page_title: Mike Jackson (British Army officer)
section_title: Retirement
hierarchical_section_title: Mike Jackson (British Army officer) / Retirement
caption_attribution_description: English: General Sir Mike Jackson, signing his autobiography, Soldier.
context_page_description: General Sir Michael David Jackson, GCB, CBE, DSO, DL is a retired British Army officer and one of its most high-profile generals since the Second World War. Originally commissioned into the Intelligence Corps in 1963, he transferred to the Parachute Regiment in 1970, with which he served two of his three tours of duty in Northern Ireland. On his first, he was present as an adjutant at the events of the Ballymurphy massacre, where 11 unarmed civilians were shot dead by British troops, and then at Bloody Sunday, when British soldiers opened fire on protesters, killing 14. On his second, he was a company commander in the aftermath of the Warrenpoint ambush, the British Army's heaviest single loss of life during the Troubles. He was assigned to a staff post at the Ministry of Defence in 1982 before assuming command of the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment, in 1984. Jackson was posted to Northern Ireland for the third time, as a brigade commander, in the early 1990s.
  In 1994, Jackson served his first tour in the Balkans, where he commanded a multi-national division of the Implementation Force.
context_section_description: Jackson retired in 2006. He spent nearly 45 years in the Army but called it "a regret" that he never fought in a conventional battle—having been in a staff position in 1982 during the Falklands War and serving as a brigade commander in Northern Ireland during the Gulf War. He said that "Fighting is what a young man with good red blood in his veins joins for. It is the ultimate test for the professional soldier". He has continued to voice opinions on military matters in his retirement. He delivered the annual Richard Dimbleby Lecture four months after leaving the Army. In the lecture, titled The Defence of The Realm in the 21st Century, he criticised the Ministry of Defence and questioned the MoD's understanding of the fundamental ethos of the armed forces. He was critical of the treatment of soldiers, calling some soldiers' accommodation "frankly shaming" and saying that the "Armed Forces' contract with the nation ... must be a two-way one", going on to say that "military operations cost in blood and treasure, because risk-free soldiering, which some seem to think is possible, is simply a contradiction in terms". The MoD responded by saying that "while we do not agree with everything Sir Mike has said, we are always the first to recognise—for example in relation to medical services and accommodation—that although we have delivered real improvements, there is more we can do".
  At the end of 2006 Jackson took up a consultancy job with PA Consulting Group, and he has given lectures on leadership. He also serves as a non-executive director for ForceSelect and security company Legion and is a member of Rolls-Royce's International Advisory Board. His autobiography, Soldier, was published in 2007 by Transworld. Gary Sheffield, writing in The Independent, called the book "an engaging and honest account that would repay reading by all those who seek to understand the 21st-century British Army", but Peter Beaumont, foreign affairs editor for The Observer, called it "disappointing" and commented that "in the end it is Jackson's opinions ... rather than any powerful new detail that emerges". He suspected that the book had been heavily edited by the army's lawyers. Determined to keep active in retirement, Jackson recalled advice he had been given by a friend—"whatever you do, don't settle for pruning the roses or soon enough you'll be pushing them up". He appeared on BBC Radio 4's series Great Lives, along with Major General Julian Thompson, RM, in 2008 and nominated Field Marshal Bill Slim. Jackson sits on the Board of Trustees of the John Smith Memorial Trust, a charity set up in 1995 in memory of the late Labour party leader John Smith.
  Jackson re-appeared in the headlines when he and other retired generals, including Major General Tim Cross—who was involved in the planning effort and later commanded all British troops in Iraq—criticised the American post-war planning for Iraq and attacked the statement by Donald Rumsfeld, US Secretary of Defense, at the time of the invasion, that the US does not "do nation-building", calling it "nonsensical" and "intellectually bankrupt". Jackson also joined criticism of the British National Party (BNP) in the midst of the 2009 controversy surrounding party leader Nick Griffin's appearance on the panel show Question Time. He accused the BNP of "hijacking" military symbols, saying "the BNP is claiming that it has a better relationship with the Armed Forces than other political parties. How dare they use the image of the Army, in particular, to promote their policies?" He elaborated that it was not a party political issue, but an issue of the armed forces' reputation. Griffin retaliated by calling Jackson and Sir Richard Dannatt "war criminals". A disagreement between Jackson and then Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth made headlines in 2009, when Ainsworth stated that the UK could only manage a small increase to troop numbers in Afghanistan, saying that the Army had pushed "too hard" when it was engaged in operation in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Jackson countered by saying that the UK should play a de
caption: Jackson signing a copy of his autobiography Soldier in 2008
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