Meet some of those who have made the move into Construction
Read our case studies
Our service leavers, reservists and military family deploy their experience in governance and leadership when it comes to problem solving and communicating with a range of business and community stakeholders.
Their exceptional planning and programming skills are utilised when it comes to time, resource, and people management of a project. Finally, a commitment to risk management and quality – getting the job done on time and delivered safely, might well be known as End Exercise (End Ex) during a military career, but for us, we call it Perfect Delivery.
Contact our team to find out more
Read more: Guy Kenevan, a second career after 22-years as a Marine
Read more: John Charles, his 42.5 year commitment to the Reserves
Read more: Jack Dean, his experience of recently joining us
Read more: Robert Atkinson, from yacht design, to the Forces, to now
Read more: Brian Irving, a career in the Reserves
Read more: Chris Westlake, from the Army to Health & Safety
Read more: Gavin Bolger, a second career in the construction industry
Interview with Guy Kenevan, assistant site managerLocation: South
Guy spent 22 years in the Armed Forces as a Royal Marines Commando from April 1997 to April 2019 achieving the rank of WO2, Squadron Sergeant Major. As part of his work, he qualified as a boat specialist, specialising in all types of raiding and assault craft, beach reconnaissance, obstacle clearing, and covert troop insertion.
He completed numerous operational tours including those in Northern Ireland, Sierra Leone, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia, to name but a few.
His full interview can be found here
"I’d completed a few jobs from my teens into my early 20’s before I joined the Royal Marines aged 26, for me, there was no other service that appealed to me, I took the plunge, completed my 32 weeks training, and embraced all that it was to be a Royal Marine.
When he left the Forces in 2019, Guy had lined up a role with a friend in the events industry, where he spent the Summer setting up barrier systems and planning public access routes for large events, such as festivals, sporting events and film premieres. However, as the pandemic hit in 2020 and events were cancelled, he was furloughed. One of his serving contacts, put him in touch with the Project Manager on a Morgan Sindall project that was being undertaken on a Tier 1 military base.
They were looking for a person on the team who had experience, and an understanding of the military mindset processes, security protocols and to be able to deliver security briefs to civilian contractors – all things that Guy had undertaken in his military career and the rest they say is history!
Guy noted two similarities between the two industries:
Communication skills are utilised for both roles. Guy said: “Everyone thinks the Armed Forces get results by screaming and shouting at people, and in some high-risk areas or roles, it is, but on the whole like in construction, your objective is to get the most out of people and to get them to work for you efficiently, productively and, most of all safely – and employing a range of communication styles helps this. The skills you’ve developed in the Armed Forces to speak to colleagues, the public or senior officers without a doubt are all transferrable into the construction industry.
Management of time, resources, budget, and people are also similar in the two industries and how these all come together to get a job done, it will all feel very familiar to anyone who is ex-Forces. Being able make a judgement call on what is a more important task to complete than another, ensuring you’re not wasting time or resources are all the skills I used during my time as a Royal Marine. It’s often something that those people serving don’t recognise in themselves, so don’t remember to sell yourself on these skills.
And the differences between the sectors?
The work routine can be similar, you’ll be working to a programme of works on site (which could be like a direct set of orders for exercises or operations in the Armed Forces which you will have to dissect and execute), and you’ll have structured routine of who, what, where and by when you need to achieve any given task by. But the difference might be the working day, in construction you’ll generally start and finish at the same time most days.
In the Armed Forces you might work a long, full day, very long nights with little or no rest, a short one, a couple of hours mainly of sitting about waiting for a detail! A full, regular day was something to get used to.” One of the best things about working in Construction? “For me I’m home every night, I became a father a little later in life and one of my reasons for leaving the Royal Marines after completing my 22 years was that I wanted to be able to see my family more. I could have stayed, but the roles were around 250 miles from home, and I didn’t want to be a weekend dad. By the time my daughter was two years old during my time serving I had spent 16 months away from her in total of 24 and that was tough for me and my family.
I currently have a flexible arrangement so I can be home two days a week by 5pm to collect my daughter from after school club, while my wife is working. A lot of projects do offer flexibility on site now which wasn’t always the case, often project teams will discuss a routine that suits all at the start of a project.
