Tammy: “Accept you will always be a soldier – and that’s ok!”

For Remembrance Day this year Involve would like to highlight our newest Veteran member of staff who is based at our Birmingham office. Tammy Spence is a Trainee Recruitment Consultant and is entering her 3^rd month with the business.

I contacted Tammy asking if she would like the chance to remember and reflect on her years in the Armed Forces and to say she was ‘bowled over’ being asked to share her story is an understatement

Tammy states to have left home and joined the Army Foundation College in Harrogate at aged 16 – she mentions seeing her brother enter the army and how she really wanted to do this too; seeing it as a challenge, an opportunity to travel and enter onto a personal journey – wanting to prove to herself that she could do it. When she finished phase 1 basic training, which took 6 months, she states that she felt that she dedicates her army career to her Dad who she lost at a young age. Tammy remembers how patriotic her family were and that this had driven her to complete this training.

Tammy reports to have gone onto Phase 2 in Hull at age 17 which lasted 8 months. During this time Tammy obtained qualifications in driving Armoured Tankers, a specialist driving licence such as HGV and an NVQ in tele-communications equipment – supplied to the frontline.

When phase 2 finished Tammy states to have been posted to 16 Air Assault Brigade in the Parachute Regiment in Colchester. She was then lucky enough to be sent on tour to Calgary, Canada and to Medicine Hat. Tammy was here for around 6-8 months completing pre-deployment training. When asked if she felt ‘homesick’ Tammy said that she couldn’t remember feeling this way and although she was the only female on this flight, she remembers being able to quickly adapt to living with the Parachute Regiment ‘Prairie Storm’. For months she states to have carried heavy kit up to 30kg in scorching heat, covering lots of ground and living on basic rations. Tammy states she remembers flying home and feeling very different – as though she had changed – time had stopped and everything and everyone was the same as when she left.

In 2015 Tammy helped in supporting flood victims in North Yorkshire at Christmas time, she remarks on how she never spent a Christmas at home when she was in the army as she felt it was important for those with young families to go home and she would offer to be on duty or exercise.

Due to events in service Tammy left the army due to mental health issues in 2017 just aged 20. Following Tammy’s medical discharge she used funding offered to her by the army and gained herself a BA HONS in Law(LLB) from Birmingham University.

Tammy reflected on losing 2 friends who took their own lives when in the Armed Forces – Tammy feels that mental health is not always spoken about or recognised as well in the army nor a feeling of returning home and not being able to relate to anyone. Tammy found that keeping a routine with fitness and discipline has helped her to adapt and she isn’t sure where she would be if she did not adhere to these things still now – remembering how her regiment would say ‘’If it’s not raining, we’re not training!! If it’s not snowing, we’re not going!!’’

Tammy wanted to highlight that as a Veteran how important a supportive employer can be – Involve are instinctively inclusive and supportive to veterans and Tammy states you can feel how passionate the business is about employing and supporting veterans and reservists and how proud she is to work for a company where this is celebrated.

To conclude Tammy’s message, she wanted to share that when you leave the army it can feel like the hardest, continuous journey but it is not impossible to reintegrate yourself into civilian life if you can find yourself the right support network – accepting you will always be a soldier and that’s ok.

Thank you so much to Tammy Spence for taking time out of her day to openly talk to me about her years serving our country and for allowing me to write this case study for Involve’s tribute to Remembrance Day.