INTELLIGENCE CELL ANALYSTIn the Intelligence cell, you are responsible for direct input into the planning process of military operations, delivering direct, critical insight to the Commanding officer to influence his plan based on your expert knowledge of Geo-politics, military tactics, and equipment. In charge of the development of intelligence products and the delivery to high-level stakeholders and groups of up to 200, sometimes including non-English-speaking international soldiers. Collating and assessing current intelligence, digesting and then relaying it into a product in time for the CO to adjust means I have the skills necessary to excel in any aspect of intelligence work.

INFANTRY SECTION 2ND IN COMMANDPromotion to LCpl is a 6-week grueling course that tests mental and physical robustness as well as all the skills you develop as a Rifleman, it also begins to introduce management and subordinate development into your skillset, it is here as a section 2IC that you begin to grow as a soldier and junior leader, developing soft skills in HR, Conflict resolution and Project management.

Deployed to northern Iraq on Operation shader I was part of a small team of British training instructors sent to train the Peshmerga in infantry tactics, counter explosives and searches. 25 British troops pushed to a small camp 4 hours away from the main body of forces, this meant our team was isolated and alone, with the closest aid taking over 2 hours to reach us by air. This means that we had to hold ourselves to the highest standard of professionalism to ensure we could complete our mission un-hindered. Key roles I took part in during this deployment:CAV (Civilian Armoured Vehicle) operator – due to the sensitive nature of our mission we travelled across country in undercover armoured vehicles so not to draw too much attention to ourselves. This meant operating, maintaining my CAV and being an SME (Subject Matter Expert) in Vehicle extractions and contact drills. Navigation – there were multiple areas of the country that were deemed too hostile for us to travel through so great care was taken to ensure we changed route every time we travelled to both avoid these areas and, so we didn’t set patterns making ourselves a target.Instructor – delivering and aiding the delivery of multiple different lessons to the peshmerga, this was early in my career and conducting these lessons in this setting to the standard required has played a key role in the development of my instructional capabilities.

RIFLEMAN As a Rifleman I was placed in an Infantry platoon and deployed on numerous exercises around the UK, this allowed me to sharpen my skills as an infanteer and grow my confidence, this all culminated in Pre-deployment training and a subsequent deployment to northern Iraq, where for 7-months all my skills were put to the test in an ever-changing environment, deployed on operations you are expected to perform to the highest standard of professionalism.