I'm 1st reserve at my unit for the upcoming exercise. I'm an old and bold with plenty of experience and i'm gratified to say that the lads from my unit who are at the top of the list are dead keen and although generally inexperienced, are lads i would go to war with any time. They will get serious experience which will stand them in good stead for the coming years and will do a good job when that time comes.
They all, without exception have put their names down for Herrick and whatever else may come their way. Indeed drill night was packed with questions about there being any possibility of being deployed to the Lebanon to help out and experienced or not i would back them to do the job required out there and anywhere else.
I agree that this was the chance to show just how good our fledgling branch is, although i would concede that this was put together a tad too quickly for us to have got involved immediately. That being said, i'm willing to bet that employers would let the majority of guys go with their blessing at the drop of a hat for something like this, protecting stranded people from our own country as opposed to a politically incorrect war.