Throughout this week, representatives from the Army Engagement Group and 51st Infantry Brigade and HQ Scotland hosted a series of ‘Meet Your Army’ events in Paisley, Greenock and Ayr.
The Army Engagement Group (AEG) tours the UK to engage with a wide variety of civilian audiences, with a view to giving them a greater understanding of the British Army; who they are, what they do and the many different ways in which they contribute to society.
From Tuesday 10 – Thursday 12 February, the AEG events focused on introducing Army life and careers to guests from the education sector.
The mornings began with an opportunity for attendees to meet informally with Regulars and Reservists from different Army units, as well as members of the Army Cadet Force.
Once everyone had had a chance to chat and gain some initial insights over tea and coffee, the event began officially with welcome addresses from 51st Brigade’s Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Clark and the AEG’s Major Steve Gibbs.
Each opening speaker shared some of their personal Army career highlights before going on to outline historical and media perceptions of the British Army, its capacity to serve as more than just a fighting force, and the event’s key objective of showing elements of Army life that most of the general public might not be aware of.
Throughout the rest of the morning, the guests received briefings on how, while members of the Army are primarily trained for conflict, their duties can cover anything from delivering aid to disaster-stricken locations and rescue/evacuation operations to supporting local authorities as part of Operation RESCRIPT, the UK Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The attendees also heard further testimony from serving Regulars and Reservists on how background is no barrier to entry, how the Army Reserve in particular offers a wide range of specialist career and development opportunities such as engineering, cyber security and catering, and even how life in the Army helped them pursue personal passions such as sports, music and photography.
In addition to highlighting the many pathways available to joining the Army, such as through apprenticeships or the Army Foundation College Harrogate, the briefings delivered at the ‘Meet Your Army’ event covered the Army’s many support networks for training and development, designed to help set soldiers and officers up with skills for life, whether that involves switching from Regular to Reserve service or transitioning completely from military to civilian life.
Once the briefings concluded, the floor was opened for a Q&A session, allowing the guests to dig deeper into the information delivered in the briefings and find out more about deployment processes, support for employers who hire Reservists through the Armed Forces Covenant and Employer Recognition Scheme, and how Army Reservists can work and train flexibly to meet their 27-days’ minimum service threshold.
Lowland RFCA would like to thank both the AEG and 51st Brigade for inviting us to hear their highly engaging briefings and to help promote the Reserve and Cadet Forces to their audiences.
