OUR VIEW OF VETERANS NEEDS TO CHANGE

Every single competitor in this week’s Invictus Games has overcome overwhelming odds to reach the start line, bearing witness to the remarkable power of sport to inspire physical and mental rehabilitation.

In the spirit of William Ernest Henry’s poem Invictus, they are unconquered.

For the spectating public, the games are about generating a wider understanding and respect for the injured and wounded. Few can match the leadership and problem-solving skills forged by those who have served our country in the most high-pressured and demanding situations imaginable. Yet as an employer would you give a veteran a job? Shockingly, the majpority are inclined to say no. A detailed study by Lord Ashcroft last year revealed that nine out of 10 members of British public believe veterans are likely to have physical, emotional or mental health problems.

Ever more of the population is growing up with ever less direct exposure to our military; combined with a diet of bad news, this “damaged” stereotype is reinforced.

From the moment I stepped on the parade square at Sandhurst to my final day in uniform, my service helped shape me into a more confident and driven individual, armed with a heap of transferable skills that I continue to benefit from to this day. Yet failure to tackle the lack of understanding between society at large and our Armed Forces hinders recruitment and gives employers the wrong view of what veterans can offer.

The greatest tribute we can pay our veterans, past and present, is to look beyond the myths and recognise those who have given their service so that we can all enjoy the freedoms we have today.

It is time to adopt a more fitting narrative.

Ninety per cent of those leaving the Armed Forces, utilising our career transition service, are now employed or back in education within six months.

Our veterans will always be brave and heroic, but in society they should be recognised as those who can – and do – step forward to be ambitious, entrepreneurial and highly desirable employees of any work force.