A former Major General has told Premier that Christians are "desperately needed in the military" as armed forces battle with "a recruitment and retention crisis."
He was responding to comments made by the army's top general, Sir Patrick Sanders, who warned members of the public may need to be called up if there's a war.
It comes after a senior Nato military official warned that private citizens should prepare for an all-out war with Russia in the next 20 years, which would require wholesale change in their lives.
Major General Tim Cross, who commanded military operations in Iraq and Kosovo before advising the House of Commons Defence Committee, has called on the government and the army to make a plan quickly to revamp messaging around the military.
Cross, who became a Christian whilst serving in the army, told Premier Christian faith can have a huge impact in an army context, citing when he led the building of refugee tents when serving as a brigade commander in Kosovo.
"We need Christians to bring into the military the essential basics of our faith, and allow that to be applied in the way we lead people, the way we mix and run the military organisation."
"We need to be prepared to stand up against some pretty brutal people around the world. And I find myself engaging quite a lot of them. There are surprisingly, for many people, a lot of Christians in the military, and a very strong armed forces Christian Union.
"And a lot of senior people who I served with over the years are very committed Christians. And they're important because when it comes to the debates about strategy and campaign planning, and how you conduct operations, you know, they have an impact."
Telegraph reports say the army is currently in the process of reducing its strength from 82,000 to 73,000 by next year, its smallest size since the Napoleonic era, with the RAF's numbers cut by 50% since 2010.
This year, having been given the task of recruiting 9,813 people, Capita, the army's contracted recruiter, admitted it has so far only recruited 5,000.
