The Boy asked:
"From the outside, what looks like the hardest thing about army life is the time away from family. Is that true, and if not, what do you find most difficult about the army life?"
This is a really tricky one. When I first joined up the time away was a major attraction, but of course at the time I was young(ish) free and single. In many ways, yes, the time away these days is the hardest thing - probably more so for the family than for me as whenever I'm away I have friends with me. But yes it's hard breaking your kids hearts on a regular basis.
Other things I find hard:
- Never really being able to put down roots - again something that was an attraction 12 years ago has now become a negative point.
- Having a very green 2Lt fresh from training telling you to do something which you know is particularly stupid and them not listening to a word you have to say - although I assume that applies to most jobs in one form or another.
