Afghan war hero to be Britain’s next army chief

The next head of the British army will be an Afghan war hero who survived a Taliban assassination attempt, The Telegraph can reveal.

Lt. Gen. Roly Walker, a former Special Forces chief, will take over next year after General Sir Patrick Sandersthe current Chief of the General Staff, retires.

Lt. Gen. Walker, who has been described as a “nice guy” by many who currently serve with him, will take on the biggest role in the Army as he faces the biggest troop cuts in history amid the Ukraine war.

In his current role as Deputy Chief of the Defense Staff, Lt-Gen Walker, 53, is based in the Ministry of Defense’s main Whitehall building, where he has had “plenty of face-to-face time” with Ben Wallace, the Secretary of Defense.

Whitehall sources said Lt-Gen Walker “earned their trust” in his role, in which he is responsible for directing all military operations on behalf of the head of the Armed Forces, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin.

Wallace and Lt. Gen. Walker, who were born within a day of each other in 1970 and were contemporaries when the defense secretary served in the military, are understood to “get on well.” Lt-Gen Walker has known the Defense Secretary since their days in the Army 30 years ago, where it is claimed they shared a room in Belfast as platoon commanders.

“There is mutual respect,” said a source, adding that in his current position at the Defense Ministry, he “worked closely with Wallace on a very regular basis.”

‘Outstanding career’

Lt. Gen. Walker is known among his peers for having an “outstanding career.”

He was commissioned into the Irish Guards in 1993 before joining the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment in 1997.

He then moved to the Grenadier Guard and by 2011 had been promoted to the General Staff, while his last appointment before being promoted was as Director of Special Forces.

Throughout his career he has spoken of the “monstrous massacre” of five of his soldiers in the early days of the Afghan campaign.

In November 2009, Lt. Gen. Walker was the commanding officer of the 1st Grenadier Guard Battalion when his men were shot dead inside an Afghan police compound known as Blue 25. At the time, he was considered one of the most dangerous areas of Helmand.

Speaking to The Telegraph when the massacre occurred, Lt. Gen. Walker explained his reaction after learning which of his soldiers had been killed. “You pause, you take a breath, and you realize that you have to take control of the situation and deal with the living,” he said.

While he commanded the Grenadier Guard in Helmand Province In 2010, the Ridgeback armored car he was riding in ran over an improvised explosive device, which threw his vehicle six feet into the air.

Miraculously, all six soldiers inside the vehicle escaped unharmed.

Lieutenant General Walker’s main competition in securing promotion was Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Wooddisse, Commander of the Field Army.

But defense sources said that after the two met the Defense Ministry interview panel, the decision was “clear”.

His promotion comes after defense sources claimed Sir Patrick was forced out of the army after he criticized Wallace’s decision to reduce troop numbers to their lowest size since the Napoleonic era. The claims were later denied by a senior admiral.

Concern over troop cuts

Senior defense staff have expressed concern that Lt. Gen. Walker supports troop cuts and has reportedly been consulted on discussions about troop numbers since he was appointed to his current post.

In 2021, the Ministry of Defense announced that the number of fully trained soldiers would drop to 73,000 by 2025, its smallest size yet, below 82,000.

A senior defense source said any move to further reduce the army under the new chief would be “resisted”.

“I think there is concern that we try to make a virtue of being smaller,” they said, adding that such a move “lacks credibility within the US/NATO context.”

“Size and war capability are important,” they said, adding that he was more of a “big picture rather than detail” figure because of his special forces background. He will be only the second person to be promoted to Chief of Staff after serving as Director of Special Forces. The first was General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith.

In June, it was revealed that Sir Patrick would be resign as head of the army after only two years, some said that his “honesty” regarding his views on troop drawdowns meant that he was not “very popular” in Whitehall.

Senior defense sources told The Telegraph that Sir Patrick “was moving after two years because he has been signaling the need for rebuild the army”.

“That is inconvenient for those who advocate aircraft carriers, submarines and new jet aircraft, and it is also what the US and NATO want from the UK,” they said.