Joined 17/21st in 1988 did basic and arrived in March 89 where I joined  c sqn  in Munster-Our next posting was Tidworth at the start of 1990,by now I was a sqn Pti and had my first son.Still in C sqn I did a cardre course along with a few other courses then came amalgamation where I joined hq command troop to be the Cos gunner and we all moved again to Osnabruck.After about a year I joined Dsqn as there was a tour in Cyprus and it needed manning up - so off we went from December 94-June 95. When we got back it wasnt long before I was doing my gunnery instructors then crew commanders and still in D sqn qrl whenever I wasnt away on course- we had also by this stage added a second son to our little family. After the usual bits and bobs on the treadmill of regimental life I was ready for my first posting away for a bit of a change to the routine in June 2001 and an option to go to Bovington as phase two troop sgt. This opened my eyes to the fact that I had been spending so much time away from Tracey and the boys over the past 13 years that maybe it was time to look outside the Army for a living, so two years later I then pvr`d after 15 years before the end of the posting dec 03 jan 04-by that stage I had figured out that I was likely to be finishing up after 22 years with a pension and a lump sum which when I had joined in 88 seemed like a fortune but as time was ticking by was getting smaller and smaller to the stage that by 2003 it would be about 20% of a deposit on a house. I needed a carreer not a job so looked at working on Railways and have pretty much been doing it ever since(lovin it).Still married to Tracey ,two boys Adam 19 and Aidan 14.
Moved to Australia in July 2007- back to England Feb 2008- then back to Australia Feb 2009. So still plenty of travel and excitement in my life- I just get to do it with my family thats all. Still miss the lads I did so much time with but also still regret not getting out sooner- I nearly left after nine years but let myself get talked into staying for the half pension which is pretty stupid when you think of how little that is- we only live our lives once and so do our loved ones - cherish every moment