Our Modern Day Warriors

Someone once said to me that they could not understand how I could work in the care industry and was once was a soldier. The two do not add up. Since I left the Army in 1996 this has been a common question; "How could you kill and then take care of people?" I was once even called a murderer.

This still goes on today and many would not have had me down as a soldier, if I do not mention it to them. Why do I still talk about it? Well it's been 22 years of my working life were I have gained untold life experiences and skills, now I am in this world, the world of the civilian were I am gaining new life experiences and skills.

I explain to people for me personally the two worlds do work together, my reason for saying this is very clear. I believed and still do believe that as a soldier I was first a defender of those who were not able to defend themselves, regardless of their background, and secondly I had the ability to be aggressive, and not be the aggressor first, as the majority of civilians I come into contact with believe.

My one common thread through all of these experiences has been Nature.

So what’s going on today, are men and women being seen in a similar light, nothing seems to have changed. Many people identify with the warriors from native cultures like the Indians from the USA and dismiss our soldiers of today... However, I believe they ARE OUR Modern Day Warriors and should be acknowledged as such. Put the politics to one side for the moment and look at the human being who is doing a job that many would run away from. In fact I once met a guy who was doing a study on the homeless in London and he discovered that 22% of the homeless were ex-forces, is that not a crime in it's self not just in economic terms but in human terms (this also goes for the other 78% of the homeless).

Can I recommend a great BBC Drama called Warriors, it shows the British Soldier in the light of a human BEING and not a 'they killed Johnny the dirty rats' type soldier. I take my hat of to Ross Kemp for getting in there with the guys in Afghanistan, what better way of showing what our men and women are about and what they are made of.

I trained some soldiers recently in tracking and they too discovered the power of nature, through some of the nature awareness exercises I use as part of the course, as one man put it "I feel I have been given something deeply profound". In a small way I trust that I am supporting them on a practical level.

Do they NOT deserve our SUPPORT, instead of some of the abuse that is aimed at them? You decide.