Colin Gibson on Military Contracting, PTSD & The Power of Being Yourself

<p>Colin Gibson is an ex-soldier, military contractor, scuba-diver, and owner of Talon: a security training company based in Northern Ireland. He’s served in Iraq and Afghanistan, lived in Belize for 6+ years and has been on a rollercoaster journey of dealing with combat-induced PTSD and childhood trauma.</p> <p>In part one of this epic four-part special we talk about:</p> <ul> <li>The effects of growing up with an abusive father</li> <li>How violence dominated his early years</li> <li>Getting in trouble with the police</li> <li>The moment his life changed and all the anger disappeared</li> <li>Walking through fields barefoot in the rain</li> <li>The one positive male influence on his life</li> <li>Moving to Belize</li> <li>Scuba diving stories: manta-rays, blackness and pica-pica jellyfish</li> <li>Finding happiness for the first time</li> <li>And a few teasers to what you’ll hear in part two.</li> </ul> <p>In this part two we talk about:</p> <ul> <li>Getting his feet washed by an Iraqi driver</li> <li>Being challenged to a fist-fight by his girlfriend’s dad</li> <li>Getting thrown into a Belize prison cell with 20+ other people</li> <li>What led him away from Belize</li> <li>Why he ended up joining the military</li> <li>And a few stories from his deployment…</li> </ul> <p>In part three we talk about:</p> <ul> <li>The specific combat-event that “sent him down the rabbit-hole”</li> <li>Dealing with survivors guilt</li> <li>And battling with suicide.</li> </ul> <p>In part four we talk about:</p> <ul> <li>How his experiences affect his life today</li> <li>Why he’s thrown himself into serving others through his new teaching business</li> <li>(Talon Security Training)</li> <li>What he’s focused on</li> <li>Why he started opening up about his experiences</li> <li>And advice he’d give to an 18-year-old version of himself</li> </ul> <p>Check it out.</p> <p>https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/colin-gibson-talon-security</p>