Mike Jackson General Sir Michael David " Mike " Jackson , ( born 21 March 1944 ) 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 , 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 Bloody Sunday ( 1972 ) , when soldiers opened fire on protesters , killing 13 people . On his second , he was a company commander in the aftermath of the Warrenpoint ambush ( 1979 ) , the British Army ' s heaviest single loss of life during the Troubles . He was assigned to a staff post at the Ministry of Defence ( MoD ) in 1982 before assuming command of the 1st Battalion , The 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 . Following a staff job back in the UK , he was appointed commander of NATO ' s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps ( ARRC ) in 1997 . He returned to the Balkans with the ARRC during the Kosovo War , during which he famously refused to obey an order from American General Wesley Clark , his immediate superior in the NATO chain of command , to block the runways of Pristina Airport and isolate the Russian contingent that was positioned there . He reportedly told Clark , " I ' m not going to start the Third World War for you " . The incident attracted controversy , particularly in the United States , and earned Jackson the nickname " Macho Jacko " in the British tabloid press . Jackson established a working relationship with the Russian general commanding the detachment at Pristina , giving him a bottle of whisky , of which Jackson is known to be fond , and providing the Russians with the protection of a squad of British soldiers , commanded by his son , Mark . Upon his return to the UK , Jackson was promoted to full general and appointed Commander - in - Chief , Land Command , the second - most senior position in the British Army . After three years as Commander - in - Chief , Jackson was appointed Chief of the General Staff ( CGS ) , the professional head of the British Army , in 2003 . He took up the post a month before the start of the Iraq War , amid disputes over the legality of the invasion and claims that the Army was under - equipped . However , he dismissed suggestions that the Army was at " breaking point " . The most controversial point of his tenure as CGS was the restructuring of the regiment system and amalgamation of many regiments into larger ones , leading to the loss of historic regiment names . He was succeeded as Chief of the General Staff by Sir Richard Dannatt in 2006 , and retired from the Army after serving for almost 45 years . Jackson continues to speak on military matters and works as a consultant and guest lecturer , and has published an autobiography . He has three children , from two marriages , and four grandchildren . Early life . Jackson ' s father , George , served as a soldier in the Household Cavalry before being commissioned into the Royal Army Service Corps . On D - Day , George Jackson assumed command of a squadron of amphibious landing vehicles after his commanding officer was killed in action , and he was later awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre and mentioned in despatches for his actions . Mike was born at his mother ' s home in Sheffield , South Yorkshire , in 1944 . After the Second World War , George Jackson was eventually posted to Tripoli , Libya , where the family lived for two years , during which time Jackson ' s younger sister was born . After suffering a heart attack , George Jackson retired with the rank of major after 40 years in the Army . Jackson ' s mother , Ivy ( née Bower ) , was a curator at a museum in Sheffield . Jackson was educated at various primary schools as the family moved with his father ' s postings before being sent to Stamford School , an independent boarding school in south Lincolnshire , where he became a house prefect . He joined the school ' s Combined Cadet Force along with John Drewienkiewicz , who eventually became a major general . By the age of 15 Jackson had decided that he wanted to be a soldier . Early military career . Despite being advised by the headmaster at Stamford to consider university , Jackson applied to join the British Army in 1961 . He was accepted , and started at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in January 1962 , graduating on 20 December 1963 . While at Sandhurst , he became increasingly interested in the Parachute Regiment , but eventually applied to , and was commissioned into , the Intelligence Corps as a second lieutenant at the age of 19 . After his commissioning , Jackson took up an opportunity offered by the Intelligence Corps to undertake platoon commanders ' training with a combat regiment , and opted to do so with the Parachute Regiment . Before leaving Sandhurst , he had applied to take an " in - service degree " — a degree sponsored by the Army at a civilian university — and was accepted to read Russian studies at the University of Birmingham , returning to the Army after graduation in 1967 . His first promotion was to lieutenant on 20 June 1965 , and he served with the Parachute Regiment in Malaysia , Hong Kong and Anguilla — where he served as adjutant when his battalion relieved the force sent to restore order during the 1969 emergency — after which he was promoted to the rank of captain . Following Anguilla , his tenure with the Parachute Regiment ended and he reluctantly returned to the Intelligence Corps . He became increasingly determined to rejoin the Parachute Regiment and , after almost a year , was eventually allowed to transfer , retaining the rank of captain in 1970 . He went on to serve in Northern Ireland as adjutant to 1st Battalion , The Parachute Regiment ( 1 PARA ) , and was present at the events of Bloody Sunday , 30 January 1972 , when 13 protesters were shot dead by soldiers from 1 PARA in Derry . He was in the tactical headquarters of the Army ' s operation to contain the protests immediately before the shooting began and he accompanied the battalion commander , Derek Wilford , when Wilford decided to join the soldiers on the ground . The shooting was over by the time Jackson reached the soldiers ' position , but he recalls seeing several bodies in the back of an Army vehicle . In 1976 , he was promoted to major and attended the Staff College , Camberley , before being posted to Germany as chief of staff to the Berlin Infantry Brigade . After Berlin , Jackson served his second tour of duty in Northern Ireland , this time as a company commander . While there , he witnessed the aftermath of the 1979 Warrenpoint ambush , the British Army ' s single largest loss of life during The Troubles . He acted as the incident commander , arriving on the scene shortly after the second explosion , and had to identify Major Peter Fursman , a close friend , from the remains of Fursman ' s face , which had been blown clear of his skull . He later spoke of the effect the incident had on him , saying , " It greatly disturbed me . Still does " . He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire ( MBE ) in the 1979 Queen ' s Birthday Honours and was mentioned in despatches in 1981 , in recognition of his service in Northern Ireland . Having attended the National Defence College , Jackson joined the directing staff at the Army Staff College and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1981 . He served as a member of the directing staff at the Staff College , Camberley , for two and a half years . During his tenure at Camberley , he was seconded to a staff position at the Ministry of Defence in 1982 during the Falklands War , and thus missed the opportunity to serve in the conflict directly . He took command of 1 PARA in March 1984 , who , at the time , were deployed in Norway , training for the possibility of a Soviet attack . Concerned that he was insufficiently prepared for the weather conditions , he left Camberley early to train with the Royal Marines . He was appointed Senior Directing Staff ( Army ) at the Joint Service Defence College from 1986 to 1988 and was promoted to colonel in 1987 . While serving as a colonel , Jackson considered resigning his commission . He wondered if he had missed his chance for promotion to brigadier at the age of 44 , and believed he might have " reached [ his ] ceiling " as it was unusual for older officers to be selected for promotion . He was persuaded to try again the next year and was promoted to brigadier on 31 December 1989 , after spending six months on a Service Fellowship writing a paper on the future of the Army and taking the Higher Command and Staff Course . He went on to serve his third tour in Northern Ireland , commanding 39 Infantry Brigade — a post he held until 1992 , thus missing the Gulf War . He was promoted from Member to Commander of the Order of the British Empire ( CBE ) in 1992 . High command . Jackson attained general officer status with promotion to acting major general in May 1992 , after holding only one post as a brigadier ; in peacetime , senior officers are normally expected to have held two posts before promotion . He was appointed Director General Personal Services ( Army ) at the Ministry of Defence , reporting to the Adjutant General . He was granted the substantive rank of major general in June 1992 , with his promotion backdated to October 1991 . After two years at the MoD , Jackson took command of the 3rd Mechanised Division in April 1994 . During the Yugoslav Wars in 1995 , Jackson had been due to succeed Rupert Smith as commander of the United Nations Protection Force ( UNPROFOR ) , which would have entailed early promotion to lieutenant general ( three - star rank ) and a blue beret , signifying UN command . As a result of the Dayton Agreement , however , UNPROFOR became the NATO - led Implementation Force ( IFOR ) , and Jackson remained a major general ( two - star rank ) , commanding the 3rd Division and troops from several other countries who made up Multinational Division South - West . Jackson retained command of the 3rd Division until July 1996 and went on to serve briefly in a staff post as the Army ' s Director General of Development and Doctrine . He was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath ( CB ) in November 1996 . After he was appointed Commander of NATO ' s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps ( ARRC ) , Jackson was promoted to acting lieutenant general in January 1997 , a rank he was granted substantively in April 1997 . Jackson served in the NATO chain of command , reporting to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe , American four - star General Wesley Clark . Under Jackson ' s command , the ARRC deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina in March 1999 , where Jackson served his second tour of duty in the Balkans , commanding KFOR , NATO ' s multi - national peacekeeping force established at the end of the Kosovo War . He gained significant media attention in June 1999 after a confrontation with Clark in which he refused to block the runways of the Russian - occupied Pristina Airport and isolate the Russian troops there , thus preventing them from flying in reinforcements , after the order was queried by Captain James Blunt . In one heated discussion with Clark , Jackson reputedly told him " I ' m not going to start the Third World War for you " . He later told the BBC he believed that obeying the order would have led to the possibility of an armed confrontation with Russian troops , which he felt was not " the right way to start off a relationship with Russians " . The point became moot when the US government prevailed upon neighbouring countries , including Hungary and Romania , to prevent Russian use of their airspace to fly in reinforcements . Jackson was criticised for his actions by American military officers and politicians , including General Hugh Shelton , Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , who called the incident " troubling " , and Senator John Warner , who accused Jackson of insubordination . As a result of the incident at Pristina Airport , Jackson was dubbed " Macho Jacko " by the British press . Among his troops , Jackson was christened " Darth Vader " and " Prince of Darkness " , owing to his temper and gravelly voice . Following the confrontation with Clark , Jackson went out to the airport to meet Viktor Zavarzin , the Russian general leading the detachment , and established a working relationship with him . Jackson , who is fond of whisky and cigars , discovered that the Russian troops were apprehensive about being attacked by the Kosovo Liberation Army , and promised to protect the Russians by sending a detachment of British soldiers commanded by his son Mark — along with a bottle of whisky . Jackson was knighted when he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath ( KCB ) in 1998 , and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order ( DSO ) in 1999 for his leadership in Kosovo . Upon his return to the British chain of command in early 2000 , he assumed the position of Commander - in - Chief , Land Command , the second - highest position in the British Army , and a post which entailed promotion to full general and membership of the Army Board . As Commander - in - Chief , Jackson was responsible for assembling forces for the 2000 British intervention in Sierra Leone , which included Brigadier David Richards — later Chief of the Defence Staff — and Jackson ' s son Mark . He also handled requests from the civilian authorities for assistance with the foot - and - mouth disease crisis , floods and strikes by firefighters and fuel - tanker drivers . While still Commander - in - Chief , he stood in for the Chief of the General Staff , marching behind the coffin at the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother , in 2002 . At the time of the 11 September 2001 attacks , Jackson was on a visit to the British training facility in Alberta , Canada . He managed to return to the UK the next day aboard a casualty evacuation aircraft and had overall responsibility for force generation for the British Army ' s contribution to the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq . Chief of the General Staff . Jackson succeeded General Sir Michael Walker as Chief of the General Staff ( CGS ) — the professional head of , and highest post in , the British Army — on 1 February 2003 , just over a month before the 2003 invasion of Iraq . He later said that he " did his homework " in researching the disputed legality of the war and had convinced himself that the invasion was legal . Shortly after the invasion of Iraq , Jackson ordered an inquiry into the alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners by British soldiers . He admitted that the allegations had damaged the Army ' s reputation , but believed that further damage would be done by covering them up . Several soldiers were eventually convicted in connection with the abuse , after which Jackson publicly apologised on behalf the British Army and promised to appoint an officer to determine what lessons needed to be learnt . Weeks after becoming CGS , Jackson was summoned to give evidence before the Bloody Sunday Inquiry . The most controversial action of Jackson ' s tenure as CGS was the Army ' s modernisation of the regiment al structure in 2004 , in which many regiments were merged to form larger ones . The amalgamations led to the loss of many regimental names , including the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment , which became part of The Rifles , and the Black Watch , which , after intervention by Queen Elizabeth II , retained its name but became a battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland . Jackson insisted that the change was necessary to give the Army greater flexibility