The Army Bloke

A drone can be trained in weeks to hunt and kill from tens of kilometres away, and that single fact forces an uncomfortable question: are we building UK defence for the war we want, or the war that is already here? We sit down with Al Carns, Military Cross recipient, former Royal Marines officer, and former Minister for Armed Forces, to talk about what the Ukraine war reveals about drones, uncrewed systems, and the speed of change modern conflict demands.We start with the human side: early setbacks, a long and messy joining process, and the kind of gritty preparation that turns failure into fuel. Al shares the leadership moments that shaped him, from coaching on the range to the day he was drafted into Logistics Company and nearly walked away. That story becomes a bigger lesson about institutions: if you do not specialise, you risk being treated as a number. If you do specialise, you can become an asset with real agency.Then we zoom out to strategy and national resilience. We dig into NATO spending pressure, why “more money” is not enough without faster defence procurement, and what credible deterrence looks like when drones drive the majority of casualties. We also talk disinformation, bot farms, and how division inside the UK can be exploited by hostile states without a shot being fired.If you care about British military readiness, drone warfare, national resilience, and honest leadership under pressure, this conversation will stay with you. Subscribe, share with a mate, and leave a review with the one change you think the UK must make first.

A mate is killed by an IED, a prayer is said over the coffin, and then it is straight back on patrol within hours. That is where this conversation starts, because it is where a lot of truth sits: grief, fear, responsibility, and the kind of leadership you only recognise when it shows up in the worst moment.Jordan Wylie joins me during National Cadets Week to talk about the path from a council estate in Blackpool to the cavalry, to Northern Ireland and Iraq, and the memories that still hit 20 years later. We dig into what builds trust in a team, why integrity is more than a word on a wall, and how the best leaders combine competence with character and quiet check-ins when nobody is watching. If you care about British Army leadership, officer and soldier dynamics, or learning how to lead when you cannot pause the mission, you will take a lot from this.We also get practical about leaving the military and becoming a civvy. Jordan left twice, learned the hard way that the first job outside rarely matches the dream, then rebuilt through education, relationships, and asking the question even when the answer might be no. From there we widen out to the UK cadet forces, role models, national resilience, and why cadets might be the most overlooked youth opportunity in the country, plus how Hunted and adventure work became platforms for purpose rather than ego.If this resonates, subscribe, share it with a mate, and leave a review. What is the best piece of leadership you have seen when things went wrong?

How do you actually become an officer in the Royal Marines?How hard is the training?What does it take to be successful?Sam, who spent 13 years as a Royal Marines officer and left as a major, with Afghanistan and Iraq deployments behind him, tells us about his journey.We start with the reality of Royal Marines officer selection: why people fail POC, what changes when you stop trying to look “ready”, and how the Royal Marines Reserve can build the kind of fitness and resilience that holds up when everything is timed, controlled, and judged. Sam explains the parts candidates underestimate, from beep-timed gym tests and pull-ups that translate to rope climbs, to swimming standards that matter for an amphibious force, plus the long, muddy leadership grind of Brown Tuesday and Bottom Field.From there we zoom out to what happens after training: learning to lead war-experienced Marines as a young troop commander, earning trust both ways, and making peace with mistakes so you can actually improve. Sam also shares what operations feel like at the sharp end and in joint roles, including first contact off a helicopter ramp, Iraq JTAC work, and the constant tension between mission command and rules of engagement, before touching on rapid disaster relief deployment lessons.Finally, Sam tells the story of leaving the Corps, attempting an Antarctica crossing, getting kidney stones alone in the cold, and turning that setback into Pole To Pole, a cold weather expedition training company based out of Sweden. If you value honest career lessons, leadership under fatigue, and a clear-eyed look at service life, subscribe, share this with a mate chasing selection, and leave a review so more people can find it.

