Army Day:
The next morning I woke with an two hours to get ready and drive to the base for my talk, Charlie was helping me get dressed and then we both went of breakfast, soya porridge for me and a bowl of dog biscuits for Charlie.
In my car was my laptop all ready to go, I had found my army ID in the draw were I left it when I moved in and grabbed my hospital ID on the way out. Popping my medical corps hoodie on me I locked my house and got Charlie in the car before transferring and putting my chair in the back.
We hit the road with the journey only taking 35 minutes we were soon pulling up at the guard house where I had to go inside to get temporary clearance and a car pass. I made my way slowly towards the guard house the remembering that at this base there were only steps, up to the room I had to enlist the help of two passing foot patrols to lift me up. Charlie and I were taken into a room and provided passes, one which went on his collar. Two guys out the guard room lifted me back down and I drove in into the base and to the medical corps block.
As I headed towards the door I was met by my old commander who led me to the room I was lecturing in. We spent a good 20 minutes talking about what had happened to the courts since I left and what was going on with me medically.
I realised that I was becoming more comfortable explaining and talking about my condition now I had become to accept that it was now part of my life. I had two minutes to spare when setting up my laptop to work the the projector. I was going to give two talks one to potential recruits and one to current recruits. The potential recruits were first, a good mix of male and female.
I started by explaining what my role had been as a major in the medical corps and what training would entail, then I began talking about deployment, all was going well until I turned around to change the slide and there was a thud of someone hitting the floor. A young lad aged 18 who was just embarking on his nursing degree and wanted to join the army had passed out when seeing the pictures of the operating room in bastion. Two medics in the room brought him back round with smelling salts then took him outside for some air while I continued the presentation. To finish I mentioned about the difference of being a reserve and working for the NHS part time and being a fully operationally deployed medic. The way that thinks you do in a war zone and tools you use are not always available back in the UK.
By the end of the first talk they all looked blank from the sheer quantity of information and when I asked if there were any questions I got one, how had did I find it adjusting to civilian life post deployment. Which I explained was hard but the teamwork in the ED I was in helped a lot.
That was the end of the session and I was soon heading to lunch with some of my old squad mates. Sammi carried my tray and I sat with Iain and Sammi chatting and having our fill of the servery. It almost felt like old times until I went to head back to the training room and I wheeled there instead of walked.
But I just kept positive as the final group entered the room, the talk went smoothly until the end were I asked if there were any questions, one of the guys started saying that if I was the famous major Nichols why was I now in a chair being a coward instead of on the front line serving my country. His comment made me feel so upset that Charlie reacted and jumped up onto my knee to calm me down.
After seeing this the senior officers in the room took charge and sent everyone to their barrack and the soldier in question was sent to the commander for discipline.
Once I had composed myself Iain took me on a base tour to see how much it had changed before going to watch a scenario to see how I think it could be improved.
They were good but not as good as the team that I was on. They just needed more practice so they worked as one rather than individuals.
Before I knew it I was saying my goodbyes and hitting the road to head home. I didn't even make it up to bed and fell asleep on the couch in the lounge.