Originally Posted by
grahamhouse
This example, and the JTAC role will not be lost on our aviation community.....is an example of thousands that have come to J4T on a scale hitherto never seen before. The IDA was set up to convert that knowledge into meaningful, transformative change.
Current policies, current processes and some people deny the Senior Leaders holistic integrity - what is really going on in the 'PEOPLE' space? The IDA offers that.
Anyone who has a compelling counter as to why there is need for an IDA, we stand ready to think on it.....meanwhile....do pse take a moment and read this reality....an all too common one going on in YOUR Armed Forces. Like so many, they are silenced into submission - sometimes suicide. I left the British Army in 2018 after struggling with my mental health, a back injury that prevented me from promoting any further and suffering with tinnitus/hearing loss. After joining the British Army in 2004 I passed out into the Grenadier Guards and deployed on three operational tours to Afghanistan in 2007, 2009 and 2012.
It was during a battalion battle PT session in 2014 that I was injured, I fell and struck the ground after pulling a military vehicle using rope attached. Since the injury in 2014 military doctors would tell me, ‘you just need some rest, take these ibuprofens and you’ll be fine’. It was only after leaving the military and receiving a copy of all my medical documents held by the MoD, that I see that one Army doctor decided to write in my med records, ‘He’s just trying to get out of the upcoming overseas exercise’.
I had reached the rank of Lance Sergeant and due to promote to Sergeant, all my reports predicted I would make Warrant Officer. This injury prevented me from progressing, I tried to get through Senior Brecon with the injury, failing at the first hurdle (8-mile combat fitness test). I’d gone from a highly capable Lance Sergeant and performing top of my peer group, to not being able to pass the most basic army fitness test.
I knew something wasn’t right, but with this type of attitude to soldiers medical care and rehabilitation from the MO, it made me feel that I was somehow crazy and that the pain was all in my head. It wasn’t until this month that the true extend of what was wrong with my back was found out. I was sent for an MRI by my GP and the scan showed that I had two slipped disks and damaged vertebrae.
I’d served with the Grenadier Guards for 12yrs, then another 18 months as a JTAC full-time within the Royal Artillery, transferring to them in the hope that it would be less physically demanding and the hope that I could continue to serve. This didn’t work, my mental health and injury deteriorated even further.
Prior to sustaining these injuries, I was a very fit and abled soldier, managing to achieve a distinction at the IBS Brecon, I loved running and carried out daily fitness.
When I was forced to leave due to my injuries, I received no help during my transition, the MoD paid me approximately £3k for my back injury. I felt a deep betrayal, after I had shown nothing but complete loyalty since I’d joined at the age of 15.
Even whilst I was still serving and up until recently, I’d been suffering severe panic attacks and ending up in hospital or paramedics being called out to give me the all clear, this even happened on a family holiday last year. Every time this happened, and I’d be given a clean bill of health, it made me feel even worse, I thought I was ‘wasting resources. However, at the time of these panic attacks I had an overwhelming feeling that I was somehow about to die. I find it hard to explain, but it was like a crushing feeling in my chest, I couldn’t breathe, the room was spinning and I had sense of needing to be curled up on the floor in a ball, begging that all of the symptoms would just go away. I knew I had to get things sorted, but I didn’t have the courage or the nerve to seek help, ‘why should they help me? There are plenty of ex-forces in a worse position than me’.
I’m currently due a tribunal against the MoD they have made the process as difficult as possible. Battling the MoD has been more daunting than any of the armed insurgents I’d been fighting in Afghanistan during past decade. When I first left the army, I studied a post-graduate diploma in multimedia journalism at News Associates and managed to pass and get through all my exams, with the amazing help and guidance of their tutors.
After graduating I quickly found a job at British Forces Broadcasting Service, joining an amazing team there who were very supportive, and was a brilliant place to work. However, the stress of the job, back pain, tinnitus, and dealing with transitioning from the forces and the daily 4 hours commuting took its toll and regrettably I eventually had to leave.
Until I found myself at the lowest of the low, I could never understand why a veteran could be driven to want to end their life. After going through what I have done during the past 5 years, I now know why some do.
I’m fortunate enough to have family members who have looked after me and a wonderful partner XXX, who has supported me at every turn. Without these people in my life, I would most definitely be in a very different set of circumstances. After encouragement from my partner XXX and a former BFBS colleague, I finally found the courage to get myself sorted, and for the past ten months the NHS and other charities have gotten me back on my feet.
They have helped me with receiving mental health support, fitted me with hearing aids to help with the tinnitus and I’m now in a much better place. The only thing I’m missing now is job and reason to get up each morning. I’m now settled into my new home with my partner XXX in Norfolk, I still can’t do the things physically that I used to, as I live with daily back pain that I try to manage with over the counter pain killers, but now I have an orthopaedic surgeon looking into the correct pain relief and potential surgery/treatment.
Due to my partner working full time earning 24k a year, the only help I can receive is job seekers allowance. I’ve been in work since the age of 14 – cash in hand, washing up at my local restaurant, then at the COOP, before joining the Army at the age of 15.9 months. Ideally, I’m looking for journalism work, but I’m happy to turn my hand to anything, right now. However, due to back pain, highly physical or hard manual labour is out of the question. I have applied for countless jobs, but not having any joy. I understand there are many people struggling to find work during these difficult times, due to Covid19.
I have recently had to drop RBL as my representation for the upcoming tribunal, due to the lack of real, independent support. Right from appointing them as my representation, it felt like they were trying to get me to quit proceeding to tribunal. With this new evidence from the recent MRI scan, I am hoping that I can receive proper support from Justice 4 Troops at tribunal.
My future goals are to help raise awareness in any way that I can, so that others do not have to endure what I, and many others have had to go through. Policy change, and an official organisation appointed to independently and vigorously support service members and their families is the only way to achieve this.