Down to earth for the Scouts

Down to earth for the Scouts

It could have been a scene from Apocalypse Now, albeit this was real life. Jerseyman Glen Militis had just touched down on hostile soil to offload dozens of British troops from his helicopter when a sea of machine guns opened up from out of a nearby hedgerow – ‘and all hell broke loose’, he recalls.

From the Bosnian War – the first conflict he flew in – to Iraq and Afghanistan, in his former career as an RAF helicopter pilot he encountered a level of danger that would send most of us into the coldest of sweats.

‘I flew troops and equipment around the battlefields, in support of the British Army,’ explains the 43-year-old, who currently works as a trainee air traffic controller at the Airport and is the new Island Commissioner for the Jersey Scout Association.

‘I remember once, when the rear wheels of my helicopter touched down in a valley in Afghanistan, machine guns suddenly appeared from the hedgerow about 30 metres away and started firing at us,’ says Mr Militis, who joined the RAF in 1996 after graduating with a first-class degree in aeronautical engineering from Loughborough University.

‘Fortunately the soldiers in the back of the helicopter were used to offloading within 30 seconds, but that 30 seconds seemed like an eternity when people were shooting at myself and my crew.

‘The crewman at the rear did a sterling job to cover our guys as he suppressed the fire coming our way with his machine gun, but as we departed, rocket-propelled grenades were fired towards our helicopter.

‘Fortunately we got away in one piece, but it was absolute chaos. I remember getting back to Camp Bastion when dawn was breaking, and I counted several bullet holes in the bodywork within a couple of metres of where I had been sitting.’

He went to Iraq in 2003 at the start of what effectively became the second Gulf War and was involved in the initial invasion to secure the south of the country, working alongside the Americans. That war took place on the premise that the country had weapons of mass destruction, a claim never substantiated.

RAF personnel perform their duties for Britain with distinction, but did he ever question why the country involved itself in certain conflicts?

‘I never thought “Should we be doing this or that?” because I was being paid to do a role. We’ve all got our own views as to whether the UK government should be getting involved in certain situations or not.

‘In some cases you could quite easily say we’ll let time run on and eventually [regime] change in a country will happen, but you can never guarantee it.

‘And would we have been better with [executed former Iraqi dictator] Saddam Hussein in place? Quite possibly, but you can never really tell.’

He endured another heart-pulsating moment in Iraq when he was a passenger with other military personnel in a helicopter that crash-landed on marshland, after a refuelling issue and an engine shut-down.

‘We were at 100 ft with no engine just outside Baghdad. Fortunately the airflow up through the rotors kept them turning, but we came down pretty much vertically at about 80 mph.

‘Thankfully the pilot pulled off a fantastic landing into soft silty mud, but the blades were damaged and all the aerials were ripped off the helicopter.

‘As we were waiting to be recovered by American aircraft, it was a bit surreal – some Iraqi shepherds walked past us with their sheep and looked entirely nonplussed.’

On another occasion, in Afghanistan, he collected troops who were holding in their hands bags containing the unsavoury debris of war.

‘Some guys in their armoured vehicles got blown up by a mine and all that came out [from the debris] was a bag containing [body parts] of each person, which were brought back to our helicopter. That was pretty sobering,’ adds Mr Militis, who rose up the ranks in the RAF to become a squadron leader responsible for the lives of some 30 people.

‘Fortunately we never lost anybody from my squadron.’

He later went to Yemen to plan the evacuation of British nationals there.

A spell as a flying instructor followed, after which he returned to Jersey permanently in 2013, having retired from the RAF at the age of 38.

Mr Militis, who was brought up in Trinity – where he lives with his partner, Emma (43), and their children Edgar (9), Felix (7) and Megan (4) – has for the last few years been working as a trainee air traffic controller at the Airport, and was appointed Island Commissioner for the Jersey Scout Association in the spring.

‘Edgar is in the cubs and in June last year I volunteered to help as an assistant cub leader with the Sixth Trinity Cub Pack,’ he explains.

‘Then I got the phone call in March from the JSA to say they had several candidates for the position of Island Commissioner and I was one of them. They asked if I would come for an interview and of course I said yes.’

He was selected for the role following a rigorous interview process.

‘I wasn’t sure if I’d have the time to commit to it,’ admits Mr Militis. ‘It takes up most of my spare time to direct the organisation, but it’s a very fulfilling role.’

There are seven Scout groups in the Island and each group contains Cub, Beaver and Scout sections. In addition, there is the Scout band, a Scout climbing club and three Explorer Scout groups for ages 14–18, who participate in both the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme and the Scout programme.

He is keen to promote within the Jersey Scout Association a similar strategy to that put forward by the Skills for Life 2018–2023 blueprint, which was released on 15 May by the UK Scout Association.

‘The UK Scout Association brought out the latest strategic plan and we’re using that as a bit of a handrail.

‘Our strategy is to give more young people the opportunity to experience the amazing programme that is delivered by our leaders and part of that is ensuring the growth of the Scouts in Jersey.

‘There are about 800 young people who take part in Scouting in the Island and there are approximately 150 adult volunteers who provide support within the organisation.

‘We have a backlog of young people wanting to join, with a waiting list of about 160, but there are insufficient places due to volunteer constraints.

‘We need more adult volunteers to help out and Jersey has a real volunteer culture, so I believe there are more people out there who will be prepared to volunteer.’

He says the JSA strategy is also about ‘making sure we are an inclusive organisation’.

Has Scouting, until recently, been seen as a predominantly male pursuit?

‘Yes, absolutely. However, there are more and more girls joining – and we can always do with more – but we’re getting there.

‘Some people also associate Scouting with Christianity, but that is maybe because meeting places are sometimes church halls. We are a fully inclusive organisation.’

Another aspect of the organisation’s strategy, he says, is to ‘make sure we take part in even more community projects so we provide [an ongoing] benefit to wider society in Jersey.

‘Last year the Explorer Scouts helped to construct a garden at St Saviour’s Hospital and we are open to requests to get involved in community projects that we can fit in with our programme.’

Mr Militis, who was a member of the Sixth Jersey Scout Group – based at Grève de Lecq Barracks – until the age of 13, says one of the major benefits to Scouting is the fellowship it provides, as like-minded young people share their passion for the outdoors.

‘I remember all the exciting things to do – zip wires and I think we used the pond at Rozel Manor for a rafting challenge once. Those sorts of things stick in your mind, as do the memories of sitting around camp fires singing silly songs and telling scary stories.’

Although he isn’t likely to share them with a Scout pack, his former career as an RAF helicopter pilot in all the major conflicts of the past 20 years has given him plenty of frightening – and very real – tales to tell.

Now, having led his RAF squadron with distinction, he is ready to take the JSA further forward.

‘I want to ensure we provide and deliver Scouting to as many young people who want to be involved as possible,’ he adds.

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