Celebrating Armed Forces Day 2023

Each year Armed Forces Day is celebrated in the UK on the last Saturday in June. The day is a chance to show support for the armed forces community, including those who are currently serving, service families, veterans and cadets. This year, Armed Forces Day is taking place on Saturday 24th June 2023.

Armed Forces Day is a special day for us at Brimstone, as our Founder, Aaron Florence, along with many of our employees, have served in the armed forces.

Recruited from the Armed Forces

We are proud to recruit from the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Airforce. Our employees’ years of military experience equip them to carry out their first-class mitigation work and give us an unparalleled collective experience.

Many of our explosives engineers have joined us after leaving the military due to the EOD training they received. The many transferable skills and qualifications they received while serving make them highly suitable for UXO risk mitigation work in the UK.

However, it’s not just our ground staff that have military backgrounds! Our Founder, Aaron Florence, served for 15 years and was an Army Captain, along with our Operations Manager, Jock Forde, who was a SSGT EOD Instructor at the Defence Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Munitions and Search Training Regiment (DEMMS), serving for 24 years.

Below you can see photos of the Brimstone team from their time serving in the armed forces.

A Tribute to Army Personnel

At Brimstone, all our rigs have special names which pay homage to Army Captains and Brimstone call signs.

Honey Badger is our newest rig, and was named after Captain Phil Nolan, an ex-Royal Engineer search advisor nicknamed ‘the Honey Badger’. Throughout his service, he looked for Improvised Explosive Devices in Afghanistan. Today, Phil is an active fundraiser, having climbed the ‘Seven Summits’ to raise money for The Soldiers’ Charity.

Our rigs Handsome and Red Fox are named after Brimstone call signs in Afghanistan, principally from Operation HERRICK.

Operation HERRICK 12 was the mission of locating and disposing of explosive ordnance, just like our rigs Handsome and Red Fox do today.

Team Handsome was led by Sgt Scott Doherty (now SMI), a close friend of Aaron’s. In a horrible turn of events for team Handsome, Corporal KP was killed in action. With the blessing of Doc and the family, we named our first rig “Handsome”.

Red Fox was named after another team. Sgt Uzi Shaw (9 Para Sqn RE) and Cpl (now SMI) Ginge Hyams were in team Red Fox 9. The team located and disposed of hundreds of items of explosive ordnance which undoubtedly saved lives for not only our troops and allies but also the local population.

Below are photos from teams Red Fox 9 and Handsome.

Supporting Armed Forces Charities & Organisations

Supporting the Armed Forces and those who have served our country is important to us at Brimstone. This is why we support a range of charities and armed forces organisations.

We are the proud sponsors of the Royal Engineers Rugby Club, also known as Sapper Rugby. The ‘Sappers’ are one of the Army Rugby Union’s most successful Corps sides, playing in the Army Corps Division 1 Championship.

Brimstone also supports Sapper Support, the only 24/7 PTSD crisis helpline staffed solely by veterans and 999 personnel. The charity gives emotional and physical support to sufferers of PTSD and other associated mental health issues.

Finally, we are a member of the Armed Forces Covenant. The covenant focuses on helping members of the armed forces community have the same access to government and commercial services and products as any other citizen. As a member, Brimstone has pledged to support the Armed Forces Community and uphold the key principles of the covenant.

Brimstone UXO

At Brimstone we provide global clients with unambiguous explosive hazard management, from training and surveys to clearance operations and risk mitigation.

Take a look at our UXO services or browse our latest job vacancies by exploring our website.

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