I respect a lot of you have driven all your lives, I really do, can you give ex-squaddies a bit of slack if we turn up, with shall we say, little or no experience.
My point ?
I reckon a lot of us have a past, at my place we have ex-SAS soldiers,Light Infantry, RGJ and Paras all very quiet and to be honest with you, top blokes, who come in to just boost their pension, we all have a natter, about, Afghan,NI, Iraq and maybe Iran, but its the past .
So when some of you come in and mouth off at Bulmers, (A very rare thing to happen at Hereford) and raise your voice and swear, just have a thought please, some of us have served your country and just want a peaceful, and easy time to get to our pension…THANK YOU…
Hear what you saying mate but who’s this a dig at■■?
Trust me, theres good uns and theres complete and utter arse wipes.
I have the utmost of respect for you lads, I’m ex-forces myself and my bruv is currently in the land of sand.
But in my experience, of all the guys we take on on recovery, ex reccy-mechs are are nightmare.
They know everything there is to know about recovery, have every qualification going and 22 years experience.
But it’s so hard trying to retrain them for civvy work, Army and civvy recovery is completely different. Recovering MoD stuff is a piece of ■■■■, everything has big shackle rings on the front bumpers to winch off, and the army lads couldn’t give a ■■■■ if they cause any more damage than has already been done.
In civvy street, trucks have plastic bumpers, arches, wings etc. The sole objective is to recover the vehicle completely damage free (cause no more damage than has already been caused). That means removing wheel arches, air deflectors, grills if necessary, to prevent any further damage. Using airbags where you could winch something over without them, just to prevent damage. Thus saving the customer money and down-time.
MoD stuff you chain round the front and just drag stuff about. Civvy stuff you can’t just rive like [zb] and hope for the best.
I find, a guy with a class 1 and no recovery experience is far more use than an ex reccy-mech, because I can train them to do the job the way I want it done, not the way the MoD do it!
Not a dig, just something to think about.
I could have worded that better by saying, an ex-squaddy with a class1 and no recovery experience would be a better prospect to us than an ex reccy-mech with a class 1!
I’m ex forces and we both chose the job…!
I load Bulmers in Hereford quite a lot (Always Strongbow I get though, never the good stuff), and have never had any probs in there or heard anyone with any probs.
i know a lot of non army drivers that dont have a clue, and as long as they have a hole in their ■■■■ they will never become proffesional drivers. at least the army guys can be retrained.
waynedl:
I load Bulmers in Hereford quite a lot (Always Strongbow I get though, never the good stuff), and have never had any probs in there or heard anyone with any probs.
Please come and say hello fella, and have a brew, there free between 0300/0600 
hotel magnum:
i know a lot of non army drivers that dont have a clue, and as long as they have a hole in their ■■■■ they will never become proffesional drivers. at least the army guys can be retrained.
Couldn’t agree more, especially useful to us are the ex-squaddies who find it difficult adjusting to a 9-5 job.
Our trade is anything but that! But that’s what we love about the job, never knowing what you’ll be doing in 2 hours time.
Im a current recy mech and im the first to admit im heavy handed i prefer crarrv (tank) recovery so simple winch then drag with a a frame just heavy lifting. When i get out ill do tanker driving over civvi recovery or something else there are some of us who take the wheeled and trailer side really seriously though who would do well in civvi recovery though.
hotel magnum:
i know a lot of non army drivers that dont have a clue, and as long as they have a hole in their ■■■■ they will never become proffesional drivers. at least the army guys can be retrained.
Wild genralisation. 
I’ve seen good and bad ex-forces I’ve seen some who just couldn’t adapt to the job and other who have just like the OP said got their head down and got on with it.
But then the same can be said of those who hadn’t been in the forces.
To be fair though, ex-squaddies make terrible truck drivers
i run the empty cans into bulmers for mccarthys rooster…not very often these days as most of my works up the north-west these nights (night driver)…im ex Royal Welch Fusiliers.
Upmost respect for you lads, I’m from a military family and understand what’s what. My grandfather was WW2 SBS and we never knew about the SBS stuff until he died, he was a CPO in the Royal Navy on North Atlantic convoys in his ‘day job’.
I think, as in most things, there are good and bad. Maybe it’s just taking more care that’s needed with civvy trucks.
Phil
Supposedly the reason they make terrible hgv drivers is because they never reverse in the army, you need a few farmfoods/iceland combat deliveries under your belt 
You can spot the army fellas at my company a mile off. Not because of the way they look or talk but because of how they do things absolutely clinical/perfect. (apart from reversing of course)
I don’t know why they struggle to get jobs when they leave the forces because if i was an employer the training and mindset they have already received is absolutely priceless.
merc0447:
Supposedly the reason they make terrible hgv drivers is because they never reverse in the army, you need a few farmfoods/iceland combat deliveries under your belt
You can spot the army fellas at my company a mile off. Not because of the way they look or talk but because of how they do things absolutely clinical/perfect. (apart from reversing of course)
I don’t know why they struggle to get jobs when they leave the forces because if i was an employer the training and mindset they have already received is absolutely priceless.
Most ex-Euro van couriers, were terrible squaddies!