powers of the CDS is all about trying to make the services more integrated – and that's a word you'll keep hearing a lot of when you take a look at the Strategic Defence Review.
It talks about how the single services have largely evolved separately in terms of design, equipment and training, creating silos.
The result is a force that joins up only on the battlefield, it says. We all know that each of the services has its own way of doing things.
But those days, it seems, are numbered because the Armed Forces need to be more lethal than the sum of their parts.
The SDR says they must complete the journey from joint to integrated.
SDR co-author General Sir Richard Barrons told BFBS Forces News: "It's done by top-down design, and the services are given their part to play in this.
"And then they do that to the best of their abilities under the command of the CDS.
"This review... puts the service chiefs under the command of the Chief of Defence Staff – that's never been the case before. So it's much less of a 'come as you are' party, if you like."
Sitrep defence analyst Professor Michael Clarke pointed out how the US Marine Corps effectively has its own ground, maritime and air force.
"They are integrated because they're all part of the corps," he explained.
"And we're not we're not trying to imitate the US Marine Corps, but if you're thinking about what does an integrated force look like in three domains, that's kind of the starting point."
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