Interview with John Charles, technical managerLocation: Cardiff
John has been with the business for 29 years and served 42 ½ years in The Army Reserves. In his role for Morgan Sindall Construction, he works at the early stage of a project (pre-construction) to undertake site investigations which might include surveys and desk-based research from open-source information into our prospective sites. This information is compiled into reports and findings when the team are submitting bids and tenders for construction projects.
Day to day, John is the one digging through archives and open source intelligence, often on specialist subject matters he’s had a lot of experience in, such as water and sewage, to ensure our teams know as much as they need to know about the history of a site before a spade even goes into the ground.
“That’s the really challenging, but interesting part of the job, some projects you’ll find are very similar – they might just vary in scale. But the support and expertise you can offer the team to uncover unforeseen problems below ground or solutions to complex refurbishments or temporary works is where you can add real value.”
John has utilised these problem-solving skills as part of his role in the Reserves, as a SO2 Watchkeeper in 160 Brigade’s Resilience Support Team. He has been involved in planning and logistics management, preparing combat roads, railway construction, bridging; understanding the need for traffic management and large vehicles access to challenging sites.
Much like his technical role for Morgan Sindall, John will prepare information that gives the team an appreciation of the location they’re entering. John jokes… “Of course, in construction we do not like to liken our competitors to enemies! But when it comes to preparing a site investigation in construction or the armed forces, we’re engaging in a battle to win. In both scenarios it’s about helping your team with quality information to understand the surroundings they’re going into and giving them a competitive advantage over the other party."
John works from our office in Cardiff, covering Wales and the South West and this has seen him work not only on projects such as schools and hospitals in the region, but also projects within the Armed Forces due to his experience and security clearance. This has included HMS Cambria, a new training facility for Maritime Reserves in Cardiff Bay and works at RAF Fairford & Welford.
In his role in Construction and as a Reservist, John feels he’s been able to utilise his skills to experience the best of both worlds. Using what he’s learnt during his career in Construction to be supportive to the countries defence objectives too.
Throughout his career John has also supported others and organisations local to him and post-retirement he intends to continue this work. He sits on the Welsh Reserves Board, chairs the Wales Reserve and Cadets Force – which grants adventure training for all three services in Wales. He’s also Secretary of the Glamorgan Fun for the Army benevolent fund, Vice chairman of Scouts and his Regiments Museum. He supports those in the business with their CIOB (Chartered Institute of Building) chartership applications and has mentored both experience and graduate members via the organisation too.
Would he recommend a career in the Reserves?
Yes. “It’s a chance to grow in confidence outside of your line management or business supervision. It’s a challenge in a structured way – and will see you develop skills to cope easily with problem solving, dealing with situations outside of your comfort zone and develop leadership skills. They’re all skills that are utilised in construction, but for some who like structure or a hands-on experience, it’s a great way to build them further.”
Interview with Jack Dean, assistant site managerLocation: Essex
Jack joined the team in early March 2023, after serving eight years as a Lance Corporal, in the Parachute Regiment stationed in Colchester.
As a Lance Corporal, he was responsible for administration of a team between 6-8 people during deployments in the UK and aboard. During his time in the forces Jack also completed training which qualified him as an All-Arms Physical Training Instructor, with responsibility for delivering physical training sessions to a company of up to 90 people.
Jack had been working since his resettlement and had been applying for roles. A friend recommended he speak to Buildforce, of which Morgan Sindall is a founding partner. BuildForce are dedicated to supporting service leavers find roles in the Construction industry, whether this is setting up placement and work experience opportunities or supporting training to those seeking employment.
Through the organisation Jack was contacted by a Buildforce advisor who set him up with a placement on the Morgan Sindall site where he is now permanently based – Cedar Hall School in Benfleet, Essex. He had also completed a course with Building Heroes, which also meant he had a CSCS card – a requirement for all those working on construction projects.
“It’s great to come back to the site where I started my placement”, says Jack, “I popped my head in before I started my placement, just to say hi to the team and introduce myself and it was at the groundworks phase, now through my placement and my permanent role I’ve seen the foundations and first floor progress. It’s now in the next phases where the cladding is being applied.”
