Mike Jackson joined the army aged 17 in 1961 and went to Sandhurst next year. Initially in the Intelligence Corps he then joined the Parachute Regiment. In the early 1970s he was posted to Northern Ireland. Here he witnessed or was close to many harrowing events such as the Ballymurphy killings, Bloody Sunday and the Warrenpoint ambush. He saw bodies dismembered by bombs and acknowledged that this could be traumatic. Mike thinks that soldiers adapt to such events, helped by the adrenalin the body produces. He did not want to go into detail regarding Bloody Sunday as he had already disclosed this during the Saville Report years earlier.

He regrets that he missed the Falklands War as he was working in the MOD at the time and after service in Norway he was sent to former Yugoslavia. Here he commanded the British 3^rd division and some units from other nations. Later, in 1999, he commanded KFOR, a multi-national peacekeeping force in Bosnia and Herzegovina. During this time he was ordered by General Clark, the US overall commander, to prevent a Russian unit from seizing Pristina airfield. Jackson refused the order, saying that he was not going to ‘…start the Third World War…’, an action which gained notoriety in the media. Later, in 2003, he was promoted to head of the Army.

In 2006 he retired after forty-five years’ service. He describes his career as both enjoyable and rewarding as it helped to make a difference to peoples lives.