Out in the Army: My Life as a Gay Soldier Read Online Free PDF Page A

should have turned me off him forever, as the weeks and months passed the platoon sergeant turned into a bit of a hero.
    Rich was following a long line of men from his familyinto the military and was about the most normal guy in 4 Section, the team of twelve men within 6 Platoon I found myself in. We became close over the opening few weeks.
    4 Section was full of interesting characters. Skivington, a lad from Wigan, was absolutely obsessed with his penis and would think nothing of pulling down his pants to show it off. It was huge and I think he’d only discovered the fact upon joining the army and having to shower with other guys. It certainly caused amazement among the lads. Heterosexual teenage boys are very odd. Skiv left the army about three months later, reaching the conclusion that it just wasn’t for him. I’ve never seen him since, which is a shame because I really liked him. I don’t even remember his first name but Jesus, do I remember his antics.
    A Leeds lad called Turner was an absolute comedy genius. He told brilliant stories and had fabulous jokes. Sadly, Turner also didn’t stick it out and left just before Christmas. I’ve never seen him since, either.
    In the corner of the room was a boy called Taylor from Warrington, who looked older than the rest of us, was bigger than the rest of us and spoke with a much deeper voice. He talked down to us and quickly became unpopular. He picked on the smallest guy, a lad called Vella, who was a bit of a geek. In true
Lord of the Flies
style, the eleven of us turned on him and he eventually handed in his ‘Discharge as of Right’. I’m still ashamed that we didn’t confront Taylor in some other way; instead we gave him a taste of his own medicine and he opted to end his career in the British Army before it had properly begun.
    And then there was Junior Soldier Warren, my good friend Stephen, who, like me, was taken in by our platoon sergeant’s tales of regimental life and opted to join the Blues and Royals. Stephen had the thickest Black Country accent I’d ever heard in my life. He extended every word he said by about foursyllables, which was something he’d be ridiculed about throughout our friendship. During the months of basic training, Stephen and I became close, as I had with Rich and, soon, a boy called Rutter, who was moved into our room because he’d been bullying someone in another room. Strangely, we quite liked him. He was a dude.
    Once I’d made my friends in 4 Section, I started to join up with lads from the other three sections that made up 6 Platoon. In 1 Section I became pally with Mike, a Liverpudlian who wanted to join the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers (REME). He was a nice guy and I’m sure we would have become best mates had we not been in different sections.
    In 2 Section there was a boy called Jonesy who didn’t stay in the army past Christmas. I was sure he was gay. We found ourselves staring at each other while changing one morning and both made our excuses once we started to get aroused. It was another fleeting experience with my concealed sexuality, though this time within the walls of the British Army. With Jonesy, I was reminded of the way I’d felt about Aaron – and I certainly didn’t feel the same way about anyone else in 6 Platoon. If he’d remained in the army, I might have gathered the courage to talk about my sexuality for the first time, but when he quit training I lost my only potential ally.
    Also in 2 Section was a guy called Dean Perryman, who became one of my closest friends throughout my decade-long stay in the army. Dean followed me into the Blues and Royals and we would share many adventures together.
    It became apparent early on that Dean was a bit of a fighter. Often he’d fall out with one of the other lads and just simply go in tough and start a fight. One night later on in the year, Dean and Williams, the boy who tried to steal my bulb, had a fallout and decided to settle the score by meeting