The Unconventional Soldier

Our guest on Pod #011 is Lee Chapman. On this episode he discusses joining the Army in the mid 1980s and deploying to his first Unit 50 Missile Regiment Royal Artillery.  This specialist Regiment was capable of firing the Lance mobile tactical surface to surface missile to provide nuclear fire support to the British Army of the Rhine during the Cold War. Lee was a member of the Special Defence Group, a specialist unit unique to 50 Missile Regiment, whose role was to provide ground security for the nuclear weapon system.  Its NCOs were fully qualified infantrymen trained at the School of Infantry in Brecon.  The main part of the podcast discusses the deployment of STA patrols to the Balkans during the 90s and their involvement in the campaigns in Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia.  We finish with Lee's book choice on Desert Island dits Panzer Leader by Heinz Guderian.  His film choice is The Longest Day.  The teams book choices this episode are My War Gone By I Miss It So by Anthony Loyd and  The Forgotten Highlander by Alistair Urquhart .Find out about the current serving unit at STA Patrols Special Observer.Follow us:Instagram @the_unconventional_soldier_pod.Facebook @lateo82.  Twitter @TheUCS473.Download on other platforms via Link Tree.Email us: unconventionalsoldier@gmail.com. This episode brought to you in association with ISARR a veteran owned company. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest on Pod #010 is Chris Lincoln-Jones.  Chris was the Battery Commander of the then 73 (Sphinx) Special OP Battery when it deployed on Operation GRANBY, better known as the first Gulf war.  He describes the deployment of the unit, the training in theatre and its role as part of Divisional recce attached to 16/5 Lancers during the 100 hour ground war.  Chris also covers his time in 3 Commando Brigade in 148 (Meiktila) Battery, a specialist Naval Gunfire Support Forward Observation unit within 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery.We finish with Chris's book choice on Desert Island dits Firing Line by Richard Holmes.  His film choice is Eye In The Sky.  The teams book choices this episode are If I Die In A Combat Zone  by Tim OBrien and Memoirs Of An Infantry Officer by Siegfried Sassoon.Find out about the current serving unit at STA Patrols Special Observer.Follow us on Instagram "the_unconventional_soldier_pod" and Facebook "The Unconventional Soldier Pod" (search for @lateo82).We are also available to download on iTunes, Spotify, Youtube and Google podcasts.Email us: unconventionalsoldier@gmail.comThis episode brought to you in association with ISARR a veteran owned company. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the second part of this podcast Jimmy Morham recounts the bloody battle for Mount Longdon and the recovery back to the UK following the Argentinian surrender.  He then moves on to the lessons learned from the war and how he applied them to the training environment of the STA Patrol's Selection Course.On desert island dits Jimmy's choice of book is Three Days In June by James O'Connell.  His film choice is Tunes Of GloryColin's pick this week is Red And Green Life Machine: Diary Of The Falklands Field Hospital by Rick Jolly.  Kev's choice is Wingate and The Chindits: Redressing The Balance by David Rooney.Find out about the current serving unit at STA Patrols Special Observer.Follow us on Instagram "@the_unconventional_soldier_pod" and Facebook "The Unconventional Soldier Pod" (search for @lateo82).We are also available to download on iTunes, Spotify, Youtube and Google podcasts.Email us: unconventionalsoldier@gmail.comThis episode brought to you in association with ISARR a veteran owned company.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode we talk with Parachute Regiment Veteran Jimmy Morham who came to the Special OP Troop from 3 PARA in the late 1980s as the chief instructor on the patrols selection course.   Jimmy covers his motivation for joining the Parachute Regiment and his 22 year career as an Airborne soldier.  We then move on to Op CORPORATE and discuss the invasion of the Falklands, how 3 PARA prepared for the deployment and the equipment and weapons systems they had at that time.  Jimmy recounts the voyage south and how they prepared for war on board and at Ascension island where rehearsals for amphibious landings were conducted and weapons testing carried out.  We then move on to the amphibious assault on the Falklands itself.Finally the move out from the beach head, conducted as an advance to contact, and the legendary tab across the island is discussed.  Jimmy then describes the preparatory operations conducted around the area of Estancia House and we finish off Part 1 of this pod just prior to the Battalion receiving orders from the Commanding Officer for a silent attack on Mount Longdon on the evening of 11/12 June 82.Follow us on Instagram "@the_unconventional_soldier_pod" and Facebook "The Unconventional Soldier Pod" (search for @lateo82).We are also available to download on all major platforms including iTunes, Spotify, Youtube and Google podcasts.Email us: unconventionalsoldier@gmail.comThis episode brought to you in association with ISARR a veteran owned company.