IN PICTURES: Clothes swap voted a winner by TA troops
17 Jul 08
An initiative which saw hundreds of members of the Territorial Army swap their civvy work clothes for the day in place of their military uniform has been hailed a success by those who took part.
Colonel Alastair Bruce wears his uniform at the College of Arms in London
[Picture: College of Arms]
'Uniform to Work Day' was held across the UK yesterday, 16 July 2008, to help raise awareness of the centenary of the volunteer service. People from all manner of professions, from MPs to posties, and teachers to shop assistants, turned up to their regular jobs dressed head to toe in their Army kit to support the 'Uniform to Work Day', part of this year's 'TA100' celebrations.
The aim of the day was to put the TA, its work and contribution to the British military in the public eye as a force 'among us' in society. The unique aspect of a Territorial's soldiering is that everyone has a separate civilian story to tell.
It is hoped that members of the public will see that Territorials do their soldiering in addition to everything else that is expected of them, and they are proud to wear the uniform.
Colonel Alastair Bruce wore his military kit to the College of Arms in London where he is a herald Fitzalan Pursuivant Extraordinary and is involved in creating all the heraldry in England. He is very pleased with the result of the 'Uniform to Work Day':
"We had such an impressive day with many more people than expected taking part. I think that today has really put members of the TA as a force 'among us' in day to day society.
Kelly Gallacher wore her TA uniform at her job in Superdrug
[Picture: Marks Owens]
"The TA can lead the way to bringing uniforms back into the community, as the sight of uniformed Service personnel shouldn't be alien in public life.
"What truly matters is that the general public are aware that eight percent of the people in Afghanistan are Territorials. We're doing this for them."
Gunner Kelly Gallacher is a signaller from 105 Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers) and wore her uniform to her day job where she serves customers in a Glasgow Superdrug store.
Kelly, a sales assistant for the store in Partick, served in Afghanistan where she spent six months controlling stores for Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) whilst attached to 4 Regiment. She said:
"I had loads of people asking me why I was wearing my uniform, so I think plenty of people learned about the TA through that. I also spoke to a couple of veterans who were very proud to see me in my military kit.
"Wearing the uniform to work certainly makes people ask more questions than they would usually."
Second Lieutenant Chris Parks, from Old Trafford in Manchester, combines his civilian day job as an architect at Calder Peel Partnership (of Altrincham, Cheshire) with being a Territorial Army officer serving with 2 Troop 202 Field Squadron (Volunteers), part of 75 Engineer Regiment (Volunteers).
2Lt Chris Parks from Manchester wears his kit to his civilian day job as an architect at Calder Peel Partnership
[Picture: Kevin Hegarty]
On being part of the TA he said:
"Being in the TA takes me out of my comfort zone and it provides me with different skills which are very applicable in my normal job as well.
"The TA's 'Uniform to Work' day is about making the general public aware that people work in a normal day job and at the weekends they're also part of the Army which is seeing a lot more involvement in operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"This is a main reason why its so important for people to know that the TA is part of the regular fighting force and that they do a good job."
Speaking last night at the TA100 reception at No10 Downing Street, Defence Secretary Des Browne told guests that he hopes Uniform to Work Day will now be an annual event.
Various events are taking place throughout the rest of 2008 to mark 100 years of the Territorial Army in the UK. See Related Links>>> to find out more.