- Your background seems to be mainly in cooking Bob. How do you feel about coming out of the kitchen and working on the front desk?

- A lot of the satisfaction I get from cooking comes from the pleasure others have when they eat the food I prepare. I think I would get a similar feeling of satisfaction from serving customers from the reception desk of a good hotel. I mean, the service industries are about keeping the customer happy so that he, or she, comes back again and again and also recommends your hotel, or restaurant, or whatever to other people.

- Why did you decide to join the army, Bob?

- When I left school my options were quite limited. I didn’t have enough qualifications to go to university, and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do for a career. I suppose I was confused at 18, and the army seemed like a good place to get some kind of direction and a regular salary. A lot of my mates just left school and signed on social security. I wanted to see some of the world.

- And you were sent to Iraq?

- Yes, but I was only there for two weeks. During our first night patrol, our jeep hit a mine and I lost two of my toes. I was not fit for combat and so I trained as a chef.

- You’ve worked in Spain, so you can speak Spanish.

- Yes, that’s right.

- Where do you see yourself five years from now?

- Well, professionally, I’d like to be in a steady, satisfying job that gives me both stability and challenges. I am ready now to stay in one place and settle down, but at the same time I’m looking for a job which is stimulating and gives me contact with the public.

- What is the most important thing the army taught you, Bob?

- To work as part of a team.