The fastest way to lose the “this is an adventure” mindset is to watch reality arrive with consequences. We start with that switch: days into a deployment to Basra, Iraq, a Lynx helicopter is shot down over the city, and the scale of danger becomes impossible to ignore. From there, we get into what it really feels like to put boots on the ground, step out of the gate, and carry the expectation that an RPG or suicide attack could happen at any moment.We also talk about the gap between pre-deployment training and real operations. Training throws worst-case scenarios at you daily; theatre forces you to relearn the place you’re actually in. Most people you pass want normal life, not a fight, and reading the local “atmospherics” becomes as important as any drill. That recalibration is hard, especially when you’re new, keyed up, and trying to act calm for everyone else.Then the conversation turns to indirect fire: mortars and rockets coming in hard, the helplessness of waiting it out, and the anger that follows when you realise nobody can simply “stop” it. We’re honest about how tour benchmarking works too, and how it can silence people who still feel stress because their experience does not match the worst years of Afghanistan.We finish with a strike operation story: a missed turn, radios going wild, and a reminder that good leadership sometimes looks like quiet reassurance at the exact moment someone is about to break. If you found this useful, subscribe, share it with a mate, and leave a review. What moment made your own job feel suddenly real?

A midnight knock on the steps, a simple order, and suddenly you’re walking into a mud compound to arrest a Taliban suspect. Johnny’s account of that night in Helmand Province is raw, human, and strangely instructional: cultural understanding is not a buzzword, it’s a capability that can calm fear, protect standards, and change the temperature of a whole area.We go back to the beginning too, from joining the infantry at 17 and patrolling West Belfast, to learning how leadership works when you’re young, dispersed, and expected to act like a professional. Johnny explains why those early lessons in body language, rapport, and restraint later matter just as much in Afghanistan. Then we get into the nuts and bolts of the UK Intelligence Corps: what the culture is like, why credibility is everything when you brief a commander, and how analysts move beyond reporting facts to answering the real question: so what.If you’re thinking about Intelligence Corps selection, we talk practical prep: current affairs habits, link analysis, temporal analysis, briefing under pressure, and why “don’t lie” is the only sensible rule for developed vetting (DV). We also cover the harder side of service life: a devastating motorbike injury, medical discharge, mental health treatment, Op Courage support, and how the Invictus Games can help someone rebuild identity and purpose without turning recovery into a competition.If any part of this lands for you, subscribe, share it with a mate, and leave a review so more serving people, veterans, and future recruits can find it.

You can say you want the Parachute Regiment in one sentence. Earning the trust to lead in it takes years, and it starts with the part you can’t talk your way around: the standard you can prove on the day. Our guest, Thomo, is a serving British Army Major with 15 years in the Parachute Regiment, and he’s frank about what selection, P Company, and battalion life actually demand from officers who want to be credible with soldiers.We get into why so many people express interest early, then fall away once competition becomes real. We break down why fitness is used as the cleanest measure of preparation, why “minimum standard” is only the buy-in, and why soldiers are not athletes who peak perfectly on a single day. Tom shares a raw account of doing P Company before Sandhurst, picking up red cards, and what changes when you stop hoping for motivation and start relying on discipline and deliberate mindset.From there, we zoom out into leadership and command: the pyramid of fitness, conceptual competence, and moral strength; what mission command looks like when it’s a two-way conversation rather than abandonment; and why the platoon commander and platoon sergeant relationship can make or break a platoon. We also talk about the loneliness of command, unpopular decisions, and responsibility to the mission alongside responsibility to the soldiers now and the people they become later.If you’re preparing for AOSB, Sandhurst, Brecon, P Company, or your first platoon, you’ll leave with clear, practical direction and a sharper view of what “professional standards” really means. Subscribe, share this with someone chasing the Para path, and leave a review with the one standard you refuse to compromise on.

