Civvy Life – Alex Greathead

Off By Ed Hanna

After a career in the Army, Alex uses his analytical and management skills in his role with train operator, LNER.

What’s your Military background?
I joined the Army in October 2014 and was in the Intelligence Corps. I spent four years in electronic warfare, working with the Signals and then with the 77th Brigade. I was part of Op Newcombe in Mali and Op Elgin in 2017 in support of 21 and 23 SAS (Reserve) and left as a Corporal/Acting Sergeant in July 2023.

How was resettlement?
I’m the main parent for my son and it got to the point where it wasn’t really tenable for me to be in the Army anymore and try to look after a five-year-old, mostly on my own. So that was what made me leave.

I’d been preparing to leave for quite a while, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I’ve always been working towards cyber security and information security during my career. What shaped that was the exposure I got initially, when I was doing electronic warfare. I really liked the technical element of it, as well as the analytical side, which I trained in, being an analyst.

I was lucky. I kept my ear to the ground and 6th Division did free training that I’d started in 2021 and that gave me entry level IT qualifications. So, ITF Plus, which is a really basic IT course designed for people that manage IT or deal with IT in a business environment. It basically gives someone that knows nothing about IT an overview. So, I was able to get qualifications aimed at people that will perhaps do things like field support; so fixing computers and understanding how computers work. I gradually built up my knowledge and then paid for myself to work towards a CCNA certification, which is a Cisco qualification in networking.

Did you use any of your ELC credits for that?
I used my enhanced learning credits to pay for what I’m doing now, which is my degree in cyber security and intelligence from Staffordshire University.

I never grew disheartened with the Military and I enjoyed my time in the Army and it wasn’t really that I wanted to leave but someone told me, when I was in Phase One training, to start planning for resettlement on day one, because even if you want to do a full career of 24 years, you’re going to leave and you’re going to have to have a second career. I took that advice and it’s probably one of the best things that I’ve ever done.

I’d built a LinkedIn profile and I’ve been able to curate that. So, from the moment that I hit the sign-off button, I already had relationships with recruiters. LNER found me and offered me the role and then I made my chain of command aware of that and was able to leave to take up that position.

What’s your current role with LNER?
I’m an information security analyst. So, I produce incident reports, I monitor our various monitoring and security systems for alerts. I also do project management work. For example, we have a road map to mature our security environment. So that’s another element of the role, one that’s scoping new systems, helping to get them implemented and I do a lot of user awareness with our staff around security.

Some Service-leavers might ask if rail is really going to remain significant in the near future and if it’s the right career move for them…
Railways are definitely part of the future because of the move towards greener transportation. A large majority of the East Coast Main Line, for example, is electrified and rail is probably the most environmentally friendly mode of transportation. It is definitely the future.

What do Veterans bring to roles at LNER?
There’s a an LNER Veterans network. Again, through things like LinkedIn, I made sure to connect with as many people as possible, including Veterans from the Corps. Funnily enough, one of the guys that helped set me up within this role was ex-Intelligence Corps.

What Military acquired skills do you find yourself using in your current role?
The Military trained me to be an analyst, so those skills have directly translated into the role I do now. I think anyone, regardless of their trade within the Military, do a lot of project management day-to-day. You’re moving people around, you’re having to plan, you’re having to take things into account. Also, things like leadership and management: I was surprised at just how much of an advantage you have as a Veteran. I’d say that a lot of people, perhaps who are NCO’s, don’t see themselves in that light; they think maybe that when officers leave, they will go into management roles, because that’s effectively what they are within the Military – but most people in the Military are managers.

What do you miss from the Forces?
It’s contradictory but the thing that I miss from the Military is working with people that you’re genuinely friends with and seeing them on a daily basis. But then, the thing I appreciate most about my new role is the level of flexibility that I get in terms of working from home and not having to deploy with a week’s notice or go on an exercise or be told to go on a tour for six months.

What’s your advice for current Service-leavers?
I would say, build a strong LinkedIn profile and network with as many people as you can. Have as clear an idea of what you want to do as possible and plan a path for yourself to get to that point. Learn from what other people have already done, don’t try to do it all from scratch.

There are also so many free courses and other opportunities that you wouldn’t be aware of if you didn’t network with people.