E150 - Guests: Marshal of the RAF, the Lord Jock Stirrup, former Chief of the Defence Staff

I'd love to hear from you; feel free to send me a Text Message **Before you do anything else, please hit the subscribe / follow button in your podcast platform to ensure you get immediate notification of future episodes, and to help boost this show within the algorithms.** This episode is also available as a video podcast on my YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/rPZwRS\_Kd2c With geopolitics and national security so much in the headlines these days, my special guest for this 150th episode could not be more appropriate.  Marshal of the Royal Air Force, the Right Honourable, the Lord Jock Stirrup KG GCB AFC FRAeS FCMI is a former UK Chief of the Defence Staff and a very active cross-bench member of the House of Lords. I have known Jock almost all of my working life.  He was my flight commander way back when I was on the Jaguar Conversion Unit in 1983 and subsequently my squadron commander when we were both on II(AC) Squadron in Royal Air Force Germany during the Cold War.  His whole career story is an amazing one and I have huge respect for all that he has achieved whilst in uniform and beyond. From starting out as a first tour flying instructor, Jock rapidly found himself on active operations as a loan service officer in what was then the Sultan of Oman's Air Force during the Dhofar War.  He subsequently became a leading figure in the Jaguar Force before continuing up the career ladder to ultimately become the UK Chief of Defence Staff from 2006 to 2010.   In this episode, we discuss his career journey and also his thoughts on the political and security challenges facing not only the UK but also the wider world today.  Jock is also the first Knight of the Garter who has been on the show and so we discuss that in some detail.  For those not familiar, the Garter is the highest order of chivalry in the UK and, can have a maximum of only 24 companion knights at any one time so it is a very exclusive club indeed. It was a real privilege to get Jock on the show and, as anticipated, it was a fascinating discussion.  I very much hope you enjoy it and, as ever, please let me know what you think. Support the show Thank you for listening!  If you value the content I produce, please consider supporting the show financially by becoming a member at https://www.patreon.com/leading4life/ or clicking the "Support the Show" link above. You will have the choice of becoming a Supporter, a Champion or a Patron of the show and any contribution you feel able to make will be hugely appreciated. You can find more about me here: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judsonbob/ X: https://x.com/JudsonBob Website: https://leading4life.co.uk/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Leading4Life