One of my first roles was as a driver for the medics, so I quickly got used to having to think on my feet and react carefully in dangerous situations. All that training had now become part of my DNA.
Whenever new foster children enter our home it always takes me back to how I felt during those early days in the army. I can empathise with their fears, homesickness, doubts about ever seeing their family again, learning to trust strangers, even some of the trauma they may have witnessed, be it through neglect, emotional, or physical abuse.