Why this graduate engineer joined the armed forces

As a graduate engineer, how would you convince the inhabitants of a war-ravaged town that their electricity supply has to be interrupted in order to make vital repairs to a damaged substation?

It’s a situation requiring tact, diplomacy, and the necessary skills, people and equipment to fix the problem quickly and efficiently. It is also one of the many scenarios that a commissioned officer in the British Army may have to face during the course of a career that often begins at The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

In March this year the Student Engineer visited Sandhurst to speak to 2nd Lieutenant Sameer Kumar, then an Officer Cadet at the prestigious military establishment, to talk about what motivated him to go through the gruelling 48-week training programme that would see him emerge as British Army officer.

You read electronics at Cardiff University. Did you have a specific career path in mind at that time?

At Cardiff I joined the Officer Training Corps (OTC) because entering the Army was always in my mind. I didn’t know for sure that it was what I wanted when I first joined but after three years I was sure it was the best route for me. Being part of the OTC gave me the opportunity to take part in a number of Adventurous Training expeditions. These expeditions gave me a glimpse of the type of challenging and exciting things that a career in the Army could offer.