As a new starter to the business, we asked Jack about his experience so far and information he’d pass onto anyone looking to join the construction industry following a career in the Armed Forces.
How did you find your first few weeks in your role?
“It’s tiring! The hours in a civilian role are different to that in the Army. When you’re on camp you might spend around 60% of your time in your role and the hours vary, you might have a late start on a Monday or a Wednesday or Friday half day. But in civilian employment the hours are more regular. I’m lucky as the commute to site isn’t too far from home (45 minutes to an hour) – but a regular, 5 full days a week job with continuous leaning is something to get used to!
In the first few weeks, I was really fatigued by the end of the day. Where site it can be very demanding throughout the day, it felt like my head was gone!
I was spending a lot of time actively listening throughout the day, making sure I was taking notes and asking questions, getting used to the new acronyms and how people communicate with each other. You’ll spend perhaps 15 minutes on one subject or talking to one supplier onsite before moving onto another person to talk about a completely different thing. It’s a completely new environment to get used to, but after just a couple of weeks it’s all starts to sink in and get much easier.
What do you think are the skills that are transferrable to the Construction sector for those leaving the Armed Forces?
For me it’s confidence in an environment you’re unfamiliar with, being in the army, more specifically, the infantry, your purpose is to take ground quickly and get on with things, you must be comfortable being out of your comfort zone. On a site, we employ multiple trades and when a trade has come in to do a particular task, even though it is a Morgan Sindall site it can still feel like you’re stepping into their world.
Effective communication – is a hugely transferrable skill. I would sometimes deliver training to up to 90 people and I felt calm in my delivery, so I feel confident in speaking to people. This also helps when it comes to asking questions, coming from the Armed Forces you don’t tend to have that fear in asking for clarification, and learning from others who have the answers."
Jack also mentioned that the organisational skills learnt during a career in the Armed Forces stay with you too. “It’s sometimes hugely underrated, but just being organised is a great skill. From how to coordinate yourself, to planning your day and being in different places - on time (or in the case of someone from the Armed Forces arriving early!) Even low-level things like having a notepad and pen to hand and managing your notes. I still write down everything that needs to be done as I don’t want to forget anything - I go back to my trusty pad regularly so there’s no chance of forgetting anything.”
What skills do you think someone might need to learn when they join the industry?
If you’re coming from an infantry background, you may not have used a computer as much in your role. If that’s the case I would recommend learning some basic computer skills with programmes such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook email.
A lot of people take for granted that computers have been a part of their study or work for such a long time that using them is like second nature. It might seem daunting to start with and it can become frustrating as you know the answer to the question but using the tech to get something from A to B is the blocker. However, there’s no shortage of people who can help though – and everyone has been accommodating and given me lots of tips and tricks.
What are the differences between the two roles?
In the Armed Forces, you could go from one Company to another, and the way things are done, the leadership style and what’s expected of you would be almost the same – you’d all be treated the same too. In Construction, there are so many different routes in, so many styles of working, so there is no-one-size-fits-all leadership. To get the best out of people you need to be more aware of how different people work, and what motivates them.
What are the similarities between the two roles?
The approach to team-based project work is very similar. You’re working in a team, made up of different skills sets and it’s something that feels familiar. Each person has their role in the team and they’re all there to see the project to the end.
Interview with Robert Atkinson, head of designLocation: Southern Home Counties
Robert served for five years in the military from 1997. During his school years he was a Scout, completed his Duke of Edinburgh award and after speaking to a friend at university who had joined University Officer Training Corps (UOTC).
Robert felt that a career in the forces, where he was able to roll around in the mud and continue his love for sailing, whilst getting paid sounded like a good option.
Robert completed his training at Sandhurst and spent time in Germany & Northern Ireland and left the military in order to find a career that enabled him to spend more time with his family. Robert joined the industry after speaking to a specialist recruiter that worked with people who had left the military. This type of route was beneficial as they understood the transferrable skills set of those leaving the Armed Forces.
Like a lot of people Robert, describes his transition into the Construction industry as ‘falling into Construction.’ Robert said, “If you’d have told me at university that I’d be in construction for 20 years I would have laughed.
