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The Inevitability of Leaving the Service


by Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Purdy from the Directorate of Personnel Policy


I


was struck by a line in the Spring issue of Envoy: “I am about to leave the RAF after 22 years and


have suddenly realised how badly prepared I am for civilian life…”. There are said to be two certainties in life: death and taxes; but I would add a third, a Serviceperson has to leave the Services sooner or later. So, every serving person owes it to themselves, if not to their family, to prepare for this inevitability.


By most employers standards the package offered to Service leavers is extremely generous and the longer you have served the better it gets. But leaving the Services is not just a change of job, more a change of way of life and there is much more to think about than just a job.


There are some things you might not be able to sort out until shortly before you leave, such as where you are going to live or a new school for your children. So, throughout your career, it is important to get on with those things that can be done well in advance. For those who might be in a redundancy bracket preparation is something that should not be put off; even if you don’t actually leave it is all in the bank for when you do. Remember that prior preparation and planning prevents poor performance, so plan early and get on with it.


Resettlement is something that is very much at the front of my mind as this will be the last article that I write for Envoy because I finish working in MoD at Easter prior to leaving the Army in July. I have only been in the Army for 31 years so I still have another 20 years or so for a second career, but like most Service leavers I really don’t know what I am going to do next. However, I won’t be short of things to do and if it wasn’t for needing to pay the bills I would say that I haven’t got time to work.


The main reason for this is that I have a sideline as Managing Director of a Community Interest Company that runs our village shop and post office. The only thing that I get out of it is the satisfaction


www.raf-ff.org.uk


of making sure that our village has a shop. But in setting up the shop I have learned a huge amount, after all, I’m an Army officer, what did I know about setting up a company? What did I know about retailing, marketing, PAYE, VAT, etc? In running this business I have been very pleasantly surprised, not only at how easily my military skills have translated across into the business environment, but also at how well everything I have done has been received.


But it is not rocket science and I haven’t done anything that any other military person couldn’t have done, I have simply applied military principles to another problem. For example shortly before we opened we had a full-page photo-story in the local paper, after which I received an e-mail from the company regulator. I opened it with trepidation thinking that we must have done something awful and were going to be reprimanded before we had even started.


She had seen the newspaper story on-line and had dug out the articles of association for our company, which I wrote. She said that what we were doing was exactly what the Community Interest Company framework was designed for, she was really impressed with the company structure I had set up and could she come to see us? So, she came over from Wales to North Norfolk just to see our village shop!


Why am I telling you this story? Because we can all get a lot out of giving little. By giving a little of my time, I have learned a huge amount, I can show on my CV that there is more to me than just my military experience and that my skills are transferrable. The Prime Minister calls it The Big Society and I think that he is right to encourage people to contribute to society, although I don’t think that he has explained it well and by giving it a soundbite name it has become a political football.


I was asked at one job interview what achievement in my life was I most proud of? It had to be the village shop, not just because the village now has a shop again


and has the post office back, but because of what it has done to the community. Since launching the shop project, the failing pub has been bought by a chef and been rejuvenated, a butcher has opened, the church, which previously was more a source of division than harmony, has a new rector and we have raised £40,000 to match an English Heritage grant of £129,000 to replace the church roof, and new childcare centre has opened in the old school. Before we opened the shop there were only nine applications for people wanting social housing in the village; six months after opening there were over 200. Having pulled the village together it is no longer just a dormitory but is once again a community. I’m proud of that.


Military communities are just the same. It doesn’t take much to create a community spirit if those who live in the community are prepared to give a little of their time, to put themselves out a little, for the benefit of the community. Those who whinge and whine that there is nothing to do and nothing going on are usually the same people who are not prepared to put themselves out to contribute to anything or to join in. To those people I would say, try it, do something positive, if you do give a little you’ll get more out of it than you put in. It will also boost your confidence and make you more employable when you and your family have to make that move to civvy street.


I should just add that the assistant manager of the village shop is an ex-RAF wife. She and her husband, who was a Flight Sergeant, moved to the village when he left the RAF and she answered the call when we advertised for an assistant manager. I am convinced that her enthusiasm and can-do attitude are the result of years of following the flag as a RAF wife; if only I could find more like her.


Goodbye, I’m off to be a civvy… Envoy Summer 2011 37


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