*** *** THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2009 *** *** III The Daily Telegraph JOBS ONLINE: MoD/CROWN COPYRIGHT The Daily Telegraph ROYAL LOGISTIC CORPS CAREERS IN DEFENCE jobs.telegraph.co.uk/ca W hen Brigadier Chris Murray joined the Army in 1974, he told himself hed do the job as long as he found it enjoyable. Thirty-five years on, hes director of The Royal Logistic Corps (RLC), a position he has held since 2007. As director, he oversees the corps, whose motto is, We Sustain. The RLC ensures that the Army has everything it needs to fight on operations and to sustain it in places such as Afghanistan and Iraq. CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE CHALLENGES AND REWARDS OF YOUR JOB? Try to imagine what the RLC has to do to look after the logistics for a complex operation, for instance in Afghanistan, over thousands of miles, with long and expensive transport routes. My officers and soldiers have to sustain the Army in extreme temperatures, over difficult terrain and against a determined and courageous enemy. They have to get all the equipment an Army needs ammunition, fuel, food, water, vehicles and spares to the right place at the right time. And, of course, thats before the enemy intervenes. Undoubtedly, the biggest reward for me is visiting my soldiers on operations and watching them do the brilliant job they do, against all the odds. Seeing them perform so well is humbling and uplifting and Im proud to tell everyone I meet. WHAT CHALLENGES DOES THE RLC FACE ON OPERATIONS? In Afghanistan, the enemy is innovative, fearless and brings the fight to our forces. Then theres the geography itself and the fact that it can be roasting hot in summer and freezing in winter. These factors, plus the fact that Afghanistan is such a long way away, play a real part in the challenges. Wherever in Afghanistan the Armys soldiers are, they have to be supported. The job of my soldiers is to fight the logistics through; being prepared literally to fight to get supplies to their destination. HOW DOES RLC TRAINING DIFFER FROM OTHER ARMY TRAINING? Everyone in the RLC is a soldier first and foremost, and is trained to fight. Then theyre a specialist. We have trades ranging from drivers, suppliers and chefs to specialists dealing with ammunition, fuel, vehicles and postal and courier services. We have our own movement control, communications, IT experts and radio operators, and our air dispatchers can deliver from the air and our port and maritime operators from the sea. We also have our own logistic Gurkhas and men and women who serve with Airborne, Commando and Special forces. We even have the Armys photographers. With all these trades, the RLC is also well placed to support the emergency services and local communities at home. During the recent floods, RLC soldiers supported the people of Gloucester in providing them with supplies and support. This is well within our expertise, although the challenges are still extreme. The RLC has also stood in for the fire service during numerous strikes, most recently in the West Midlands in 2006. CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR RECRUITMENT POLICY? The RLC suits people from a wide range of backgrounds. I have jobs for anyone from rocket scientists to school leavers with few qualifications who want an apprenticeship and a trade. We are a diverse corps, with people from 30 different Commonwealth nations. The corps is also attractive for women who want to join the Army because we are genuinely seen as a meritocracy. Around 13 per cent of my officers and 11 per cent of my soldiers are women, and I have three female officers commanding regiments and also female regimental sergeant majors. Theres nothing we do in the RLC that a female cant do. It does surprise other Army units sometimes when they find that the officer leading an operation, in Afghanistan say, turns out to be a young female captain. What Im after are fit, young men and women who want a challenge; robust individuals who like solving problems and who are happy to learn excellent skills, many of which will be relevant for a second career in the civilian world. SMOOTH OPERATORS Three members of the Royal Logistic Corps reveal what it is that makes their jobs appeal. By Danielle Gusmaroli R The corps is attractive for women as we are seen as a meritocracy Support act The director of the Royal Logistic Corps, which provides vital supplies and back-up for troops in war zones, talks to Sarah James about its work and the roles it offers special responsibility for developing training and esourceful, versatile and highly organised, fitness programmes. An average day might include the men and women who choose to serve in a circuits session with his 110 soldiers, after which the 16,000-strong Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) could find themselves key players supporting he will oversee lessons on how to disseminate battle orders and organise rifle-handling drills and UK Forces around the globe providing essential nuclear biological training programmes. logistics, equipment and services. After reading criminology and psychology at In both Gulf Wars, the RLC was among