"There’s not much awareness of the range of roles available, and it’s not seen to be glamourous. But the industry hasn’t done me any harm and it really does have a lot to offer. Work life balance can be achieved and the conversations of what you’d like in this area are easier to have. For me, a career in construction just seemed more appealing than something like accountancy!”
Robert worked at Canary Wharf in as a site manager where he focussed on manufacturing led procurement and quality control with a number of European suppliers. He was later offered a role in design management, where his BENg in Yacht Design helped with his ability to interpret complex drawings giving him skills which were ideally suited to the job.
During his military career, Robert also completed qualifications with the Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), which included skills in people management and resources – all skills and experience that are utilised in a project team. He also had experience in his previous career in delivering construction projects such as ammunition dumps and field hospitals – thankfully though in construction none of our projects need to be delivered in just two days.
But there’s a lot of transferrable skills and similarities with the construction industry.
According to Robert, the similarities are: “Thinking on your feet and problem solving is definitely a skill you’ll use, you’ll also be working with a range of stakeholders, using interpersonal communication skills to manage people, site progress, expectations and change.”
During his interview Robert mentioned the phrase ‘Nil Desperandum’ (Never give up). “Those who have had a military career are used to being thrown into the deep end, and it’s this adaptability that really helps you in a career in construction. You can learn the technical elements of working with glass, metal and concrete, but when you have to make decisions quickly that ability to get in there with no fear, learn by doing (even if you haven’t done that task before), is something you’ll utilise on a construction project.”
Like a number of our ex-serving personnel, Robert noted another similarity - the heavy use of acronyms. “In my military career, I once had to ask for list of TLAs, I often forget that other people don’t know what that means, and construction is no different. You will find yourself talking in a whole new set of codes and acronyms and coming from a military environment you’ll have no problem picking it up- just don’t forget that those outside of the industry have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Finally, he noted that one of the similarities between the two sectors is the team camaraderie that you don’t always get in other industries.
Interview with Brian Irving, senior design manager in Scotland
Brian is a senior design manager working in Scotland, he joined the business in 1996. He’d always had an interest in the Reserves and so, in 1997 following a national recruitment event, he joined and has been a part of the Royal Engineers ever since.
In his role as Captain, he is second in command leading a team of forty designers and construction trades to support the Royal Air Force (RAF) to maintain infrastructure on their airfields. Tasks include reconnaissance to add extensions, creating or refurbishing hangars or resurfacing areas of land for use by the RAF as well as reducing flooding risks and planning logistics to ensure that the RAF can move large aircraft and equipment. Previous projects have seen Brian support works at the RAF Akrotiri base, which is the home of British operations in Cyprus.
In fact, Brian’s role at Morgan Sindall and the Reserves have progressed almost in tandem, starting in operational roles in engineering and surveying and now rising to senior roles that require much more people and project management skills.
Brian said: "The Armed Forces have the same infrastructure requirements as a lot of organisations – they need to maintain buildings and move people, materials and equipment efficiently and safely. So that’s why you have the development of ‘Specialist Units’ and in my case it’s a Construction/Engineering specialism, so everyone in that unit has some kind of construction role or background and our ‘day jobs’ map directly to the role we do for the Reserves.”
“The National Specialist Units do involve less training commitments, you still have to maintain your field training – but not as frequently as front line units. In this role, your given a project brief and you work as a team to find the solution that are mapped to the technical skills you have.”“The Armed Forces like most organisations are always keen to keep their skills and experience of their teams up to date. The Reserves allows them to utilise the skills from those in Civilian employment, but they also offer additional training opportunities, so you sort of get the best of both worlds. You’re using your skills from your day job to support the UK’s defences too."
When we interviewed Brian, he was just preparing for a weekend planning exercise at RAF Whittering, where they would be ensuring everything would be in place for a two-week exercise in September. “There’s a lot to do in a short space of time,” Brian said, “From booking flights, ensuring medical records and authorisations are up to date – even down to organising food.”
How do you think being part of the Reserves has benefitted your role?
