Richard Dannatt Totally Explained

Everything about Richard Dannatt totally explained

General Sir Francis Richard Dannatt, KCB, CBE, MC (born 23 December 1950) is the Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army.

Early life

The son of an architect, he was born in Chelmsford in Essex on 23 December 1950. He was educated at Felsted School and St. Lawrence College, Ramsgate. He also attended Hatfield College, Durham University, where he was elected president of the Durham Union Society, graduating with a BA in Economic History.

Army career

Dannatt was commissioned into The Green Howards regiment in 1971. He has served with the 1st Battalion in Northern Ireland (where he won the MC) Cyprus and Germany and commanded the Battalion in the Airmobile role from 1989 to 1991. From 1994 to 1996 he commanded 4th Armoured Brigade in Germany and Bosnia. He took command of 3rd (United Kingdom) Division in January 1999, and also served in Kosovo that year as Commander British Forces.
In 2000 he returned to Bosnia as the Deputy Commander Operations of the Stabilisation Force (SFOR). From 2001 to 2002 he was the Assistant Chief of the General Staff in the Ministry of Defence before taking command of NATO's Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC). In March 2005 he took over as Commander-in-Chief, Land Command, and assumed the appointment of Chief of the General Staff in August 2006, replacing General Sir Mike Jackson.

Daily Mail interview, October 2006

Comments on the British Army in Iraq

Based on an interview published October 13, 2006 in the Daily Mail, some political activists have claimed that General Dannatt publicly called for the withdrawal of British forces from Iraq, stating that their presence "exacerbates the security problems" for the United Kingdom worldwide. Following extensive publicity about the Daily Mail interview he gave an interview on BBC radio and stated that when he talked about pulling out of Iraq "sometime soon", he meant that "when the mission is substantially done we should leave". Anglican, Gen. Dannatt called for a return to traditional "Judaeo-Christian" values in order to counter "the Islamist threat" within British society. In the same Daily Mail interview, he said: "When I see the Islamist threat in this country I hope it doesn't make undue progress because there's a moral and spiritual vacuum in this country."
   "Our society has always been embedded in Christian values; once you've pulled the anchor up there's a danger that our society moves with the prevailing wind."
   "There is an element of the moral compass spinning. I think it's up to society to realise that's the situation we're in."
   "We can't wish the Islamist challenge to our society away and I believe that the army both in Iraq and Afghanistan and probably wherever we go next, is fighting the foreign dimension of the challenge to our accepted way of life."
   "We need to face up to the Islamist threat, to those who act in the name of Islam and in a perverted way try to impose Islam by force on societies that don't wish it."
   "It is said that we live in a post Christian society. I think that's a great shame. The broader Judaic-Christian tradition has underpinned British society. It underpins the British Army."

Overall reaction

Gen. Dannatt's comments have received a measure of support in the British Army and amongst retired generals, including former Chief of the Defence Staff, Field Marshal the Lord Bramall.
The former Home Secretary David Blunkett has also criticised Gen. Dannatt for "interfering" in politics, saying it was a "constitutional" issue.
An ICM opinion poll for the 15 October 2006 edition of the Sunday Express showed that 71 per cent of the British people believed Gen. Dannatt was right to say that the British presence in Iraq was exacerbating the security situation there. 74 per cent agreed that British soldiers should leave Iraq "some time soon", 57 per cent agreed with Gen. Dannatt's view that "Islamists" were exploiting a "moral vacuum" in British society, and 44 per cent also wanted to see the British Army play a greater role in fighting "Islamic extremism" in Britain.

Prince Harry and Iraq

On 16 May 2007, Dannatt made the decision to restrict Prince Harry from being deployed to Iraq with the rest of his Blues and Royals squadron. He said that during his prior week of visiting to Iraq he'd experienced the threats that would occur in Iraq for the Prince, he decided to reassess whether or not to deploy Harry. He said 'there was too great a risk, not only to himself but the people with him'. He therefore came to the conclusion, subsequently, not to let Prince Harry go on his tour of Iraq with the rest of his troops.

Comments on the Iraqi Resistance/Insurgency

In September 2007, during a speech to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Dannatt made remarks that, once again, seemed to put him at odds with his political masters:

The militants (and I use the word deliberately because not all are insurgents, or terrorists, or criminals; they're a mixture of them all) are well armed – probably with outside help, and probably from Iran. By motivation, essentially, and with the exception of the Al Qaeda in Iraq element who have endeavoured to exploit the situation for their own ends, our opponents are Iraqi Nationalists, and are most concerned with their own needs – jobs, money, security – and the majority are not bad people.

Private life

Dannatt married in 1977 and has three sons and one daughter. His recreations are tennis, cricket, rugby football, skiing, fishing, shooting and reading.

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