Daily Telegraph Letter 13-Dec-13
A former Commander-in-Chief Fleet emphasises the need to support our friends in the Gulf region.
SIR – Con Coughlin gives warning of the perils of losing friends in the Gulf region.
When I was Commander-in-Chief Fleet (2005-2007), I increased the number of Royal Navy vessels routinely deployed east of Suez from one to 14, something that neither Denis Healey (defence secretary from 1964-1970), or John Nott (defence secretary from 1981-1983) could imagine. The essence of this Fleet disposition survived the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review but will be challenged again in the SDSR in 2015 – on which officials have already started work in spite of none of us knowing the hue or aspirations of the next government.
Deployment to the Gulf region brings clear advantage to one of our major strategic dependencies, is a quick dash from the eastern Mediterranean and halfway to the Far East. It also places us at the forefront of inter-operability with US forces, a vital characteristic in any crisis anywhere in the world.
The Royal Navy has moved on from “train where we expect to fight” to “deploy where we make the most difference”.
Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent (retd)
Modbury, Devon
A former Commander-in-Chief Fleet emphasises the need to support our friends in the Gulf region.
SIR – Con Coughlin gives warning of the perils of losing friends in the Gulf region.
When I was Commander-in-Chief Fleet (2005-2007), I increased the number of Royal Navy vessels routinely deployed east of Suez from one to 14, something that neither Denis Healey (defence secretary from 1964-1970), or John Nott (defence secretary from 1981-1983) could imagine. The essence of this Fleet disposition survived the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review but will be challenged again in the SDSR in 2015 – on which officials have already started work in spite of none of us knowing the hue or aspirations of the next government.
Deployment to the Gulf region brings clear advantage to one of our major strategic dependencies, is a quick dash from the eastern Mediterranean and halfway to the Far East. It also places us at the forefront of inter-operability with US forces, a vital characteristic in any crisis anywhere in the world.
The Royal Navy has moved on from “train where we expect to fight” to “deploy where we make the most difference”.
Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent (retd)
Modbury, Devon
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