“It’s just been a great extension of my role and I’ve been able to utilise skills and experienced gained in one and use it in the other, I’m still working with a lot of the same terminology and the multi-disciplinary teams I would normally work with such as architects and M&E subcontractors. The difference with the Reserves is the timeframes and the resources available, so you learn to work on a very tight resource in a lot more concentrated period of time. The processes are sometimes much more simplified, but as with my day-to-day role there are still multiple stakeholders to manage and ensuring the right task has been assigned to the right person.
“I’ve received some additional training in the Reserves in leadership and management, particularly when it comes to problem solving and planning and this has been useful to utilise in my role.
“My experience has helped open doors and have conversations with those in a similar role or with a military background. It helps us on Ministry of Defence (MoD) projects as I have more of an understanding of the processes and standards involved.
“But also when it comes to people, it’s an opportunity to speak to people at networking and industry events who have a similar role to me or have a military background. There are a lot in the Construction industry who do.
Finally, would Brian recommend the Reserves to someone working in a civilian role?
“Yes. Like several industries there’s an aging demographic in the Reserves which is a concern to people. The recruitment and joining process can be quite time consuming now, it’s not like it was when you walk in the recruitment office and that’s it! There are application forms, medicals, pre-checks, interviews and then recruitment training. There are a lot of applications that drop off on the way, but if you’re aware of the time scales and you work for an employer who wants to support then it’s worth sticking to it.
“When you work for an organisation who hold the Armed Forces Covenant there are certain leave requirements if you’re deployed on exercise. Previously, the business were supportive when I was required at short notice for overseas operations. They helped me with the paperwork that was required by the MoD, as there was a short time frame to complete it all. The team kept in touch with me while I was deployed, and they were flexible with my start date when I returned to the UK.
“I’d recommend it and the good thing with events such as Armed Forces Day and awareness of those in the organisation with a military background, there’s people who can help you understand more about the role, how it fits with your day job and help with application processes.”
Interview with Chris Westlake, SHE Advisor, Thames Valley
Chris has been with the business for just over six years as a health and safety advisor. He advises and supports our projects to ensure that our teams and supply chain are maintaining best safety practice across all our sites, aligned to our 100% Safe approach.
He is also a Mental Health First Aid Instructor and has been delivering training to potential Mental Health First Aiders so that our business can offer that additional level of support to our employees, supply chain and community.
Before he joined the business, Chris worked in health and safety roles in the construction sector. Notably he worked for a period of time on the world-renowned Battersea Power Station project as a H&S advisor as the building made its transition from a former power station to a shopping and leisure destination.
Chris served in the Army for just over 11 Years and left in 2015, having been a part of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, operating and maintaining the Challenger Two Main battle tanks. Throughout his career he progressed thought the ranks finishing his service as a corporal. In his own words, “I always wanted to server in the army sine I was small but the running joke in the army was I got lost on the way to college,” he attended Beavers, Scouts and the Cadets and was accepted to the Army Foundation College in Harrogate at 16 in September 2004.
Making the transition from the Army to civilian employment
Chris said: “When I left the Army, I had decided it was time to do something different. The Army is always evolving, and at the time I left I had a medical condition that was impacting my physical exertion, but we couldn’t really find what it was. I felt that when it was also impacting his progression and future career in the Armed Forces, I thought it would be an ideal point to look at progressing my civilian career."
Chris discussed some of the similarities between the Armed Forces and Construction. “The culture and make up of the team are very similar, on a project you have a project director or an operational director, project and site managers, quantity surveyors and people like myself in Health and Safety.”
“You are part of a small project team, all batched together in a specific group, to deliver a building such as a school or hospital extension. But you’re also part of a bigger objective and in Morgan Sindall’s case for me, I am a part of the Thames Valley Office, which is part of our Central and West business region, but also just part of the national Morgan Sindall Construction business. In the Armed Forces, I was part of a tank crew, which were then part of a Troop of three tanks, a Half Squadron, a Squadron and then a Regiment.”
“On a day-to-day basis the process-driven approach is very easy for someone who has been part of the Armed Forces to join as they will have the same type of mindset. There are processes around safety, working with stakeholders and project plans to follow. But it can come with it’s own challenges too.”
