A British joint general staff—imperial throwback or strategic imperative?

Abstract

The involvement of UK forces in several UN‐sponsored operations in different parts of the world, such as the Gulf War and the enforcement of the no‐fly zone in northern Iraq has dramatically increased in the last 40 years. Britain's armed forces have had to adapt in order to face new types of international commitments. Group Captain Campbell, in his prizes‐winning essay, here looks at the restructuring of the UK forces, arguing that a comparative study of staff skills required at the various levels is needed to achieve the most mobile, flexible and agile formations capable of world‐wide deployment. Through a comparative study of the historical and contemporary structures of the forces of Germany the Soviet Union, the United States and the United Kingdom he draws the conclusion that there Seems to be a strong case for the introduction of a formal joint general staff system in the UK With future UK operation commitments likely to be multiple concurrent joint and of variable scale operational effectiveness must be maximised.