Army Cadet Force

And a bit of an outcast.

But the Army Cadet Force gave me that continued sense of belonging.

Yeah, nice.

So that little hut in Sandown, Isle of Wight, saved my...

I've been my dad's son.

I used to be involved with Army Cadets.

I used to work with the youth offending team and stuff like that.

So I used to be like all of that respect that I had established in society as a good person has all been dashed away in one swift period.

And I've realised that later on in life.

And it gives you options, but... true happiness is when you're able to just be open and and you know enjoy your friends and your partner and and you know the communities that you live in and that's for me is more meaningful for me now you know that's why I you know volunteer to do things um you know I volunteer just recently for to be an adult instructor for you know the army cadets which is in the UK and one of the biggest and then I'm volunteering to do that because I want to make a difference to to young people and but yeah it's yeah

super yeah all right we're going to do a quick fire round now and I go okay well that's good

because I used to be a fireman as well you know one of the things that I did you know when I trained I moved up to the highlands and you know I was I be a volunteer fireman there you know i did all the training and that so it was good but

So I'm a chartered security professional, and I started up on a farm back in the early, well, late 70s, early 80s.

And from that, I was also, so I worked on the farm, and I also went to Army Cadets.

And at the end of the sort of schooling period, which was 16 at that time, I joined the army as a junior leader.

And and we I spent 24 years in the army.

Then you're in primary school and you've got a team with hockey sticks and you've got another team with baseball bats and you were the opposing sides.

And then come high school, we did army cadets.

There was a lot of potential there, but then... high school got in the way and, you know, you're chasing the social side of it and that kind of falls by the wayside.

But the idea of military was always there.

And then by the time you're doing army cadets, it's drummed into you.

You know, they talk to you about, they start telling you about history, military history, and, you know, you kind of like start subscribing to that, right?

Absolutely.

I said, man, like, look, you know, you're in a bit of a sticky spot at the moment.

So yes, of course, there's plenty of serious training going on here, but there are also spaces deliberately designed for cadets to eat together, learn together, socialize, and, and simply enjoy just being away at camp.

So once I'd signed in, I was introduced to Graham Neal, the PRO, the public relations officer for Herefordshire and Worcester Army Cadet Force.

He who will be my guide for most of the day, and, and a great guide at that.

I actually speak to him at the end of the episode.

Okay, and we're back again, West Midland RFCA podcast, and who is joining me?

It's Graham Neill.

I'm the, um, PRO for Hereford and Worcester Army Cadet Force, which basically means I'm the public relations officer.

I try and record the sort of whole history and story of annual camp-

In 2020, he was awarded a British Citizen Award, and in 2021, he was appointed OBE in the New Year's Honours List.

He is currently serving as the National Director of Initial Officer Training for the Army Cadet Force.

So for a podcast that's focused on leadership, he seems like a really good fit.

For a podcast that talks about connections and relationships in leadership, I think there's a really interesting conversation to be had because when I read my guest's book, the leadership book, when I look at what he talks about, it's really striking how he talks about the importance of relationships to break down hierarchies.