It's Not For Everyone picks up a great five-star review
It's Not For Everyone has just had a brilliant five-star review. Thanks to Steve 'Rocky' Regan for taking the time to write so much about my book, and huge respect to him for taking the same shit that I did, but being man enough to stick around and make a career out of it, which is more than I ever did.
Anyway, here's Steve's review in full.
I have read the book now and It was a difficult read, as it brought back unwanted memories of a very dark time. It reminded me of all the sprog bashing, strange perverted sexual initiations that went on when I was an LAC. The problem was that in 1978, when I arrived fresh from basic training with 15 other sprog gunners, we were put into 12 man rooms that were stretched to over capacity by adding another bed to the top of bunk beds and guess who was shoved on the top bunks - the FNGs. I remember so called old sweats, who got drunk, banded together and randomly attacked any victim that presented themselves to them, or were unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time or not savvy enough to avoid the hot spots. The author also alluded to the career SACs that used the words I came to hate, NFI, and they garnered no respect from anyone with an ounce of self respect themselves and those who wanted to be professional soldiers, not drinking idiots.
I was told it was character building, but I actually agree with the author, it was the opposite of team building and fostering trust. The squadron I started on looked down on any one who they deemed to be keen. I became aggressive and overly defensive myself and didn’t deal with all the bollocks well, why would I as I was only 18 years old! I was luckier than many as I was a council estate kid who could handle himself, or at least give as good as he got.
I ended up going down hill after a very good friend killed himself with an SLR. This was followed by a number of AWOLs and suicide attempts by others and ended up in drunken violence. I was convicted at a court martial and ended up doing 72 days detention. It shows up on my DBS certificate to this day, to my shame. I nearly got kicked out and I contemplated PVRi’ng myself, but thanks to WO Bill Alan, who sorted out a Pre-Para Selection and jumps course for me via the back door, I escaped to a better place.
The trouble was I had to return to the squadron after finishing each course and I got comments like “2 Sqn is full of Wogs and Sprogs” and “You think you are better than us”. I was on the boxing team and did martial arts so no one really took it too far with me. I did derive some pleasure when one junior gunner on the squadron took one of the old sweats apart with ease and made a fool of him, he wasn’t proud of it, he told me many years later, but I remember the shock on the old sweat’s face when his intended victim turned the tables on him. Don’t get me wrong, there were some good soldiers on the squadron, who later joined me after my own career truly took off when I joined 2 Sqn. This squadron couldn’t have been more different, as they were keen, fit and focused on the job. I also found that on 3 Sqn too. Well, I ended up doing 26 years and I had a fantastic career, I even did an exchange posting with the army infantry.
The book reminded me of the bad bits at the start of my career and the many times senior SACs took things too far in my opinion. As for the author, he admits he was a square peg trying to fit in a round hole and therefore had a target on his back and was abused by people who seemed to enjoy making his life a misery. In the last few chapters he lost my sympathy a little bit, to be honest, as once he PVR’ed he just seemed to behave in a way that didn’t help his situation. So in summary, what he revealed in his book about the darker side of military service was true, in my experience: NCOs and officers did turn a blind eye and sometimes encouraged such behavior.
However, he admitted that he joined up for the wrong reasons and it wasn’t for him. I would argue that bullying and sexual assaults still go on today, hopefully to a lesser degree. Just remember, he passed basic training and was RAF Regiment, and I respect that, I cannot comment on his character as I didn’t know him, but many seem to judge him harshly on here, in some cases without reading his book or knowing him. I guess he had the last laugh as he went on to have a successful civilian career and became well educated. He gained a nursing degree and he is a fairly accomplished author with several books under his belt. Sometimes the truth is hard to hear. We all know who these people were and I hope they grew out of it and moved on to more productive careers, some of the worst bullies probably still are the same and I have no respect for such wasters.
I was told it was character building, but I actually agree with the author, it was the opposite of team building and fostering trust. The squadron I started on looked down on any one who they deemed to be keen. I became aggressive and overly defensive myself and didn’t deal with all the bollocks well, why would I as I was only 18 years old! I was luckier than many as I was a council estate kid who could handle himself, or at least give as good as he got.
I ended up going down hill after a very good friend killed himself with an SLR. This was followed by a number of AWOLs and suicide attempts by others and ended up in drunken violence. I was convicted at a court martial and ended up doing 72 days detention. It shows up on my DBS certificate to this day, to my shame. I nearly got kicked out and I contemplated PVRi’ng myself, but thanks to WO Bill Alan, who sorted out a Pre-Para Selection and jumps course for me via the back door, I escaped to a better place.
The trouble was I had to return to the squadron after finishing each course and I got comments like “2 Sqn is full of Wogs and Sprogs” and “You think you are better than us”. I was on the boxing team and did martial arts so no one really took it too far with me. I did derive some pleasure when one junior gunner on the squadron took one of the old sweats apart with ease and made a fool of him, he wasn’t proud of it, he told me many years later, but I remember the shock on the old sweat’s face when his intended victim turned the tables on him. Don’t get me wrong, there were some good soldiers on the squadron, who later joined me after my own career truly took off when I joined 2 Sqn. This squadron couldn’t have been more different, as they were keen, fit and focused on the job. I also found that on 3 Sqn too. Well, I ended up doing 26 years and I had a fantastic career, I even did an exchange posting with the army infantry.
The book reminded me of the bad bits at the start of my career and the many times senior SACs took things too far in my opinion. As for the author, he admits he was a square peg trying to fit in a round hole and therefore had a target on his back and was abused by people who seemed to enjoy making his life a misery. In the last few chapters he lost my sympathy a little bit, to be honest, as once he PVR’ed he just seemed to behave in a way that didn’t help his situation. So in summary, what he revealed in his book about the darker side of military service was true, in my experience: NCOs and officers did turn a blind eye and sometimes encouraged such behavior.
However, he admitted that he joined up for the wrong reasons and it wasn’t for him. I would argue that bullying and sexual assaults still go on today, hopefully to a lesser degree. Just remember, he passed basic training and was RAF Regiment, and I respect that, I cannot comment on his character as I didn’t know him, but many seem to judge him harshly on here, in some cases without reading his book or knowing him. I guess he had the last laugh as he went on to have a successful civilian career and became well educated. He gained a nursing degree and he is a fairly accomplished author with several books under his belt. Sometimes the truth is hard to hear. We all know who these people were and I hope they grew out of it and moved on to more productive careers, some of the worst bullies probably still are the same and I have no respect for such wasters.
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