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| FORMER MEMBER INTERVIEW |

tiatives where the Defence Forces are clearly unable to re-
tain adequate numbers across all services.
I’m now involved in a start-up company with a former
classmate. We’re developing a wearable training aid for
handgun shooting, called AimSteady. We’ve been through
the Catalyser accelerator programme in the NDRC in Dub-
lin and we’ve now secured follow on investment. Aim-
Steady is a ring worn on the finger while shooting. It tracks
unintended hand movement in your shooting technique
and sends the data via Bluetooth to a phone app. We plan
John's career in the
Defence Forces saw to have a high fidelity prototype by the end of the year and
him participate in launch the product in the US in 2018. We hope to capture
several challenging
overseas missions civilian competitive handgun shooters in the US initially and
and on-island roles. then the rest of the US and world market. We’ve had great
support from the Defence Forces throughout our prod-
uct development. Their support and feedback has been
invaluable. There is a military and law enforcement appli-
cation for AimSteady but further product development is
dered operational output since the last reorganisation in required. As part of our product development we’ve con-
2012. I believe this is a major contributory factor in the exo- ducted extensive research and customer development,
dus of highly trained and valuable personnel leaving the or- mostly in the US. We’ve spoken to and met many military
ganisation I don’t know of anyone who joined the Defence and law enforcement veterans in the US, which has proven
Forces to leave it but the most recent studies by the Uni- very beneficial. The fact that we’re military veterans cer-
versity of Limerick suggest that it is as a consequence of tainly opened a number of doors for us.
the negative organisational climate that many are leaving. There is awareness in the private sector of the high-end
A typical example of the demands of military service is leadership and management skills sets and proven com-
a situation where DF HR were unable to forecast where petencies instilled in DF Officers. However, companies
officers or other ranks will be posted on promotion or re- in the US and UK have a greater understanding and ap-
turn from overseas. This is because, unlike other militaries, preciation of the value of military veterans and what they
inadequate numbers do not provide a functional capac- can bring to their businesses. Effective decision making to
ity within which reasonable HR planning can actually take achieve results, judgement, critical thinking, and attention
place. People joining the Defence Forces expect a certain to detail, personnel management and decisiveness are
amount of travel, unsociable hours and dangerous work. sometimes hard to come by in business but are crucial
These are occupational hazards of the job and form part of to every military training course and successful operation,
the psychological contract when you join. This should not particularly in high risk and hostile environments. In my
come at the expense of family and community relation- opinion the Defence Forces needs to do more to highlight
ships. The reduced Defence Forces numbers simply do the value of its people, the effort and resources required
not currently provide for a reasonable work/life balance. to train them and why it’s so important to retain as much
Like most Junior Officers I spoke to in 2014, I had thought of that expertise as possible, in particular with lead times
about a life outside the Defence Forces. I also researched of 4-6 years to train these professional skill sets. Even the
college courses and spoke to former members about their most basic cost benefit analysis would tell you that the
experiences of leaving and potential future careers. One current system of recruitment to replace the exodus isn’t a
common factor that emerged after these discussions was financially viable option.
that none of them were in the same job they had been in The most recent Climate Survey Focus Group report by
after leaving the Defence Forces. Like quite a number of the University of Limerick makes for sad reading. The lack
Officers before me, I applied to join Aldi on the their trainee of response by Management is disappointing while mean-
Area Manager scheme and having been accepted I retired while highly trained professionals exit and the Defence
from the Defence Forces in early March 2015. I found it a Forces are unable to replace with trained and experienced
difficult decision but one that I felt I ultimately had to make. staff.
I’m hugely proud of my service in the Defence Forces
Moving On and extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to
Aldi were quick to grasp the opportunity of recruiting serve. I was lucky to have worked in some of the most
highly qualified and experienced people looking to leave prestigious units in the organisation with some outstanding
the Defence Forces. Senior Aldi managers were shocked people. My service has given me invaluable skills, training
and amazed with the lack of interest and responsiveness and experiences that I use every day in business as well as
of DF HR management to the introduction of retention ini- friendships that will be with me for the rest of my life.

| WINTER ‘17 | | 51