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.

Education

Parry was educated at Royal Naval School Tal-Handaq, 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, where he was responsible for the doctrinal and conceptual development of the UK Armed Forces to 2025. In this role, he sought to introduce new conceptual approaches, especially in relation to the strategy and tactics needed in the campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, especially with his inter-Agency and inter-Departmental approach which he then transformed into the 'Comprehensive Approach', and Countering Irregular Activity; these were eventually adopted as part of the 'Petraeus Plan' for Iraq. In 2006, he gave a lecture at the Royal United Services Institute about the dangers to international security of climate change, migration and global inequality, together with the possibility of the re-emergence of other states as strategic competitors. He was also the author of the DCDC Global Strategic Trends Programme 2007-36, which, among other assessments that were subsequently confirmed by events, foresaw the collapse of the world's financial system, the re-emergence of piracy at sea and the Russian intervention in Georgia.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[1][2][3]

Independent Schools Council

After leaving the Navy, he became Chief Executive of the Independent Schools Council.^[4] 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.^[5]

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.^[6]

On 12 June 2010, in an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme,^[7] 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^[7] as saying that senior planners had strongly resisted "ditching the lessons from the past", preferring these to the "radical and progressive ideas" which were needed.

References

1. ^ Peter Almond (2006-06-11). "Beware: the new goths are coming". London: Times Online. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article673612.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1. Retrieved 2008-10-18. 
2. ^ International Institute for Strategic Studies. "Rear Admiral Chris Parry CBE". http://www.iiss.org/conferences/military-leaders-forum/rear-admiral-chris-parry-cbe/. Retrieved 2008-10-18. 
3. ^ Jane's Conferences. "Rear Admiral Chris J. Parry CBE MA FCMI". http://www.janes.com/events/conferences/ukdc2008/speakers.html. Retrieved 2008-10-18. 
4. ^ Independent Schools Council. "Independent Schools Council appoints new Chief Executive". http://www.isc.co.uk/publication_4_0_0_26_344.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-18. 
5. ^ Alexandra Frean (2008-06-12). "Chief of Independent Schools Council Chris Parry quits". London: Times Online. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article4123865.ece. Retrieved 2008-10-18. 
6. ^ For example, Chris Parry (2008-11-23). "Promising new waters for al-Qa'ida?". London: The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/chris-parry-promising-new-waters-for-alqaida-1031031.html. Retrieved 2008-11-24. 
7. ^ ^{a b} "UK's Helmand province mission was 'flawed'". BBC. 12 June 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/10300703.stm. Retrieved 2010-07-05. 

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