David Winsper joined the military on the 12th of August 1988, as an Apprentice Tradesman at the young age of 15.  He trained at the Army Apprentice College, Chepstow, as a Military Surveyor, gaining an HNC in Civil Engineering, before deploying worldwide in this role from 1990 - 1992.  He was the lead Surveyor of various Design & Build projects in Germany, the Falkland Islands and UK covering the complete spectrum of construction from 'Pavement Design' to 'Emplacement' including 'Mass / Haul' and 'Cut / Fill' strategy, via 'Quantity Surveying' (QS) to 'Quality Control' (QC).
 
More recently and as part of his MOD Managerial position, he has overseen, project managed and troubleshot a Military Construction Force in Kenya (2009) and the Falkland Islands (2010), as a Subject Matter Expert (SME), liaising with a Military Design Authority (MDA) in such matters as Variation Orders (VO's), all Health & Safety matters and Construction Procurement, in an austere environment.
 

David departed from the civil engineering sphere in 1992 and pursued a combat role, within the military, which saw him engaging in Arctic Warfare in the mid 90's, deploying four times into the Arctic Circle over consecutive years (1993 - 1996), additionally David trained at the Counter Terrorist Search Wing (CTSW) as a 'Craft Operator Specialist', capable of operating all Rapid Raiding Craft (RRC's), inshore and offshore, for which he would later return as an instructor (1999).  During this period, David successfully completed many combat courses, most notably the 'Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols School' (LRRPS) and 'Junior Brecon'.
 
After this period, David was charged with Instructional duties within the MOD and passed his knowledge onto countless soldiers, Junior and Senior Non Commissioned Officers.  Additionally, he acted on many occasion, as the 'Coach' & 'Mentor', on various Cadres, where individuals would gain their first and subsequent promotion on the managerial ladder within the MOD.  He is also a Military Instructor in; Infantry Systems, Weapons, Ranges, Demolitions, Fighting In Built Up Areas (FIBUA), Power Boats, Skiing, Chemical, Biological, Radiological & Nuclear (CBRN) and Satellite Navigation.
 

Within a year of the collapse of the 'Twin Towers', David was deployed to Afghanistan (2002) on Operation Veritas / Fingal, in a 'Reconnaissance' role, responsible for the 'Contingency Plan' (CONPLAN) routes between Bagrham and Kabul.  Once secure, his efforts were diverted to provide security advice to various ministers within the Afghanistan's Interim Authority (AIA), ranging from the Minister for Public Works, Education, Women's Affairs, to the AIA Security Ministry itself and culminated in security advice to Palace Number 8, on anticipation of the Kings return from exile to stabilise the region.
 

On return from Afghanistan, David was 'Warned Off' for war fighting in Iraq (Op TELIC) and deployed 30Km from the border into Kuwait in early 2003.  He crossed the border, into Iraq, working closely with 16 Air Assault and proceeded on operations in North Ramalyiah, seizing and securing the Gas, Oil, Separation Plants (GOSP's) and continued North, through the attack onto 'Box 6', to Adya Ahier.
 
On his return and subsequent promotion, David was posted to the Urban Operations Wing and helped develop concepts in FIBUA and equipment, whilst training and advising all levels of command, how to fight and survive in the urban environment, prior to deployment to both Iraq and Afghanistan.
 
In 2006, David took up the prestigious role of 'Coach and Mentor' to  a Troop Commanders Course (TCC) and trained young subalterns, on completion of their initial training at Sandhurst, in Mobility, Counter Mobility and Survivability in the Battle Space, with tasks ranging from Demolitions to Route Reconnaissance.
 
By this stage a senior manager, David was a fully trained Military Liaison Officer (MLO), qualified under the Local Resilience Forum in Disaster & Relief Management and utilised these skills in the Cumbrian Floods and Exercise Watermark, a Department of the Environment (DOE) led UK contingency planning scenario which played out a national flood disaster to formulate plans and protocol.
 
Further, David has acted as a 'Casualty Notifying Officer' (CNO) and delivered the news, on the doorstep, to the wife of a soldier that had been blown up in Afghanistan, in a compassionate and professional manner and has acted as the 'Casualty Visiting Officer (CVO) to a soldier who died on operations and orchestrated the repatriation, burial and family care to his wife, siblings and immediate family, in a caring and empathetic way.
 
David's final role within the military was that of Senior Military Instructor, where he passed on his knowledge and experience to future generations within the army environment.  Responsibilities ranged from the analysis of current and future training requirements, within budgetary constraints, to overseeing and managing all training, in terms of standards, safety and relevance, amongst others, whilst Coaching and Mentoring subordinates.
 
David placed his 'Out Of Office' email on for the final time on the 8th March 2013, with no regrets having had a wonderful experience.