“As part of your military training you’re almost broken down and remade into the army mindset. Whilst this does allow you to be very focused when it comes to following instruction, you may not be accustomed to thinking of alternative processes or innovation. Sometimes, on a site you might get asked ‘Do you think this should be done this way, or do you think this way might be better?’ and again, it’s not that you don’t have the answer, it’s just that you do sometimes get used to not having an opinion. It perhaps varies too depending on the role you did in the military.”
Matching the terminology you’re used to, such as job roles is also something to get used to.
Chris mentioned that one of the challenges of attracting people to the industry is that many don’t see that the range of roles that are available. “It’s mostly seen as being the trades, brickwork, roofing, carpentry etc… He said, and whilst we do need all those roles too, some of the management roles in planning, safety, estimating and even newer roles in sustainability are still quite unknown.
“When someone is leaving the Armed Forces they may have family too, and so a break in career and salary isn’t always an option. Therefore you sometimes find that some go into a career that they didn’t want or understand as the focus in on salary, stability and pension. Understanding that these roles can offer stability is something that we need to share more.”
“Other things that people are sometimes worried about is the travel requirements, previously it was quite common for people in the construction industry to be travelling long distances to projects. Now, there is more emphasis to try and put people on projects that are around an hour to an hour and half away and to look at flexible working if it’s appropriate to the project timescales and the rest of the team.
"At times I’ve had to travel to some projects on an ad hoc basis to support health and safety in our region, but sometimes it can mean you get to see and learn from a different type of project.”
“Construction is a good career for people to go into from a contractor perspective, there are a range of careers you can get involved in and you don’t necessarily have to start from the beginning. Someone leaving the forces after a long careers can have a full second career and not be the ‘new person.’ There are sometimes changes in the industry which usually stem from changes in government objectives, but on the whole there is always something that needs to be built!”
There are some organisations too that help support those leaving the Forces with their second career and Chris mentioned how these can help people get a foot in the door with work placements, CCS cards (which are required for all those in the industry to work on site and guided careers sessions. “The industry needs people with the relevant skills and often the work placements and opportunities set up by people like Buildforce help those on our projects who might have come from a traditional construction background to take a chance on someone and to learn more about people from a different career background.”
“These organisations can also signpost people to others who might be able to support with the unique challenges faced by those following a military career, who might also need additional support with physical health conditions, PTSD, anxiety and depression. There is a lot of work to be done, but we’re all trying to constantly do better and increase our understanding of those challenges.”
Top Tips
One of Chris’ top tips when leaving the Armed Forces – get any of the training and qualifications you’ve completed matched into those recognised in civilian employment via your education centre. “I’d completed some training that meant I’d have a teaching qualification, which in civilian employment also backs up your skills in delivering training. It might just be something that gives you the edge over another candidate! I had a friend that could breakdown a rewire a tank – but after forgetting to transfer some of his qualifications wasn’t qualified to rewire a plug.”
Secondly, sell yourself on the skills you have, ability to follow processes, time management is a key one – (“you’ll be the one to join a meeting early most will arrive at the scheduled time!), focus and discipline and the key values taught by the military – courage, respect and discipline. Chris said, “Those in forces have a tendency to be able to ‘fail fast’ so if something goes wrong, you learn quickly from it and move on rather than it hold you back.”
Sometimes leaving the forces is known as ‘7 Clicks to Leave/7 to Heaven, but it’s so much more than that. Spend time thinking about your next steps, go to as many careers’ events as possible, speak to anyone and everyone, organisations such as Buildforce are also specialists at helping people to find careers in the construction sector. You never know who you might get speaking to and it might spark an idea for your next steps. It not only helps understand what’s available, but it might give you an idea of a location you’d be happy to settle and live."
Chris’ final piece of advice:
“When it comes to civilian employment, the grass isn’t always greener, it’s just a different shade! It can be harder at times as there’s longer days – no sports afternoons or early finishes for example but you can book a holiday and make plans and know that you’re going to keep them!”
Interview with Gavin BolgerLocation: Plymouth
Gavin is a site manager for our team in the South West, Gavin is an ex-Royal Marine Commando and served as part of the 42 Commando Royal Marines.
I joined the Army in 1998 and completed four years’ service, I then left when my Mum had cancer and I cared for her until she was in remission. For me it was my duty to look after her as she had done for me, and although she did pass some years later, it was during this time I was caring for her I also met my wife.
