Bombed SAS warfare hero shall be subsequent Army chief

An SAS officer nicknamed “the Rock” would be the new head of the British Army, sources confirmed final night time.

Lt Gen Sir Roly Walker will exchange Gen Sir Patrick Sanders, who stop over cuts to troops and gear because the Army shrinks to its smallest dimension for the reason that 18th century.

Lt Gen Walker’s appointment will come as a shock to these anticipating the function to be awarded to Lt Gen Sharon Nesmith, who would have turn into the primary feminine Chief of the General Staff for the reason that function was created in 1904.

He was chosen after scoring larger than Lt Gen Nesmith at a promotion board that noticed him additionally beat Lt Gen Sir Ralph Wooddisse, who’s at present head of the Field Army.

Gen Sanders, a Rifles officer, was anticipated to stay in put up for at the least three years. But in June it emerged he had determined to step down after a yr following his objection to manning and gear cuts imposed by the Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin.

Lt Gen Walker has a popularity as a “no-nonsense officer” and has a heat relationship with Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, a fellow platoon commander with whom he shared a billet in Belfast in 1970.

As deputy Chief of the Defence Staff he additionally enjoys an in depth working relationship with Admiral Radakin. Born in Kenya and educated at Harrow, he initially joined the Irish Guards and is considered politically subtle and capable of navigate ministerial red-tape.

He spent eight years with the SAS earlier than becoming a member of the Grenadier Guards in 2008. In November 2009 he was commanding officer of the first battalion Grenadier Guards in probably the most harmful areas of Helmand Province when 5 of his troopers had been killed inside an Afghan Police compound referred to as Blue 25.

He additionally survived a roadside bomb explosion, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in September 2010 in recognition of his service in Afghanistan.

As Director of Special Forces, he led Britain’s warfare on the bottom in opposition to Islamic State in Syria that noticed the Jihadist cult’s caliphate destroyed.

But he faces an enormous job in rebuilding an Army that’s struggling low morale, an absence of apparatus and a recruiting disaster.

Reacting to the news final night time, one senior officer stated: “Special Forces get all the resources they want. How removed is he from the tank park, and the lot of the average soldier who is forced to live in c***** housing with few resources to count on. How in touch is he?”

Gen Sir Richard Dannatt, who held the function of Chief of the General Staff till 2009, expressed issues over the selection. “I am not surprised that Ben Wallace has chosen Roly Walker with his impressive SF background as this continues the direction of Army development towards a lighter hi-tech force initiated by Mark Carlton-Smith who also had an SAS background.

“That is cheaper in both manpower and equipment, but does that really stand up against the realities of a brutal war in Ukraine?

“There, the fighting is characterised by both new technologies and the old slogging of man against man and tank against tank.

“Patrick Sanders has been arguing this during his tenure. Ben Wallace has not been listening. “I worry that the cheaper, seductively hi-tech route will be followed further and, come a conventional challenge to Nato and the UK, we will be found wanting. I am sure Roly Walker has this worry in mind too.”