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We love a book on the podcast so if you are wondering what to do with those Amazon vouchers this is the episode for you.  In a break from the normal format we talk about our books of choice with guest Simon Vincent.Along the way we discuss how the need for hunting hawks led to the Islamification of a part of Pakistan, Spike Milligan's PTSD, a bank robber's escape from Devil's Island in French Guyana, the myth of the invincible German soldier, Vulcan raids in the Falklands, an Irish woman's travels through Afghanistan, British POW in the Second World War, the pioneering plastic surgeon Archibald MacIndoe who saved the lives of Allied fliers in the war and how legendary SAS soldier and mountaineer Brummie Stokes helped Simon with a medical lesson on cold weather injuries.  On desert island dits Simon's choice of film is The Great EscapeFind out about the current serving unit at STA Patrols Special Observer.Follow us on Instagram "the_unconventional_soldier_pod" and Facebook "The Unconventional Soldier Pod" (search for @lateo82).We are also available to download on iTunes, Spotify, Youtube and Google podcasts.Email us: unconventionalsoldier@gmail.comThis episode brought to you in association with ISARR a veteran owned company. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode we talk with Neil Hogg about the British Army's Operation BANNER which ran from 1969 - 2007.    300,000 British troops served in Northern Ireland during this period with more than 20,000 deployed at its peak.  In the first part of the pod we cover a brief history of the troubles, the effectiveness of the Provisional IRA, how we trained for a 6 month tour and what it was like to conduct operations in Londonderry during the late 1980s.In the second half Neil discusses in public for the first time an IRA ambush in which the vehicle he was travelling was struck by a roadside IED killing two soldiers Steve Cummins and Miles Amos.  He then gives a powerful and moving account of his subsequent battle with PTSD.On desert island dits Neil's choice of books are Tornado Down by John Nichol and Dirty Work by Glen McNamara.  His film pick is The Odd Angry Shot about the Australian SAS in Vietnam.The team's pick this week is the SAS Survival Handbook by Lofty Wiseman and The Interrogator by Hanns Scharff.Find out about the current serving unit at STA Patrols Special Observer.Follow us on Instagram "the_unconventional_soldier_pod" and Facebook "The Unconventional Soldier Pod" (search for @lateo82).We are also available to download on iTunes, Spotify, Youtube and Google podcasts.Email us: unconventionalsoldier@gmail.comThis episode brought to you in association with ISARR a veteran owned company. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode we talk with David Jones a Troop Commander in the 1980s who came to the Special OP Troop from 148 (Meiktila) Commando Forward Observation Battery.  A specialist Naval Gunfire Support Forward Observation unit within 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery of 3 Commando Brigade Royal MarinesDavid covers the Troop Commander’s perspective of the unit including how the Troops in 32 and 5 Regt were organised and tasked, the pressures to get more volunteers through selection, the widening of recruitment and the attachment of SAS Captains to the Troop.  We will finish off with how two separate troops were brought together to form firstly 73 (Sphinx) Special OP Bty and finally 4/73 (Sphinx) Special OP Bty.On desert island dits David's choice of book is a two part series by Tim Cook At the Sharp End: Canadians Fighting the Great War 1914–1916, Volume One, and: Shock Troops: Canadians Fighting the Great War 1917–1918, Volume Two.  His fiction choice is Three Day Road . A book by Joseph Boyden.   Finally his choice of film is Das Boot.The team's pick this week is Unreasonable Behaviour the life story of the photographer Don McCullin.Find out about the current serving unit at STA Patrols Special Observer.Follow us on Instagram "the_unconventional_soldier_pod" and Facebook "The Unconventional Soldier Pod" (search for @lateo82).We are also available to download on iTunes, Spotify, Youtube and Google podcasts.Email us: unconventionalsoldier@gmail.comThis episode brought to you in association with ISARR a veteran owned company.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest on Pod #005 is Pete Walsh.  We talk to Pete about joining the Army in 1978 and subsequently volunteering for the Special Observer selection course in 1982. In this episode we cover mandatory training and other courses conducted in the 1980s at the International Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol School which was the centre of excellence for the training of Special Operations Forces in Germany during the Cold War. Pete also discusses Survival/Evasion/Resistance/Escape (SERE) training which was mandatory for all STA patrol soldiers as part of their selection and looks at it's origins in the Korean war.  