Back in September the Chief of the Army called for greater support of the British Armed forces. He said there was a social gulf  between the army (which has borne the brunt of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan) and British society. Soon Ministers began to raise the issue of public support for the armed forces, and media campaigns were ratcheted up... but this hyper-activity was based on a single major flaw - the widely held but utterly false assumption that there was a lack of public support for the armed forces to begin with.
 
What soon became apparent to the media and the MoD was the public was all too ready to come out and support 'our boys and girls' - something the newly recruited Director General of Marketing and Communication at the MoD Nick Gurr agrees with. In this week's PR Magazine he says 'the public love the armed forces and regard them very highly - that comes through in our polling...'

What the public don't understand is the role of the MoD, what the procurement strategy is and what the armed forces need, how each service manages their equipment budget, and why projects seem to be delayed, equipment fails to turn up to theatres of operation or goes missing en route.  These are the issues that Nick will have to focus on - and in doing so will have to navigate a department that is in the throes of a budget crisis, low morale and a set of decisions that will prove unpopular whatever is decided. Best of luck.

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