Reserves

Playing soldier since 2020

A significant amount of my free time is dedicated to serving in the British Army via the Army Reserve. The Reserves (formerly known as the Territorial Army) is a volunteer force where I have trained and serve as an infantry soldier. I joined during my final year of University back in 2020, specifically just two weeks before the first COVID-19 lockdowns took place.
At the time, I joined a small Rifle Platoon based out of Aberystwyth that forms part of B Company, 3rd Battalion, The Royal Welsh. Over the next two years, I completed my modular training in-between lockdowns whenever the windows of opportunity opened. Since then, I have been a very regular attendee; my commitment involves weekly training evenings and one full training weekend per month. Once a year, we take part in a major two-week annual exercise, which typically takes place abroad alongside soldiers from other NATO nations.
My training has covered a wide range of specialist areas that you would typically never encounter in day to day life. Some of the specific disciplines I have been trained in include:

Patrolling and Reconnaissance

Ambushes and attacks from Section to Company level

FIBUA (Fighting In Built-Up Areas) and woodland warfare, including room clearance and urban combat tactics

Defensive operations, including the construction of trench systems, harbour drills, and the establishment of Observation Posts

Various weapon systems, I've been trained on and fired the L85A3, GPMG, Sharpshooter Rifle and Glock

CBRN drills which stands for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear

Battlefield Casualty Drills, learning how to manage gun shot wounds, shrapnel wounds, burns, catastrophic haemorrhages etc

And more recently I've been learning about drones and their usage on the battlefield

Major Exercises

Ex Steadfast Defender

NATOs largest deployment since the end of the Cold War, with 90,000+ soldiers taking part, myself included.
Deployed to Poland with the 12th Armoured Brigade Combat Team on Ex Immediate Response, a sub-exercise within Steadfast Defender

We even got interviewed by ITV news (but sadly not me)