James served as a regular Army Officer between 2009 and 2015 for 2 Mercian (previously the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters) and is currently serving as a reserve Officer for the London Regiment.
During his military career James has travelled widely, met and worked beside some fantastic individuals and learnt a great deal about leadership, decision making and team work under intense pressure. He is incredibly grateful to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst training staff, his Battalion(s) and the wider Army for providing him with phenomenal challenges, support and the chance to develop values based leadership.
The values of the British Army are indelibly etched on James’ psyche. Those values are: Selfless commitment, Courage, Loyalty, Respect for Others, Discipline and Integrity.
Highlights from his time in the Army include: going to France and Belize during training at Sandhurst and Brecon; meeting the King in his role as the Colonel of the Regiment; leading a platoon on Operation Herrick 15 (featured in Bafta Award winning BBC Documentary Our War and available to view here and below); training 3 intakes of recruits as a Troop Commander at ATR Winchester, becoming 2nd in Command of the company at ATR Winchester and working on various projects for the Commanding Officer including membership of the Independent Advisory Panel; deploying to a NATO Special Forces Headquarters for a second tour of Afghanistan; becoming the Training Officer at the London Regiment and deploying on Exercise to the Falkland Islands; skiing, mountain biking, football, iron man triathlete, surfing and abseiling on adventurous training.
James is currently the C Company Training Captain at ULOTC, training the next generation of Officers. He has held the position of OC Commanding C Company and after coming off of the Beige List in December 2022 will promote to Major in 2023.
James loved and still loves the Army and couldn’t have got through the bad times, or enjoyed the good times without all of the friends, instructors and random people he was fortunate enough to work with.
He is grateful to all those who served and still serve for their dedication to this country and thinks often about those who didn’t come home or came home with serious injuries.
Stand Firm, Strike Hard.
James would thoroughly recommend joining the Army or Army Reserve to anyone interested in their own professional development, improving their leadership skills and discipline and giving back to their country, serving others. Please get in touch for more information or click here.