Colour Sgt Colin Smith of Stornoway. Pic by Kami Thomson
Colour Sergeant Colin Smith lives in Stornoway and works as a butcher at Charles Macleod – producers of the well-loved black pudding.
He was a regular in the Army for 20 years, but was made redundant in 2013 and decided to join the reserves in 2014.
A decade ago he spent some time in charge of the reserve unit in Stornoway and he says this “opened his eyes to what it was all about”.
The 39-year-old added: “It was a ‘no brainer’ to come to the reserves because I love being in the Army, it’s something I am good at and it’s good craic.
“There is also a broad spectrum of stuff for people to do and young guys can get their driving licence, or they can get their forklift licence through the Army and the employer does not have to pay for it. You can get health and safety training and that has certainly been useful for working at Charles Macleod.”
Colour Sergeant Smith earns about £100 a day which he says is a nice boost – but he stresses that he’s not in it for the money.
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