Where did I go to next you ask? well a certain corps that I was interested in beckoned me so I went to:
THE ROYAL MILITARY POLICE
In 1975 I left the Para's and moved to the military police, after training at Rousillon Barracks Chichester I found myself in a small NATO tasked unit of the RMP called 3 div Provo Co RMP. This unit was part of the AMF or ACE mobile force, a highly mobile force tasked to secure the flanks of NATO in the event of a war. It was multi national and again I had the privilege to serve with soldiers from different parts of the world, but mainly with the Americans. For some reason we were the defenders of the Northern flank and instead of sunning myself in Turkey or that area of the world we ended up in Northern Norway and in the winter of 75-76 I spent four months in temperatures of 40 degrees below zero. Don't get me wrong I had already done my jungle training and desert training with the para's and now the time had come for my arctic training, I enjoyed it tremendously, and I would like to think that when it came to theatres of war I was well qualified to exist anywhere. All things must come to an end and after a disagreement with my OC, a Major who to this day I still think was the biggest dickhead that I had ever met, I volunteered (there's that word again) for Northern Ireland. Well I went back to NI and did lots of things including town security and a stint as a bodyguard. In the event that you are not too sure where Northern Ireland is look---
The red area is it, the map is not acurate but it gives you the general idea.Should you want to know more about The Royal Military police as it was called then go here
Now where was I ? OH yes, well I enjoyed Northern Ireland so much guess what I did? Yes I volunteered to join the
ROYAL ULSTER CONSTABULARY
In 1977 I left the RMP and went to the RUC, Yes I know, out of the frying pan in to the fire, still some times you just get caught up in things don't you? Any way the Northern Irish women (well all the Irish women) are georgeous and not being completely ugly I had some good times. Still I digress after training I ended up in B Division, which if you watched your television in the late seventies early eighties was featured very much. The area consisted of the Falls Road, Springfield Road, Divis Flats, Whiterock Road and so on. Suffice to say it was not a healthy place to be if you were A, Protestant B, Soldier C, Policeman or D, English, now if you were or had been all of them I can think of safer places to go for a drink like harlem with your Klu Klux hood on!! It was during my time with the RUC That I lost or had hideously injured more people that I liked and admired. As before I will only list a couple but all of you will be remembered:
Pat Collins
Noel McConkey
Noel did not die but lost both legs and one arm in a car bomb explosion, I was away on a one day course at the time, Noel was my section sergeant and I should have been with him.
I salute you all, a phrase springs to mind when I consider my time with the RUC, I believe it comes from the first world war 'Lions led by donkeys'.
Should you want to know more about the RUC go here-- http://www.ruc.police.uk/
It was during my time with the RUC that I suffered my only gunshot wound, a very slight head injury, who was it the IRA? INLA? UVF? UDA?. Nope shot by one of my fellow officers in the back of an armoured Land Rover, the worst thing about it is that the bullet fragmented and not only me but 5 other people were shot as well!!
During my time with the RUC I met many brave men and I will always remember a burning vehicle and a superintendent who was trapped in it. Good times eh Allan?
In 1982 I left the RUC and moved back to my roots in Hampshire in England, I was tired and burnt out, I had gone through the hunger strike and the horror that went with it and apart from another one of my famous contretemps with senior officers I had had enough.
It should be noted at this point that I did and still do at times suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, any one who has led my sort of life knows the score and you cannot handle it yourself. You nedd the support of your family and friends, especially the ones that went through the same experiences as you. It is very difficult to expect your partner or friends to understand you if they have no experience of what you have been through, because of this, fustration of communication can increase the problem. For further information on this very real problem go here.
http://www.powerup.com.au/~tph/elinks.htm
SECURITY CONSULTANT
When I got back to England I really did not know what I wanted to
do so I ended up as an enquiry agent for a while, which was
interesting but not really my cup of tea. Then I got a call, you
recall I spent time in NI as a body guard? Well would I be
interested in going to London and being part of a team looking
after a certain arab family from Saudi Arabia. I was gone and
over the next 8 years I went all over the world either as a
bodyguard or military adviser. One of my most interesting times
was going to the Phillippines on a 'training exercise'. Should
you ever go there please let me know what it is like now because
when I went it was great!. In 1989 I had many problems come my
way and it was really time for me to evaluate my life and was I
going to drift from one security job to another. Hell ! was
nearly 40 how long do you carry on in this business. So I sat
down with my wife (I had got married) and decided what to do
next.
Go here to find out what happened next-------------------- What I Do