and capability , but said he was " acutely aware that this will be sad and unwelcome news for at least some of the infantry " . As part of the same review , the arms plot system , which kept infantry units moving around every few years , was also phased out as being inefficient . During the Iraq War Jackson admitted that the war was putting the service under strain , but called the claim that the Army was " at breaking point " , " nonsense " . Jackson was dismissive of claims that the Army was under - equipped , recalling his conversation with a soldier : " There ' s a bit of a fuss going on about boots and bog rolls and whatnot . Are you all right for boots ? " He later conceded that this could be seen as " cavalier " , and that he " had no intention of belittling the gravity of the situation " , but that he " didn ' t want to send a message to the enemy that we were in any way not ready " . Known for speaking his mind , Jackson attracted media attention towards the end of his tenure as CGS in 2006 , when he criticised Norman Kember for Kember ' s apparent lack of gratitude to the soldiers who freed him from Iraqi kidnappers . Jackson was promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath ( GCB ) in December 2004 in the New Year Honours List . His investiture took place immediately after the awarding of the Victoria Cross to Johnson Beharry , who was then a private soldier , as the VC takes precedence over all other awards . Speaking of Beharry ' s award , Jackson said he had " never felt more proud of the British Army " , and following the investiture said that he was " overshadowed " by Beharry , " and quite rightly so — it was an honour to stand alongside him " . He was present at the 2006 Sovereign ' s Parade at RMA Sandhurst , in which Prince Harry of Wales was commissioned — the first Sovereign ' s Parade to be attended by Elizabeth II in 15 years . One of the most high - profile British Army generals since the Second World War , Jackson was succeeded as Chief of the General Staff by Sir Richard Dannat and retired from active service in August 2006 after almost 45 years of service . Honorary roles . Jackson has held a number of honorary and ceremonial positions in various regiments . His first was as Honorary Colonel , 10 ( Volunteer ) Battalion , The Parachute Regiment in 1994 , which he relinquished in 1999 . In 1998 he was appointed Colonel Commandant of the Parachute Regiment , until he was relieved by Sir John Reith in 2004 , and Colonel Commandant , Adjutant General ' s Corps , succeeding Sir Jeremy Mackenzie , until he was relieved by Sir Freddie Viggers in 2005 . He was appointed Honorary Colonel of the Territorial Army ' s 2nd Battalion ( Volunteers ) The Royal Gloucestershire , Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment , in 1997 . Following their amalgamation in the modernisation of the regimental structure , Jackson was appointed to the newly created position of Honorary Colonel , the Rifle Volunteers , in 1999 . He was given the title of Aide de Camp General ( ADC ) to Queen Elizabeth II in 2001 , succeeding Sir Rupert Smith . He relinquished the appointment in 2006 . After his retirement from the Army , he was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire ( DL ) in 2007 . Retirement . 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 decisive role and that the drawdown of troops from Iraq meant the UK had the capability for a larger increase . After the Saville Report published its findings in June 2010 , Jackson gave an interview in which he joined Prime Minister David Cameron in offering a " fulsome apology " for the events . He acknowledged that troops of the First Parachute Battalion , of which he was adjutant , had killed people " without justification " , but went on to observe that " Northern Ireland is a very different place [ in 2010 ] , not least because of sacrifices made " by the soldiers who had served there , and asked that the report " be seen in this context " . Since leaving the army Jackson has also made a number of corporate speaking appearances , applying his military values to a business environment with a company called Military Speakers . Personal life . Jackson married while at university in 1966 . The marriage , of which Jackson does not speak publicly , produced two children ( Amanda and Mark ) before ending in a divorce in the early 1980s . He married again in 1985 , to Sarah ( née Coombe ) , whom he met when they debated the Falklands War at a dinner party in 1984 . The couple had a son , Tom , in 1990 . Jackson ' s daughter Amanda is a mother of four and runs a public house . Mark joined the Army and served under his father ' s command in Kosovo . He also served in Sierra Leone and Afghanistan , eventually reaching the rank of major , but left the Army in 2002 after being seriously injured in a civilian parachuting accident two years earlier . He now works as an artist and sculptor . Jackson was well known for having large bags under his eyes , which he had surgically removed shortly after his retirement . He stated that it was a matter of " vision , not vanity " , as the bags had been impairing his sight . Jackson lists his interests as music , reading , travel , skiing , and tennis .