Brigadier Nicky Moffat, widely thought to become Britain’s first female general is taking voluntary retirement from the British Army, close on the heels of the UK government’s plan to announce reduction in the Army’s manpower from 100,000 soldiers to 82,000 by 2020.
“The timing of her departure is a blow to ministers as they prepare to this week announce controversial plans to reduce the Army’s manpower,” the Daily Mail reported today. Handing over her resignation after 26 years of service, her sudden move has stunned her colleagues and the administration, though she insists that “My decision to leave has nothing whatsoever to do with Army cuts.”
Joining the British Army via the now-defunct Women’s Royal Army Corps, she rose up the ranks which even included a brief stint as the military private secretary to the then defence secretary, Geoff Hoon.Currently the Armed Forces’ head of pay and strategic manning at the Ministry of Defence, and thought by most to become the first female general in British military history, said in a statement through the Ministry of Defence : “I have been privileged to command and to work alongside officers and soldiers of the very highest quality. I remain of the view that there is no better time for young women to join the Army. After a long and thoroughly rewarding career, I am looking forward to new challenges. I will look back on the Army and those with whom I have served with considerable respect and pride.”
With women only comprising of 10% of the British Armed Forces and just 8% of the Army, the proposed reduction in armed personnel will probably see several famous regiments disappearing, as reported by the Daily Mail. It would a long time with the current diversity-ratio before the British Armed Forces would see the rise of another female General in its ranks.
How the British Army will fight in the future.
