Joining the Royal Navy was something I’d considered a few times growing up. Hearing my old man’s stories of military training, discipline and camaraderie, mixed with life experience, travel and high jinks, brought me close to joining up a few times – much to my Mother’s dismay! Thankfully for her, I decided against it at ages 16, 20 and 22, but having left university, settling into a decent job on a decent salary, I came to realise that if I didn’t at least give this a go, I would live to regret it. Craving more from life, I investigated the Careers website, and found that as a graduate I was eligible to join as an Officer. Now past the years of indecision, the opportunities on offer combined with the gruelling application process, brought me to realise that I’d actually only ever wanted to be a Matelot!
Prior to joining the RN, my civilian job involved helping people into work either for the first time, or after periods of prolonged unemployment. We supported learners into apprenticeships, guided them through government funding and gave coaching and support for interviews and job applications. The role of a TM appeared remarkably similar, and, the varied scope of the TM role was something that really appealed to me. Not only am I able to now advise personnel on training and funding available to them, I have the opportunity to deploy around the world.
I started training at BRNC on 4 May 2015, and commissioned in December of the same year. From there I started the Training Management Officer Course (TMOC) in the following January, which lasted around 6 months. Having completed the course, I joined 42 Commando Royal Marines as their Unit Education Officer. Working with the Royal Marines has been fantastic, each day brings new challenges, and I couldn’t ask to be surrounded by a better group of blokes. They’re great fun, extremely professional, and in my opinion are the best in the world at what they do. They are however, annoyingly fit!
In September 2016 I deployed with 42 Commando on exercise Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime). We sailed in HMS Ocean down to Albania, where we conducted two exercises ashore. The first saw me working closely with the intelligence cell, looking after the local media and the Mayor. The second saw me keeping watch in the Amphibious Ops room back onboard ship. From there we sailed with HMS Bulwark to Oman, where I took part in defence engagement with the Royal Army of Oman. This included a fantastic three course meal, which seemed to appear out of nowhere, in the middle of the desert! No two days are the same in my job, and that was the most appealing thing to me about being a TM.
