In early 2011 I volunteered for an overseas exercise in Kenya with 3rd Battalion The Rifles, (3 Rifles). They had invited members of the Territorial Army to join them on the live firing exercise fulfilling various roles. One of the roles they needed to fill was for a lorry driving position, as this was my civilian job, I put my name forward and was accepted. When we got to Edinburgh, I was informed of a minor change of plan, I would no longer be a driver, instead I would be one of the Platoon Sejeants. This would be the first major role since my promotions course and would be a really steep learning curve, practicing what I had learnt and learning more. I had a fantastic bunch of lads in my Platoon who all worked really hard, this made it much easier for me to do my job. An amazing exercise, with a hard working Battalion.

Loved this exercise. Decided to accept offer of third tour of Afghanistan with not just the Battalion, or the company, but also with the platoon I was with during Kenya.

In 2006 I deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan for my second tour of duty, After only a couple of weeks I was attatched to 42 Commando Royal Marines. I`m not going to lie, being a “part time PONGO” in a “BOOTNECK” world could have been a nightmare but they treated me as one of their own. I learnt new tasks and some new skills and was given different responsabilities, some of which I would be unlikely to do outside of this environment. Five and a half months, working with some brilliant blokes who I had a real laugh with.

Had some really good opportunities on this tour, and I took them!