In 2006, at aged-28 I joined the Marines, I had goals that I wanted to get to the top! I was deployed to Afghanistan and unfortunately an event that took place in 2011 prompted the abrupt end of my military career, approximately a month before I was due to come home for leave.
My unit were sent into a compound area in Helmond Province and following intensive fighting were caught in an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) strike on the side of road. There were eight of us, one person lost their leg, one suffered brain damage and the rest of our unit suffered over 60 significant impact and life-changing injuries. My injuries required the reconstruction of bones and muscle tissue, I also had lung damage and the lasting mental impact of the event with memory loss and PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).
From Helmond Province the unit were air lifted via Chinook to Camp Bastion, I received emergency treatment and was operated on at Camp Bastion until I was transferred to Birmingham Hospital for six weeks of further operations and treatment. From Birmingham I was then transferred to Headley Court, an Armed Forces Medical Rehabilitation Centre and then to another recovery facility in the dockyard area of Plymouth.
All in all, my recovery took about three years, and some of my memories of that time are still a little vague.
The PTSD I suffered meant that I was experiencing flashbacks and recollections of the event that I just couldn’t accept. A lot of them were around my feelings of being helpless to the unit during the event itself, but the severity of my injuries, like those also in the unit, meant that we just couldn’t physically move to get to each other.
At the time of this happening my wife was pregnant with our second child and my oldest son was very young, as I was being transferred from Birmingham to the rehabilitation centre, my daughter was born. I was unable to be alone with my children during my recovery, but my family is what got me though. I don’t think I’d be here if it wasn’t for them. My worst enemy is me, I like to be going at 100 miles an hour and kids help with that! If I was left to my own devices, I would end up pottering about the house and stressing about DIY jobs, if a door fits etc…
My second career in the construction industry
During my resettlement, I was approached by a local Construction company, who offered me a placement for year. This allowed me to get out of the house and have some structure back in my life.
I undertook construction management training and then met a project manager at Morgan Sindall who offered me a site manager role. I’ve been at Morgan Sindall Construction for five years and have been working mostly on projects for the University of Exeter.
Soon, I will be moving to a project which is near to where I spent some of my rehabilitation, building accommodation for those returning from overseas tours. The project is hugely personal to me given my own experience, so it will be nice to feel I am giving back to the people who looked after me and providing them with some nice new facilities and creating nice spaces for people to recover. Like others in the business, those who have had a career in the military are often earmarked for some of our defence projects, as you understand the lingo, the processes, and the camaraderie of the people.
I’ve been involved in mentoring others who are leaving the Armed Forces by supporting work placements and events and it’s something I see myself doing more of, for me, if I can get to where I am given the state I was in, then anyone can. If I could just help one person that would be amazing. I’ve had first-hand experience of how the motivation of being in work and having a structure can change your future.
You find that those who have a military background don’t ‘flap’ or give in before something has started. That’s just seeing yourself off really, isn’t it? Why get worried about something that hasn’t happened yet.
I’m happy just to get stuck in, learn as much as a I can as I go and see where it takes me next. I’m confident in the skills I have, I know what I’m good at and what I’m bad at – I’ve come into the industry later than others but I’m ready to tackle anything that’s thrown at me.
Civilian employment can come with its challenges at time, there aren’t always people who are willing to help – but this is something you come across in all walks of life. Those who are leaving the military have been trained and moulded a certain way and it just takes someone to offer an opportunity for them to see that they have useful and transferrable skills and can have a great second career.
Through my mentoring I want to spend time with people and explain the similarities and differences between the roles. That time really helps someone understand and progress quickly. I’m thankful for the opportunity I was given during my resettlement and the rest was up to me.
"I appreciate things a lot more now, I have mad conversations and can often blurt things out – but having a family and getting older means that I’m enjoying where we are now. We live near to the beach; we have a nice house – it’s about as chilled out as it gets when you have three kids - it’s a long way from the life I had."
All my kids have known for a long time was me being unwell but being in work and having projects around an hour from home means that I can be with them and we can do more – they’re just used to having me around now which is nice.
