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Name: Stephen Harnett
Rank on Exit: Sergeant
Years of Service: 24 years
Qualifications Gained: NVQ in Direct Training and Support
Having spent 24 years in the Army, working in the Infantry (3 Para, for 16 years) and the RLC Trade Postal & Courier Squadron (for eight years), Stephen Harnett left the Service in 2009 as a Sergeant. While serving in locations including Afghanistan, Iraq and Bosnia, his achievements included an NVQ in Direct Training and Support, he was a finalist in the TriService HM Forces DDEFLOG VQ Trust Apprenticeship Awards 2008 and won Best Achieved NVQ 2008. He was also winner of the Workforce Development Awards Judges Award (NES) 2009. While serving, he also gained a huge array of civilian qualifications, including: Close Protection Course (CRG); BTEC award in the Delivering of Conflict Management Training L3; BTEC award in Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector L3; and NVQ level 3 Direct Training and Support. At the time of writing (midDecember 2009), he was studying for an NVQ level 4 in Learning and Development, NVQ Assessor Award (A1).
Last October he started working for the Extra Mile Group – an innovative security and training company undertaking training and operational contracts for the public and private sector ¬– as a close protection instructor. ‘They have,’ he says, ‘given me the chance to instruct, to the highest ability, all the knowledge taught me throughout my military career and gained through all the courses I have taken, especially in close protection.’
He attended his CTW at Aldershot, which he says was ‘extremely useful – the instruction and instructor were second to none and they used their skills to turn my own knowledge into practicality. Without the help I received there I would not be in the employment I am in now. Fact!’ He also undertook a Control Risk Group (CRG): Close Protection Officer course, which he says was very valuable: ‘the instructors are all from a highprofile environment and are the most professional I have come across.’
In terms of translating skills gained in uniform to practical use in a civilian career, he says that his roles as a senior team leader in the fields of logistical management, training management, operational and general management equipped him with the following skills, among very many others, which will come in useful in his new job: the ability to lead, manage and administer groups of multiethnic staff in diverse and hostile conditions; he has operated in groups of all sizes in often dangerous and hazardous situations, as team leader; he has controlled and managed the receipt, despatch and security of priority marked material to British embassies and hostile locations; a proven ability to motivate and professionally develop junior team members through delegation and example; he is trained in a full range of security expertise, from patrolling skills to guarding personnel establishments worldwide; and has the capacity to meet strict deadlines with minimum resources, as well as a constant determination to achieve his objective.
In his new job as a security consultant/trainer in the delivery of conflict management training – found through ‘marketing and research taught on my CTW’ – Stephen says he is working with ‘a highly motivated and specialist team, handpicked from the military and the civilian police. I have,’ he says, ‘been given a great opportunity to work with a fantastic management team, which has invested in me and all the skills I have gained throughout my military career, and brought them together to enable me to succeed in achieving an excellent civilian future.’
Managing director of the Extra Mile Group, Ian Carvell, a former Special Branch officer who has worked in close protection with diplomats and royalty, says of Stephen, ‘From the moment I met him, I knew he was what we wanted. His enthusiasm for training is infectious, and the skills he has developed during his Army career, including training, were more than impressive. While he will take the lead in our close protection training courses he has much more to offer than that. He has a natural skill in motivating people: if anyone can encourage people to get on with their life when they have been down on their luck, he can. We are lucky to have him. Stephen will be the perfect tutor for young students looking for ways to find the direction they want to take in their career path and life.’
Stephen comments, ‘I am really enjoying my work. The training is innovative, looks to engage students in a practical sense and the company is always there to help postcourse.
We aim to make sure the courses are of high quality, and if any prospective student wishes to talk to me about them I would be glad to hear from them [see below]. The company puts a lot of time into advising students about security careers – its policy is to be honest in advising students about their suitability, the job market and career prospects. I was impressed with that. I am still learning all the time from other trainers and would encourage other soldiers leaving the Army to consider training in CP. It’s very rewarding – I love every minute of my work and I have a great opportunity to give back my knowledge to all those who ask of it.’
Stephen can be contacted on: 0800 098 8044.
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