In this episode, our host, Captain Ash Bhardwaj, speaks to Lieutenant Colonel Dean Canham OBE, SO1 Centre for Army Leadership. This conversation with Colonel Dean is a raw and honest insight into the realities of leadership on kinetic operations, and dealing with the consequence of your decisions.
CONTENT WARNING: In this episode, we cover the topics of the deaths of soldiers on operations, improvised explosive devices, and dealing with the trauma of those tragedies. If these topics are difficult for you to hear about, you may want to skip this episode. It is totally natural that the examples given in this episode may affect you, and you may find it useful to speak with someone about how you feel. You can find a range of support resources at the Army's Ask for Help page linked at the bottom of these show notes.
Commissioning in 2000 into the 1st Battalion Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters, the then Second Lieutenant Canham joined the Regiment on their residential tour of Northern Ireland. He deployed to Sierra Leone on Op SILKMAN and to Afghanistan on Op HERRICK 1 as a Reconnaissance Platoon Commander. Later, he returned to Helmand on Op HERRICK 6 as the Battlegroup Operations Officer. He then Commanded A (Grenadier) Company of the 2nd Battalion the MERCIAN Regiment on Op HERRICK 15, also deploying to the Falklands and leading the 2 MERCIAN contingent at the London 2012 Olympic Games. He took command of 1 MERCIAN Regiment in 2020, and led the Battlegroup in Estonia on Op CABRIT 8 in 2021. He has worked at the Army Personnel Centre (APC) Glasgow, Army Headquarters and the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ), where he was awarded an OBE for his work in support of operations in South Sudan and Somalia. He has instructed at the Infantry Training Centre Catterick, the Platoon Commander's Division at Brecon, and on the Intermediate Command and Staff Course (ICSC) at Shrivenham. He now heads up the Centre for Army Leadership, based at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS).
The British Army's Ask for Help Page: https://www.army.mod.uk/people/health-wellbeing-welfare-support/health-performance-and-wellbeing-in-the-army/managing-stress/ask-for-help/