Hello everyone, and welcome to my website and blogs. What better way to introduce myself to the civilian world of business than a blog telling you all about me. Pull up a sandbag!
This year I left the Royal Air Force after 22 years of service. Despite being in the trade of Personnel Support (military HR) or a ‘shiny-arse’ as we were routinely referred to by the more frontline trades, I did manage to get about a bit over the years and had a very full and rewarding career. The second half of that career was shared with my husband Daz and we even managed to get a couple of tours together, which is not always an easy thing for a military couple.
After being promoted a couple of times and having a stint of covering for the PA to the Station Commander, I seemed to gravitate towards the VIP / Executive Support roles. I liked the idea of being involved in the bigger picture type stuff and working with all services, not just the RAF. My first real ‘outer office’ position was at the NATO Headquarters, Joint Force Command Brunssum in the Netherlands. My husband, who had already served 23 years in the RAF, jumped ship (or should I say aircraft) and joined me in the European adventure. What a tour! The job was a real eye-opener as to just how much the support teams of the ‘big dogs’ are integral to the planning and decision making of the hierarchy. My job was to track the tasks and staff work of the HQ and, as a native English speaker, check and prepare the staff work before presenting it to the Chief of Staff. This was more interesting than it sounds as I got to know everything that was going on across the Command. The second strand to my job was training new joiners on how to use the tasker tracking software system. This was infinitely more taxing as a short, 30-year-old Yorkshire lass trying to teach a room full of old and bold military officers from 20-30 different nations! I got by though and they all seemed to get to grips with the system just fine. Hands down that is one of my best tours. I know the military is renowned for having a good old social, but this tour was the most open, inviting and inclusive environment I’ve experienced.
On the return to the UK I jumped into my first real PA job as PA to Chief of Defence People in MOD Main Building in London. Wow! What a change of pace from the NATO world! I was in a small team consisting of the Lieutenant General, a Royal Marine Lieutenant Colonel, a Civil Servant and myself. My role was to manage the General’s diary, uniform, logistics, events and social engagements, classified material and appraisal admin. Basically, prepare him for his meetings and get him to the right place at the right time in the right kit. We grafted hard in that job with 0700hrs starts and 2100hrs finishes as a routine. The long days often ended by falling into a London pub for a pint or two before catching the last boat home down the Thames though, so I can’t complain. It’s amazing how close you get to people in these types of teams, but then again, you are spending more time with them than you are with your friends and family so, fair one.
I flew through a short two year post back in the world of HR and Appraisals before heading over to HQ Air Command to lead the Executive Support team in providing administrative, logistical and domestic support to the Senior Leadership Team of the RAF. This job was a little different to those I’d held before as other than working directly with the Chief of Air Staff on his performance appraisal and honours and awards responsibilities, I was more of an office manager and team leader. I learnt a lot about regulation compliance, process implementation, accountability and managing a large team. I really enjoyed the challenge of this job and discovered that I was now a ‘grown up’ and was more than happy to challenge the hierarchy in order to do the best for my team. Despite the lockdowns and routine working from home situation we managed to have a good time. I cannot end this section without thanking my clerks and the drivers for giving me a good send off in Smithy’s, the junior ranks bar! That’s all that needs to be said about that.
The next posting was to be the final posting. And what a job to end on! I moved to the Permanent Joint Headquarters at Northwood as PA to Chief of Joint Operations who was in charge of all military operations in the UK and overseas. MOD was nothing in comparison to this! Again, a small team working extremely long hours to support the General with his never-ending workload. Never was there a more capable man to deal with that pressure, and such a character. My role in the team was diary guru, travel manager, budget manager, classified material controller and most importantly, along with my opposite number in the Chief of Staff’s outer office, the morale and social event organiser! Despite the weight of the job, we made sure we had a team night out once a month and the odd pub lunch whenever I could justifiably manipulate the diary. At the end of my time in CJO’s office, the RAF and the military, I was extremely pleased to have finished on such a high and celebrated the end of my career with a good send off (or two….).
In February 2024 the next adventure began as RB Executive Assistant. I have to be honest, initially the transition was a bit of a struggle. Despite still being in a military lifestyle as a military spouse living on an RAF base (my husband rejoined when we came back to the UK), it certainly is different being constantly at home working remotely all by myself. As I think is apparent from this blog, I have enjoyed an amazing, busy and social career over the last 22 years. I’m out on the other side of that initial phase now with a couple of regular clients keeping me busy and regular co-working from home days with my ex-military friend who lives close by. I am grateful for the great support I have from my Virtual Assistant Mentor and Coach and am getting better at networking and putting myself out there on social media. I’m also adapting to working remotely.
Writing this blog has certainly been nostalgic and has made me appreciate how much I owe to all the wonderful people I have worked with over the years. It’s those relationships that have helped me build the confidence and foundation for setting up my own business as RB Executive Assistant.
I am excited to be bringing my experience to the civilian world of virtual assistance and will certainly continue to work hard and, of course, play hard.