Rob Hale served in the RAF for 34 years, attaining the rank of Squadron Leader, leaving in 2021. Rob spent most of his career as an RAF Logistic Officer, initially specialised in fuels management, completing the Long Army Petroleum course. I then moved to RAF Air Movements and Explosives management areas of expertise. The final 1/3 of my military career was spent with UK Specialist Units both in the UK and on exchange working alongside the US in the Middle East in a variety of positions.
A typical day for Rob involved “working out of the Operations Room for UK Specialist units in London as the Logistics SME for operations in the UK and overseas. My days were spent resolving immediate logistic issues, whilst also engaged in longer term support planning.”
Rob’s current role is Construction Logistics Manager working for Skanska as part of the SCS JV on the HS2 ‘London Tunnels’ project. “I initially met the BuildForce Team during resettlement and they advised on networking opportunities, which led to my CV being seen by the Logistic Director in SCS. Following a couple of interviews, I was offered a position and started within 6 weeks.”
Rob advised “networking with those ex-Service personnel who had already left the Armed Forces and speaking to the staff at BuildForce were key to my transition from the military. Key challenges I experienced were trying to depart the military during a pandemic and concerns about age bias, which subsequently did not materialise.”
Rob’s current role sees him “in the office/on site by 0730, no day is the same. Monday is mainly staff updates, briefings and prioritising tasks for the week. The rest of the week is divided between the tasks in the office including logistic planning and governance and getting out onto any of the twenty-two sites within the SCS Project, aiming to ensure consistency across all areas. Project management and driving innovation are key features of the role, looking to deliver new logistic projects and procedures across the trace. Current projects include the development and roll-out of an AI system capable of monitoring and where necessary, alerting when mud is a problem on the highway and working with both the City of London and Metropolitan Police to improve vehicle compliance, driver standards and road safety across all our sites and surrounding areas. My role has also expanded to include delivery of training for logistic staff, looking to professionalise construction logistics; this work is alongside the CILT and CLOCS. Finally, I have taken on the management of 100+ SCS fleet vehicles, looking to improve driver behaviour and vehicle reliability, whilst working towards converting the fleet to EVs as part of the wider project aim to reduce emissions in London”.
Rob’s advice to anyone leaving the armed forces and seeking a career in construction is “Get onto site and understand the roles available and investigate which areas appeal to you; taking advantage of any work placements if offered. Some construction industry employers are only just starting to appreciate the wide range of skills that ex-Service personnel bring ‘as standard’. I found that it is only when they see first-hand the flexibility and versatility that ex-military personnel will deliver from ‘Day 1’ on the job, do that they fully appreciate the ‘bargain’ they have got.”
Rob’s advised “the three words to describe a career in construction include diverse, interesting with constant challenges. I would describe fellow ex-military as determined, flexible and industrious.”