Story by: Sarah Trevelion FCIPD – Director at Techmodal and Former Commanding Officer 39th Signal Regiment.
Background:
I’ve been an Army Reservist for 22 years now, having been an Army Cadet and Officer Cadet in the University Officer Training Corps before that. Although I come from a military family, I only joined the Army Cadets because a friend had joined and I thought I would give it a go. It led to a lifelong adventure which I am still loving! In civilian life I am Director of Techmodal, a defence focused data science consultancy, so that is a lot of overlap between both my jobs.
Achievements/challenges:
I have definitely benefitted in civilian life from the experiences the Army has given me. Deploying on operations as a junior officer gave me a huge amount of insight into leading teams and gave me the confidence to give things a go, even in uncertain circumstances. This has been really key in developing me as a civilian business leader. I am sure that the resilience that the Army has instilled in me has been crucial at all stages of my civilian career.
My proudest moment as a Reservist was to have been selected to command 39 Signal Regiment, a Reserve Regiment who deliver Communications and IT support to the Regular Army. I handed over command last week after two and a half years and while I am sad that it’s over, I am really proud to have seen what the Regiment and my soldiers have achieved during that time, and I look forward to seeing them continue to excel and achieve great things in the future. Seeing my soldiers thrive and progress in their own careers has made the challenge of balancing two jobs myself absolutely worth it.
Future aspirations:
I am shortly moving to a my next job where I will be closely involved in developing policy for the Reserve Forces across the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force. That’s an exciting opportunity to help shape the future and ensure that the Reserves have a clear plan. I am also really keen to continue to champion the opportunities for Women in Defence – I’ve been fortunate to have worked for some brilliant leaders over the course of my career, both male and female, but I really want to make sure that everyone knows what great opportunities exist in the Reserve Forces to be part of something bigger.
