Chris Parry ( Royal Navy officer ) Rear Admiral Christopher J . Parry CBE is a British former naval officer who was the first Chair of the UK Government ' s Marine Management Organisation until 2011 . He is a well - known strategic forecaster , author and commentator . Education . Parry was educated at Royal Naval School Tal - Handaq , The Portsmouth Grammar School and Jesus College , Oxford , where he read Modern History . Naval career . He joined the Royal Navy as a Seaman Officer in 1972 and then became an Observer in the Fleet Air Arm in 1979 . He was mentioned in despatches during the Falklands War for the rescue of 16 SAS men from Fortuna Glacier , South Georgia , and for his role in detecting and disabling the Argentinian submarine ARA " Santa Fe " . He later commanded HMS " Gloucester " , HMS " Fearless " and the United Kingdom ' s Amphibious Task Group . At sea , he was known for his use of unconventional tactics , original thinking and innovative methods , as well as his trademark motto ' old dog , new tricks ' and the high standard of training of his ship ' s companies . His motivation was " to give my ship and her ship ' s company the best chance of success and survival " . On promotion to Rear Admiral , he became , in 2005 , the Ministry of Defence ' s Director General of Development , Concepts and Doctrine . Today , he is one of the UK ' s leading experts on strategic forecasting and geo - strategic trend - spotting and a noted thinker on all aspects of the current and future maritime and marine environment . Independent Schools Council . After leaving the Navy , he became Chief Executive of the Independent Schools Council . In June 2008 , he spoke about the divide between the independent and state sectors of education and the injustice and continuing inadequacies of state provision . Wishing to concentrate more on his strategic , academic and military activities and studies , he left that post soon afterwards . Recent Activities . Since June 2008 , he has worked as a writer , broadcaster and speaker , establishing a considerable reputation as one of the country ' s leading military theorists and strategists , with his remarkably prescient views and penetrating presentations about the future of geopolitics , security and warfare . From 2009 - 10 , he was the first Chair of the UK ' s newly Marine Management Organisation , the planning , licensing and regulatory body for the UK ' s offshore zone , balancing social , economic and environmental . The formation of the MMO and its introduction into service was described by the UK Treasury as ' exemplary ' and by Ministers as , ' an example of how an Arms - Length Public Body should be run ' . On 12 June 2010 , in an interview on BBC Radio 4 ' s " Today " programme , he described the planning for the UK ' s 2006 deployment of 3 , 300 troops to Helmand Province in Afghanistan as flawed , relying too much on lessons from Borneo , Malaya and Northern Ireland . The subsequent BBC News article quotes him as saying that senior commanders had obdurately resisted " ditching the lessons from the past " , preferring these to the " radical and progressive ideas " which were needed . He was also critical of Army commanders who sought to make the Afghanistan operation the Army ' s ' Falklands Moment ' and the UK Strategic Defence and Security Review of 2010 , which , he said , was fiscally driven , incoherent and the basis for a ' strategic deficit ' . As the Managing Director of Merl House , he continues to work in the fields of strategic forecasting , risk and leadership and advises banks , companies and governments about future trends , innovative approaches and dynamic change management . He is also active at Board level in promoting new ideas about governance , leadership and competitive advantage . On 16 February 2012 , he published his diary from the Falklands War , ' Down South : A Falklands War Diary ' with Viking Penguin , described by the historian Niall Ferguson as a ' gripping historical document ' and by other commentators as ' a first - class , contemporaraneous account of the conflict , which offers fresh insights into what have seemed , until now , familiar events ' . He is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors , the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security and the Chartered Management Institute .