From Military Life to Civi Street

When I decided to leave the Army, after four years serving with The First Royal Tank Regiment, all I wanted to do was move on and get my personal training qualifications and become a PT. Always referring to myself as "a civi that got on the wrong bus", not realising just how much of an impact the Army had on me and the way I viewed the world. The saying for somebody that is completely committed to being a soldier through and through is, they bleed green, well that was never me. That is not to say that I didn't give my all to anything that was asked of me, told or vulentold to do, I just didn't always see the point in some of the jobs we would be asked to do. Like a lot of the other lads that were asked to do the same things, yet I believed that there was more to life than moving boxes from one self, to the other, then back to it's original shelf. Of course it wasn't just mind numbing tasks like this, there were plenty of things that I had the absolute privilege to do; six weeks skiing in Switzerland, learned to drive the best tank from any Army the Challenger 2, adventure training and although not the happiest of times during my career I severed six months in Afghanistan as a dog handler.

Yet once I was on my way out, that was it, I wanted as little as possible to do with the Army. Like I said, in my opinion I was more like a civi that had been on the wrong bus for four years, and just wanted to pick up where I had left off before joining up. Unfortunately, the Army was and still is, more engrained in me than I understood or believed it to be.

Not to worry, if the Army is being the best, then sure there are brilliant qualities that people will see in me and I will excel in anything that is asked of me. Well that was not quite the case, as unlike on your way into the Army you complete basic training, there is no civi basic training on the way out. Leaving me to learn the hard way, and having talked to other military leavers who have experienced the same issues, that things are done completely different away from the lads and sirs or mamas. Luckily for me, there has been a very strong support network of family and friends, clearly not understanding my circumstance but who have been there to listen and advice where they could.

Very quickly it became as clear the moon on a cloudless night, I had to become my own boss, so that I could be myself, to put my military experiences into practice and help the people I was working with as clients in my own unique way.