Today's turnaround in operational tours and intensity of operations places extraordinary demands on both regular and territorial Fusiliers - and their families. Yet the positive spirit and strong morale clearly prevail over adversity and that surely is at the heart of Regimental spirit.

The rest of us are left wondering how we can help and support from a distance. It is with this in mind that I am so honoured to have been appointed by Her Majesty as Colonel of the Regiment to take up the mantle of leading the wider Regimental family. The letter of appointment states:

During this period of change for the Army, the Army Board recognises the need to foster the regimental system to ensure that it remains robust and secure to face whatever the future holds. From that I extract my mission.

One of the positive aspects of the last reorganisation was that the Army completed moves to large regiments on which they stuttered and prevaricated so many times in the past. Ironically this now leaves us as one of the smaller regiments so what are the implications of that? In the first instance we have many more years of experience in thinking beyond single battalion structures. Some of the new regiments are really grasping the opportunities of size while others give the impression of being stuck in a sham marriage. We are committed to cross battalion management and must work positively with the Queens Division to manage the new world of minimum arms plotting. We must seize the new opportunities while preserving the best of our heritage.

I should like to see us complete the loose ends of 1968 by managing our funds, associations and area legacy organisations behind the one unifying spirit of being England's Fusiliers. We have so much to be proud of in the operational experience and achievements of the last 39 years - second to none in the British Army. No uniform could hold all the campaign medals won across the Regiment if they were pinned on one representative Fusilier! Our proud history is inspirational with 238 Battle Honours to date but we have to stay ahead by being canny, modern and flexible in our approach. continued...

The Regimental Creed.
We can be justly proud of our achievements over these past 40 years, with distinguished service in Germany, Northern Ireland, the Balkans, and Iraq and in Afghanistan to recall only the most obvious theatres of our operations. The Colonel of the Regiment has directed that today we should adopt and publish abroad a Regimental Creed. It is encouraging that this creed has emanated not from the top down, but from serving Fusiliers and their officers, and was presented to the Regimental Council as the way Fusiliers do business. This itself says much about our Regiment.