Army veteran: ‘I started standing up for myself and the higher ranks came right back at me’

Former army member Alan Nolan voiced his concerns over policy and treatment in the Defence Forces, but instead of being listened to at the time, he was ‘screamed at, shouted at, sworn at’

Alan Nolan said: 'From the moment I started standing up for myself against being mistreated, the higher ranks just came right back at me.' Picture: Larry Cummins

Whenever army veteran Alan Nolan watches BBC Earth wildlife documentaries, the former infantry soldier and army paramedic is often reminded of his army years. He recalls David Attenborough's footage of crocodiles attacking a herd of watering wildebeest in Tanzania’s Grumeti River in particular.

The herd is at first stunned and motionless as hungry crocodiles suddenly spring up out of the shallow shoreline waters, their wide-open jaws quickly clamping down on their hapless prey.