Flexible Service: Lance Corporal Rosemarie Coetzer
Flexible Service allows me to do all of the things that are most important to me; serve society, spend more time with my family, and do a master’s degree.
Lance Corporal Rosemarie Coetzer. MOD Crown Copyright.
When I heard that Flexible Service had made part-time working in the armed forces possible, I saw an opportunity to do all of the things that are most important to me; serve society, spend more time with my family, and do the master’s degree I’ve been aspiring to for years.
I’ve served in the Army for 12 years as a musician which is a really varied role. Some days I’m rehearsing for upcoming gigs and other days I’m supporting ‘changing of the guards’ at Buckingham Palace. I’ve performed at opening ceremonies for rugby matches and I’ve been part of musical tours in, and outside the UK, including a three-month tour in North America. Once a year I also perform in the Queen’s Birthday Parade called ‘Trooping the Colour’ and the ‘Cenotaph’ Remembrance Sunday Parade.
I balance service life with family life. My 5-year-old son has recently started school, and my husband is a veteran, after sustaining multiple injuries in Afghanistan whilst serving in the infantry. While I’m proud of my Service, the armed forces asks a lot of me and I would like for all of us to spend more time together.
On top of this, I take my professional development very seriously. I want to be the best ‘me’ and have the skills and knowledge to make the biggest contribution to my family and society that I can. As you can imagine, finding time for this amongst all the competing demands is challenging. Despite this, I completed a bachelor’s degree in Music Performance while in Regular Service and I wanted to take my qualifications a step further with a master’s in Music Psychology. The master’s is lecture based, one day a week and my experience of completing my bachelor’s degree taught me that I’d probably have to leave the Army to do this.
That’s where Flexible Service comes in. I’ve reduced the time that I’m liable for duty by 20 per cent, which gives me a day a week to study and/or to spend with my family, along with a slightly calmer lifestyle. This is balanced by a fair reduction to my pay and is only possible because my arrangement doesn’t compromise operational capability.
My Chain of Command is very supportive of my Flexible Service. Major Stuart Halliday, my Director of Music says:
Flexible Service balances flexibility and certainty for the individual against robust controls for the chain of command. This provides a solid, working platform for modernisation of Service in the armed forces. Applications are assessed against operational capability so Defence can continue to fulfil its purpose while offering its people more flexibility when they need it most. Its caveats and constraints limit arrangements to temporary periods of up to 3-years and allow a maximum of four years’ Flexible Service within a 12-year period. It’s not going to work in every unit, but in Lance Corporal Coetzer’s case, it’s been a success for all involved.
When my 2 year arrangement is over, I’ll have completed my degree, my son will be settled at school and I intend to go back to Serving full-time. From defence’s point of view, it gets to retain my skills while I study, and I’ll be bringing the benefit of everything I’ve learned during my master’s back into the Army.
Flexible Service Case Study: Lance Corporal Rosemarie Coetzer
Transcript for Flexible Service Case Study: Lance Corporal Rosemary Coetzer