Page 37 - MERCIAN Eagle 2020

Re-joining the Regiment
Capt E Ireland
Last May I re-joined the Army after spending two years as a civilian. I had originally commissioned from Sandhurst in 2015
and then served as a Platoon Commander in B (Malta) Coy, 2 MERCIAN, went on
Ex ASKARI STORM, and then a NATO exercise in Poland. I was then made B Coy 2IC and I did this on Op SHADER 5. After that I left the Army thinking that was the right thing to do at that time.
It turned out that I was incorrect and so last year in December I began the process of re-joining. It took six months and a few very late-night phone calls but, in the end, I was flying out to Cyprus to go straight into COVID isolation and then to re-join the battalion that I had been a part of for three years.
I was surprised, although I shouldn’t have been, by how many people I recognised and who recognised me. The job was still very similar although there had been a few notable changes – MODNET was new, Cyprus and all the associated fire and
heat constraints were new, and somebody seems to have removed beef cassava from the ration packs...
Being out of the Army was in no way awful or terrible but I found that it did not give me a strong sense of purpose and
it did not give me the highs that Army life does. If 0 is a terrible day and 100 is the best day ever I found that my civilian job moved from day to day between 45 and 55. However I find that in the Army the range is far wider and therefore far more interesting – although I do see how that is a double edged sword!
Leaving, re-joining, or remaining in the army are deeply personal choices which we must all weigh up the pros and cons of and at the end of the day have a decision which we can stand behind. I am pleased to have re-joined and I am looking forward to Kenya and then hopefully Afghanistan next year. Since being back I have planned and conducted LFTT for the Coy and also done a week’s blank coy exercise and then Ex AETOS FURY. Being in Cyprus has also been brilliant and has given me
a great opportunity to have weekends on a holiday destination in the middle of the Mediterranean.
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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