Meet Army Reservist Jack Falconer

Reservists give up their spare time to serve in the Reserve Forces, balancing their civilian life with a military career to ensure that should their country require them, they would be ready to serve.

The Reserve Forces make up approximately one-sixth of UK Armed Forces personnel and, as such, are integral to protecting the nation’s security at home and overseas, particularly by providing capability in specialist areas such as medical and cyber.

Wednesday, June 25, 2025, is Reserves Day, and we’re paying tribute to their hard work and dedication.

Private Jack ‘Smudge’ Falconer (21) is a Reservist with 7th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland. He lives in Perth.

What is your civilian job, and how do your civilian and Armed Forces roles complement each other?

“I sell outdoor equipment. Basically, it’s what squaddies wear in their downtime. Selling outdoor equipment while taking part in a lot of outdoor activities within the Army gives me a better wealth of knowledge.”

Why did you join the Army?

“I joined for the challenge, fun and camaraderie. Going through shared experiences and hardships gives me the drive and motivation to keep myself physically fit. I just genuinely think it’s cool and I draw pride from being a part of Scotland’s infantry and carry that pride when we look back on our history.”

Do you have any military background? If so, how has that influenced you?

“A lot of my mates are serving as Regulars or Reservists, and seeing the cool things they get up to inspired me to join. The opportunities are fantastic.”

What does your day-to-day role consist of?

“As a Reservist our days are spent on fitness-related activities alongside hands-on training with weapon systems, radio equipment and various other items utilised by the Armed Forces.”

What operational tours have you completed, what countries have you visited, and what were your memories of them?

“No ops so far. In my career I have been to Northern Ireland and Germany for training and developmental cadres. Germany was good because you felt like you had a direct impact on the ground. Being part of a large brigade-scale exercise was awesome, seeing all the moving parts come together.”

What has surprised you about being part of the Army?

“Every day can be different, but you can get into the routine and quickly adapt to it.”

What sports and hobbies do you have and how have you managed to incorporate them into Army life?

“Running, climbing and fitness, map reading and just a general passion for the outdoors. The Army refreshes me on these and allows me to meet like-minded individuals and make new peers to pursue these hobbies with.”

What skills have you learned since being in the Army?

“Confidence in myself, confidence in meeting new groups and people, ability to talk to a room of strangers knowing I’ve got an advantage that they may not have.”

What are your career aspirations?

“Just to be a solid reliable bloke, be an asset to my unit and commander. One of my goals is to be a section commander with a good balance of fitness, and ability to effectively execute the job of an infantry soldier, deploy on operations and humanitarian assistance missions helping others who cannot help themselves; gain skills and qualifications hopefully stuff like adventure training leaders and enhanced driving licences.”

What have been the highlights and/or the most memorable events of your career so far?

“A classic, but on a particular casualty evacuation drill during my Phase 2 training everyone was pulling their weight on the stretcher. Once you were exhausted a lad was instantly on you and took over giving you 20 or so seconds to compose yourself before the next rotation, and we carried on doing that for what felt like miles. Once we had finished, again without being told, my section turned right around to assist the other sections. Just getting to see a section gel and work together in the field knowing the lads have your back and you have theirs. Then actions like company-level clearances are awesome to see. Also having two fighter jets fly over during a platoon advance to contact was amazing, felt like you were there.”

And the biggest challenge in your Army career?

“Wet dry drills in negative temperatures, carrying out proper battle procedure when you’re cold, wet and miserable, maintaining that required standard. It’s hard to do in adverse conditions, but being infantry soldiers it’s in our job description to do the hard things and push through discomfort.”

How has serving changed or influenced your life?

“It just makes me more confident, and gives me something to be proud of. It also allows me to meet new people and pick up new hobbies, while instilling a good set of core values that I carry forward in civilian jobs.”

Anything exciting planned for next year?

“Hopefully deploying to Kenya on Exercise Bull Storm. It would be my first proper overseas deployment with a Regular unit. It will be hard, but a good way to develop personal skills and abilities, a great test of mental and physical robustness with the hope it will strengthen my skills and drills before my Potential Non-Commissioned Officer Cadre this year.”

Overall, how would you describe your time as a Reservist?

“It’s challenging and hard graft, but when you look back on it it’s the best time of your life.”