Page 84 - KRH Regimental Journal 2022

82 The Regimental Journal of The King’s Royal Hussars
ERE A Hawk in Infrastructure
Ithought after my 2nd year at the Defence Infrastructure Organisation I might put pen to paper to share a few thoughts. Most military folks – and non-mil to be fair – tend to cock their heads to one side and give a sympathetic nod when you tell them that you are working in DIO, in a sort of ‘who did you p**s off ’ to get here sort of way. I have become something of a convert, no doubt with a good dose of Stockholm syndrome at play.
For the past near-on two years I have been the Deputy Head of the Customer Support Team for the Army Top Level Budget (TLB). It sounds, and sometimes is, a bit like a call centre for all or any of the Army’s issues relating to infrastructure. Alongside a small, dedicated team of six, we often find ourselves at the tactical level signposting disgruntled individuals to the right bit of DIO whilst tracking their particular concern to a conclusion. At the more operational and strategic level we provide advice to and pro- ject the 2* Army Director Basing and Infrastructure’s concerns into DIO. As a fairly stove-piped organisation I sense what we tend to do is bring a combination of good old-fashioned military leadership that looks to cross-cut boundaries, as well as a healthy dose of stubborn determination to get the right outcome for the Army. Whereas previously seen as a preserve for Royal Engineer officers (there is still a healthy degree of RE nepotism at play in this space) I would thoroughly recommend a Staff stint at DIO, if nothing else to get off the crazy hamster wheel that is Army HQ for a break, if this is where your Capability and Acquisition career has taken you.
My final plug is for the benefits of pursuing the Project Delivery (PD) profession, with an urge to any relative youngsters to seize
any opportunities to pick up qualifications early. As a Deputy Head of profession for PD and a graduate of the Major Projects Leadership Association (MPLA) course I have been very privi- leged to pursue a parallel interest these last few years along- side the somewhat dreary world of infrastructure as a Gateway Reviewer. In effect, you become a pseudo consultant to spend up to a week alongside other civil servants digging into other Government Departmental programmes and projects. Having reviewed National Cyber programmes, RAF Wedgetail, Secure Schools, Space Clusters Infrastructure and Nuclear Fusion I find myself heading to exciting pastures new on the back of one of these reviews.
JNJK