I joined the Army without a degree and was commissioned into the Royal Signals in 1985, one of the Army’s most technical organisations.

During my Army career, I spent three years working with the juniors at the Army Apprentices College in Harrogate [The Army Apprentices College in Harrogate, established in 1947, is now known as the ⁠Army Foundation College Harrogate]. What struck me then, and has stayed with me ever since, is that the Army did not define people by the qualifications they had when they arrived.

Instead, it looked at aptitude, intelligence and potential.

To my knowledge, that remains one of the great strengths of the Armed Forces. The Army gives people the chance to show what they are capable of, often long before the rest of society has worked it out.

The Armed Forces as a second chance

At Harrogate, I saw young men who arrived with no GCSEs go on to gain A Levels in just two years.

For many, the Army was not simply a career choice. It was a second chance.

One of my former 16-year-old apprentices contacted me a few years ago to tell me he had become Head of Cyber Security at the Cabinet Office. Another went on to become Head of Cyber Security for the Parliamentary rebuild.

Both left the Army as corporals.

Another former apprentice later qualified as an Offshore Skipper and became a leading member of the team that rescued the crew of Koomooloo during the 2006 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

These were not people who followed a traditional academic route into technical leadership. They were people who were given the opportunity to prove what they could do.

And they did.

From military communications to secure data transfer

Since leaving the Army, I have held a range of business development roles across the defence sector. I am now with Nexor, an SME focused on the secure transfer of data between classified systems.

In simple terms, we work in a world where cyber security is taken to another level. Trust, assurance and technical rigour are essential.

Around 15 percent of the company are retired military personnel from all three services. Within that group is a particularly strong cohort of former Warrant Officer Class 1 Foremen of Signals.

The Foreman’s course was, in my view, the intellectual equivalent of special forces selection.

The Royal Marines and Royal Signals took gifted corporals, often with at least five years of experience, and put them through a full technical degree in 22 months. Many had left school at 16 or 17, often without GCSEs, let alone A Levels.

Yet through training, discipline and opportunity, they became some of the most capable technical minds in defence.

Sadly, the degree element of that route no longer applies. But the calibre of those who completed it remains remarkable.

On qualification, they were promoted to Staff Sergeant. By the time a Foreman reached Warrant Officer Class 1, they could be responsible for planning the communications for an entire Division.

That is not a small technical role. It is a position of major operational responsibility. It requires deep technical understanding, sound judgement and leadership under pressure.

Technical talent does not always follow a traditional path

For almost every soldier and airman I worked with during my military career, the Armed Forces offered a second chance to young men and women who had been failed by the education system.

Back in the late 1980s, many of my soldiers came from homes where there was generational unemployment. The Army helped break that cycle.

It turned people who had been underestimated into confident leaders, respected communicators, systems architects and cyber specialists.

Why defence needs this experience

Defence depends on people who understand more than technology in isolation.

It needs people who understand pressure, operational reality and the importance of getting information to the right people securely, reliably and at the right time.

That is why companies like Nexor actively recruit people with military technical backgrounds.

Not out of sentiment. Not because it makes a good story. But because they bring judgement, resilience, technical excellence and practical operational understanding.

They understand that systems do not exist on their own. They understand that technical decisions have real consequences. They understand that communication is not just about infrastructure. It is about trust, timing, context and confidence.

That experience matters more than ever.

Defence data interoperability is now mission critical

Modern defence is increasingly dependent on data.

The challenge is no longer simply connecting systems together. It is about enabling trusted, secure and controlled data interoperability across a complex and constantly changing operational environment.

Defence organisations must be able to move information between teams, systems, partners and security domains. They must do this without losing control, confidence or assurance.

That requires people who can think beyond individual platforms. It requires people who understand mission need, technical architecture and delivery under pressure.

It also requires people who know that trusted information is not just a technical concern. It is an operational requirement.

Many of those people did not begin their careers with degrees. Some were written off by schools. Some were told they would not amount to much. Some entered the Armed Forces looking for direction and found a level of technical capability they may never otherwise have discovered.

Did not having a degree hold us back?

No.

Did joining the Armed Forces give many of us a second chance when the education system had failed us?

Absolutely.

And defence continues to benefit from that second chance today.

Meet Guy at Defence Information 2026

Guy Bewsher will be speaking at Defence Information 2026 on 8 and 9 July, where this year’s theme is “SDR One Year On: A Singular Digital Function Reforming, Integrating and Delivering with Industry.”

Guy will be discussing “The All-Domain Data Interoperability Capability: Regearing Defence Data.”

His talk will explore why Network Enabled Capability failed due to a focus on integration over interoperability, an ineffective commercial model and a reliance on limited known systems.

He will explain how today’s approach shifts towards data centric interoperability, helping defence manage vast and dynamic data sources, enabling broader supplier access and sustain technological advantage.

To continue the conversation around defence data, interoperability and the technical talent needed to deliver it, meet Guy at Defence Information 2026 next week.