the first Keele University, he considered a career in the to arrive and establish the infrastructure that would allow soldiers to carry out their duties. Away police force, but instead joined Sandhurst, having decided the Army would offer greater responsibility from the front line the corps has general support and job diversity. I joined the Army for the units, which transport equipment and supplies. challenges. I cant imagine that at my age I would Captain John Cartwright-Terry, 31, launched have the same level of responsibility within the his army career at the Royal Military Academy, police, he says. Sandhurst, nine years ago after reading business Corporal Steve Ring, 30, is known as the fire studies at Bristol University. He left the army for extinguisher among the British contingent of the a spell in hospitality management but returned in UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus, where he is December 2005. As a regimental training officer based in Bicester, based. He is currently installing a state-of-the-art fire alarm at Nicosias Ledra Palace Hotel, the once Oxfordshire, Cartwright-Terry plans and provides glamorous residence that is now the headquarters courses on an impressive range of subjects from of the United Nations Force in the buffer zone, and learning to be a bomb doctor, who defuses home to 250 corps soldiers. weaponry, to trench building and carpentry. He is Ring ensures fire equipment is checked and that also in charge of maintaining and deploying a mobile launderette capable of washing the laundry fire drills take place. He also oversees general repairs to the former hotel. These things take time of 1,000 men in the span of just 24 hours. to sort out in different locations. In Britain you need He says: My job is about managing courses and a fire alarm to sound at 55 decibels and were directing soldiers to develop skills that best help trying to achieve that here in Cyprus where things their career profile. In return I lead an active life are very different, he says. and keep fit with the troops. Ring signed up with Despite his enthusiasm the Army Careers Office in for army life, there is one his home town of Brighton, disadvantage: leaving behind aged 21. He trained at the his solicitor wife Ella and Army Training Regiment, their three-month-old baby Winchester, and worked his daughter Emma when he is way up through the ranks. deployed on operations At 21 the RLC appealed overseas. It is a huge because it offered courses in wrench, he says. bricklaying, parachuting and For 25-year-old Captain warfare demolition, he says. Phil Pascoe, the Army is It still appeals today. his second family. Pascoe is second in command of the 23 Pioneer Regiments For more information visit 522 task squadron, with www.army.mod.uk/rlc Moral support: the RLC delivers worldwide
*** *** THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2009 *** *** CAREERS AT THE CUTTING EDGE FOR SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS PAGE 5 HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DSEI EXHIBITION NOW ON AT LONDONS EXCEL CENTRE DEFENCE INDUSTRY SHOWCASE PAGE 6 IN THE FRONT LINE AGAINST WEAPONS OF MASS DISRUPT
*** II *** *** WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2009 THE DAILY TELEGRAPH *** CAREERS IN DEFENCE NEW MARKETS GETTY The Daily Telegraph JOBS ONLINE: jobs.telegraph.co.uk/ca SURVIVING he UK defence sector is one of Britains major employers, and a significant contributor to the economy more than 300,000 peopl
*** *** THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2009 *** *** III The Daily Telegraph JOBS ONLINE: MoD/CROWN COPYRIGHT The Daily Telegraph ROYAL LOGISTIC CORPS CAREERS IN DEFENCE jobs.telegraph.co.uk/ca W hen Brigadier Chris Murray joined the Army in 1974, he told himself hed do the job as long
*** IV *** *** WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2009 THE DAILY TELEGRAPH ***
*** *** THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2009 *** *** V The Daily Telegraph JOBS ONLINE: The Daily Telegraph CASE STUDIES CAREERS IN DEFENCE jobs.telegraph.co.uk/ca Solutions on demand The armed forces would be powerless without the MoDs Defence Engineering and Science Group the profes
*** VI *** *** WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2009 THE DAILY TELEGRAPH *** CAREERS IN DEFENCE DSEI EXHIBITION The Daily Telegraph JOBS ONLINE: jobs.telegraph.co.uk/ca M O D/CROWN COPYRIGHT Defence showcase KEY SPEAKERS IAN CARNELL Head of Learning Strategies at Semta Research shows that the net cost of t
*** *** THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2009 *** *** VII The Daily Telegraph JOBS ONLINE: The Daily Telegraph TECHNOLOGY CAREERS IN DEFENCE jobs.telegraph.co.uk/ca Technological services of different kinds play a vital role in modern warfare. Lisa Sewards looks at the latest developmen
*** VIII *** *** WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2009 THE DAILY TELEGRAPH *** CAREERS IN DEFENCE CYBER SECURITY The Daily Telegraph JOBS ONLINE: jobs.telegraph.co.uk/ca W e take cyber security for granted at our cost. If you have ever been the victim of a computer virus, or had your credit card data stol
