Episode 028

Sgt Joe O’Connor

Joe joined the British Army as a Regular soldier in 1981 and after leaving in 1988, he rejoined as part of the Territorial Army (Reserves) in 1994. He served for a combined length of 15 years with the Corps of Royal Engineers.

In this episode Joe talks about a life changing incident at 14 years old, which invigorated him to join the Royal Engineers. Plus he talks about what it was like being posted and living in Germany during the 1980s, and the reasons for leaving the Regular Army in pursuit of new challenges.

Joe also shares the rejoining process and becoming part of the Territorial Army (Reserves) which lead to him specialising as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Engineer. He goes on to share a second life changing incident, which happened during his selection course for Special Forces.