David Barrett
David Barrett joined the Army only two years ago after nine years working in fast-food and retail. Learning has helped him excel beyond his dreams and last year he was selected as the Army’s best recruit in The Sun Military Awards.
During initial training in 2007, he was identified as one of the best recruits and then as “by far the best student”, during the next phase of his Combat Engineer training where he was thought of as a “model recruit”.
David completed the Military Engineer Geographic Class 2 Technician course in October 2008 whilst at the Royal School of Military Survey. David then achieved a Level 4 qualification (first year Foundation Degree) and became the top-performing student on his course, achieving a distinction in every module and scoring the highest marks the school has ever had. He is now employed as a Geographical Analyst and plans to return to the school as an instructor.
“The responsibility is enormous as lives may depend on the quality of my work”, he said. “The learning I have completed so far has given me interest in a variety of subjects, and equipped me with the skills and confidence to work in the Field Army and complete further studies,” said David. “My aim is to complete the Foundation Degree and continue studying to achieve a Bachelor’s degree.”
Learning has given David a motivation and interest in a variety of engineering-related subjects. “I feel I’ve only scratched the surface of a huge subject and the possibilities for specialising in different fields are enormous,” he said.