Most people imagine the Army Reserve as a light commitment and a bit of adventure on the side. The truth is sharper: it is leadership in compressed time, service with real trade-offs, and a second career you have to actively manage. We sit down with Major Ash Bardwaj to unpack what Reserve life actually looks like when you are also building a civilian career as a travel journalist, defence journalist, author and speaker.We get into the motivations that pull people towards service, how purpose changes over time, and why “fighting for a government” is rarely the reason anyone joins. Ash talks candidly about joining first as a trooper to test the commitment, commissioning via Sandhurst, and the practical reality of being a platoon commander when you cannot rely on coercion because people can simply stop turning up. We also cover AOSB preparation, controlling the controllables, and the leadership habits that matter most when you are developing others with limited time.A standout section explores how the British Army Reserve can leverage civilian expertise, from storytelling to media operations and defence communications, including lessons from Op Rescript during COVID and the challenge of disinformation. We finish with reflections on the Centre for Army Leadership work, the value of structured feedback, and the real advantages and disadvantages of reservist life, including skill fade and the experience gap as you promote.If you find this useful, subscribe, share it with someone considering the Reserves, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Number 10 calls, and suddenly you’re standing in a hangar full of drones with seven and a half minutes to question the Prime Minister one-on-one. That moment is where confidence and imposter syndrome collide, and it kicks off a wider reflection on what it really means to back yourself as a leader when the stakes rise and the room gets senior fast.We trace the story back to March 2020, when a lockdown bet in Catterick led to a GoPro, a first upload, and then the “Civilian to Soldier” idea built to help recruits and officer candidates arrive better prepared. The growth is quick, but so is the pushback. We talk about the pressure that follows when the chain of command gets involved, why one commanding officer’s willingness to take the flak matters, and how consistent, responsible content can move from “take it down” to formal recognition for outstanding service and recruitment impact.From there, it’s the messy middle: leaving the British Army, trying on a new identity, building the Future Leader Academy, and taking criticism from people who never bothered to understand the intent. We also share why starting a podcast becomes a force multiplier for leadership development, bringing in influential guests and lessons that reach the next generation preparing for AOSB, Sandhurst, and early command.The week finishes with something even bigger than career milestones: news of becoming a dad, and the three values he wants to pass on and practise now resilience, self-belief, and having a voice. If you care about military leadership, defence, officer selection, and building confidence under pressure, you’ll take something practical from this. Subscribe, share with someone who needs it, and leave us a review: which of the three traits do you need to work on most?

You can pass every test at Sandhurst and still hit the real shock on day one of troop command: sometimes you simply do not have the answer. I sit down with Major Catherine Henderson, a serving Royal Signals officer with a seriously varied career, to talk about what leadership looks like when the textbook ends and your soldiers need you to be steady, human, and useful.We walk through her journey from Welbeck Defence Sixth Form College to Sandhurst, then into the Royal Signals, with stops along the way in recruiting, instructing, and strategic work in Main Building. If you are weighing up cap badges or staring down the regimental selection board process, we get practical: why unit visits matter, how a simple five-year plan can sharpen your thinking, and why choosing based on one “legend” instructor can send you to the wrong place.We also bust a common myth: Royal Signals is not just the CIS wing and radios. We dig into what communicators actually do, how technical soldiers become SMEs, why officers must translate complex kit issues for non-technical commanders, and where cyber, electronic warfare, and emerging AI work fits. Some of the most important moments are personal: building trust with a sceptical soldier, leading through vulnerability, and handling mental health crises with care and professionalism, plus a candid view on serving as a woman in defence.Subscribe for more honest military career chats, share this with someone choosing their path, and leave a review if it helped. What part of leadership do you wish someone had told you earlier?

One moment you’re pushing a team over a high pass in Nepal, the next you’re struggling to breathe and waiting on a helicopter because your lungs are filling with fluid. That’s where Major Tori Allison takes us, and it’s only one part of a bigger story about British Army leadership, resilience, and the quiet competence that keeps people safe.We start at the beginning: choosing the Army at 14 with no military connections, failing Regular Commissions Board at 17, then rebuilding through university, the Officer Training Corps, and hands-on army experience that makes Sandhurst click. From the Royal Logistic Corps training pipeline to leading a troop in Germany and supporting operations, we talk about what the job really demands: trust, emotional intelligence, and the willingness to handle welfare problems you never see in the glossy recruiting videos.We also tackle the realities of serving as a woman in a male-dominated organisation, what has genuinely improved, and what still needs moral courage from leaders. Then we go inside AOSB with an ex group leader’s eye: the red flags, the behaviours that show real influence, and how to recover after a bad serial instead of spiralling.If you care about Army careers, Sandhurst, AOSB preparation, women in the military, adventure training, expedition planning, or how to lead under pressure, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share it with someone who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.