In the final part of the podcast the team talk about BRIXMIS in the isolated city of West Berlin.  We finish with Pete's book choice on Desert Island dits The Battle Of Long Tan and film The Odd Angry Shot. Recommendations from the team include Armadillo a film about a tour of Afghanistan involving Danish soldiers.  And Bomber Offensive a book about the RAF campaign over Germany in WW2. Find out about the current serving unit at STA Patrols Special Observer.Follow us on Instagram "the_unconventional_soldier_pod" and Facebook "The Unconventional Soldier Pod" (search for @lateo82).We are also available to download on iTunes, Spotify, Youtube and Google podcasts.Email us: unconventionalsoldier@gmail.comThis episode brought to you in association with ISARR a veteran owned company. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest on Pod #004 is Sammy Nicholls.  Kev and Colin talk to Sammy about joining the Army in 1980 and subsequently volunteering for the Special Observer selection course in 1984. In this episode we cover the challenges of siting and digging in large underground hides known as mexes and the forward deployment of two sub surface observation posts (OPs).  Sammy describes the routine in the Mexes and OPs which was for a period of up to three weeks until such time Soviet forces has passed over or supplies had expired.   Patrols would then conduct a long exfiltration over a number of days back to friendly lines.  Also covered is the patrol equipment used at the time including optics and weapons.  We finish with Sammy's book choice on Desert Island dits Battle Scars by Jason Fox. And film The Great Escape.Recommendations from the team include Worst Journey In The World by Apsley Cherry - Garrard who took part in Capt Scott’s Antarctic polar expedition over the period 1910 - 13 and described polar exploration as “at once the cleanest and most isolated way of having a bad time that has ever been devised”.  Finally a book called Undercover by Patrick Howarth which  is the history of the Special Operations Executive during the second world war, the volunteers and training and the very basic equipment. We also highlight The Big Walk initiative.  Devised by Tim Richardson an ex Gunner officer and the founder of the Black Isle Group.  Find out more on Tim’s web page at www.thebigwalk.co.uk. Find out about the current serving unit at STA Patrols Special Observer.Follow us on Instagram "the_unconventional_soldier_pod" and Facebook "The Unconventional Soldier Pod" (search for @lateo82).We are also available to download on iTunes, Spotify, Youtube and Google podcasts.Email us: unconventionalsoldier@gmail.comThis episode brought to you in association with ISARR a veteran owned company. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest on Pod #003 is Iain Strachan.  Kev and Colin talk to Iain about joining the Army in 1979 and volunteering for the first stay behind Special Observer 22 week selection course at the height of the cold war in 1982. We cover the content of the course, the type of person required and the backgrounds of instructors from units such as the SAS, Commando and Airborne Brigades and Iain discusses SAS legend Geordie Lillico who was an instructor on course 1.  Later on we find out about the  Danish Jaeger Corps selection which he undertook as part of an exchange programme and digress to the legendary Rhodesian Selous Scouts.In the second half we take a look at Exercise LIONHEART which was the largest field-training exercise for the British Army since 1945 with nearly 58,000 British soldiers and airmen taking part alongside NATO allies.  This exercise was the method of warfare that the Special OP Tp was created for, proved the role was needed and could be built on further.We finish with Iain's book choice on Desert Island dits Moneyball: The art of winning an unfair game and his film Apocalypse Now.Recommendations from the team include "My Journey Through The Troubles" a documentary about Northern Ireland and Behind The Lines another documentary about the selection course for the Royal Marines Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre from 1985.  Other books discussed are Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy and Selous Scouts Top Secret War by Peter Stiff.Find out about the current serving unit at STA Patrols Special Observer.Follow us on Instagram "the_unconventional_soldier_pod" and Facebook "The Unconventional Soldier Pod" (search for @lateo82).We are also available to download on iTunes, Spotify, Youtube and Google podcasts.Email us: unconventionalsoldier@gmail.comThis episode brought to you in association with ISARR a veteran owned company. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.