Military service

After graduating from high school, I did my military service in the Royal Life Guards. During the first months of the military training I recall that  there was strong focus on physical training. As I did a lot of sports when I was young, I felt ready for this part of military life. I was in good shape when I joined the military. Still, I experienced that my fitness, stamina, and overall health improved considerably during the time I served in the military. During military service, I also remember developing various technical skills in areas such as mechanics, communications and technology. Many things were new to me. As I was and still am a curious person who like to learn, I figured out relatively quickly how equipment and other things worked. As a recruit I obtained valuable competencies in managing time effectively and solving tasks efficiently. I learned, for example, that when serving in the military, things can change quickly. Therefore, it was of strong importance to develop agile competencies such as the ability to rapidly adapt to new situations and be flexible when working on various challenges.

From the time I served in the military I recall working with people, who came from all around Denmark and had different educational backgrounds. As military service involves several challenging situations, we learned about the importance of trust, communication, and cooperation. Through the many challenging tasks we did during day and night, in all kinds of weather, and sometimes with little sleep and food, we were forced to learn to trust as well depend on each other and communicate well. Getting to know each other well was beneficial in high-pressure situations where quick, effective decision-making and efficient problem solving was important.  Being exposed to numerous stressful situations and environments helped us develop resilience and cope with adversity.

From my military service I also recall learning about discipline.  We learned to follow schedules and orders as well as maintain high standards of personal conduct and appearance.