An ordinary man who got to work with exceptional people.
I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to serve as a Commissioned Officer in the Royal Tank Regiment.
During a decade of Regular Service, I was deployed to places such as Basra, Iraq on Operation TELIC X in 2007 and to Helmand, Afghanistan on Operation HERRICK in 2009, as well as undertaking International Arms Control work in Ukraine, and various other military roles before retiring in the mid 2010s. For me, like many others, these are often “Unspoken Battles” – they’ve never made it to a book or a film, but for the men and women involved they can be life changing.
Even after many years, not a day goes by where I’m not reminded of them in some way – whether that’s a noise, a sight or smell, or maybe even just an unsolicited memory returning for some unexplained reason. I’ve learned I am not alone in that regard, different people affected to varying degrees.
These Operational Tours were undoubtedly some of the best times of my life, and some of the worst.
Sometimes there are hard memories of the worst days, sometimes there are memories of the best days, and sometimes even an element of both. Conversations with old comrades have let me know i’m not a alone in this regard, but it can be hard to communicate this to friends and family. This is the other, more human centric meaning behind choosing the title “Unspoken Battles”.
For better, and for worse, they have made me the person I am today.
Creating “Unspoken Battles” is an attempt to honour a duty and responsibility I feel I have to give a voice to the stories of the men and women who I served with.
The intent is to start by building out stories from my own experiences, my Troop’s, and my Squadron’s. Over time, the hope is that this may expand to any others that wish to share their stories.
MUD 30A
Unspoken Battles 