Unlike most people my age, I have, in fact, held a rifle. Not only that, I’ve learnt how to strip it down and put it back together in 60 seconds. The reason? I was once a student in the RAF Reserves, marching in formation, completing adventure training, learning flight drills, discipline, and the sort of composure you can only really gain from being shouted at by a rotund man in a beret before 6am.
But that experience, valuable as it was, is still a far step from being willing to fight, kill, or die for your country. That’s a different kind of commitment altogether.
