Supporting our Reservists!

On Reserves Day we are celebrating one of our many reservists – Ed Coleman. Ed has been a reservist for nearly eight years after signing up in October 2014. He is a Captain within the 4th Battalion Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (Infantry) and his role is the Intelligence Officer. By day Ed is a Project Manager at Aquila ATMS.

We took some time out to ask Ed how he uses his industry experience to provide business intelligence to the Battalion.

Why did you join the reserves?

“I joined the reserves as I wanted to challenge myself and learn new skills. The reserves offer such an array of opportunities that you are able to choose the courses you wish to attend and the operations you want to be deployed to around the world, that’s a pretty big selling point.”

Where have you been on your training?

“I have trained in Germany, Denmark, Gibraltar and various locations around the UK.”

Where have you been deployed during your time in the reserves?

“I was deployed to Sierra Leone in early 2020 to run a Short-Term Training Team (STTT) for the Republic of Sierra Leones Armed Forces. For this I was the Second-In-Command (2IC) and was responsible for organising and running the training for the roughly two hundred soldiers and officers. We were training them to pass the United Nations – Peace Support Operations standard so that they could be deployed around Africa to support ongoing UN operations such as in Somalia and Mali.”

“Again in 2020, I mobilised as part of OP RESCRIPT to run Mobile Testing Units (MTUs) around the South East of England to conduct COVID-19 testing.”

What are the benefits of being a reservist?

“There are many benefits to being a reservist that range from personal development to going on adventurous training. You are able to put in as much you want to get the most out of all of the amazing opportunities. Personally for me I am focusing on developing myself within the Intelligence space and I have recently acquired my drone operator’s license so I can support my Battalion in exercise planning and delivery.”

How does Aquila support you?

“Aquila are very supportive of the reserves, as they are silver members of the Armed Forces Covenant, they allow me an extra 2 weeks paid leave per year so that I can attend my Annual Training Exercise or Overseas Training Exercise.”

 

Thanks Ed for taking the time to answer our questions, you are very inspirational. We are proud to be supporting you.