Recruitment Drive: Babcock seeks mechanics to swap family hatchbacks for battle tanks

Babcock International Group (Babcock), the defence company, is calling on skilled mechanics to swap family hatchbacks for battle tanks – and play a vital role supporting national security operations.

As a strategic support partner to the British Army, Babcock ensures more than 30,000 military vehicles, from quad bikes to Challenger tanks, are ready to deploy at short notice.

To support this work, the company is recruiting qualified vehicle technicians, offering opportunities to apply their existing skills in a different and operationally critical environment.

While the British Army’s armoured vehicles are designed to operate in extreme conditions and feature specialist capabilities not typically found at the traffic lights of a local high street, the core mechanical skills required to maintain them are directly transferable from civilian automotive roles.

Work for mechanics at Babcock’s site in Bovington can vary dramatically from oil changes on a military Land Rover through to in-depth repairs of 62-tonne Challenger 2 tanks.

Damien Harding, Babcock’s Head of Site in Bovington, Dorset said:
“There’s often a misconception that you need a military background to work on the British Army fleet but that’s not the case.

“If you can service an SUV, you can apply the same fundamentals to a Challenger 2 tank.

“Our team plays a critical role ensuring the British Army’s ‘green’ fleet is mission-ready – and they take pride knowing that they’re playing their part in protecting national security.”

Guy Elliott joined Babcock as a technician from a car dealership 20 years ago and is now a Workshop Manager at Bovington – and qualified to drive a tank.

He added:
“I’ve found it a rewarding experience progressing through the business – and the work our team does makes a genuine difference. Conducting maintenance on armoured, tracked vehicles never gets dull and it’s great being able to sign off a ‘ready-to-go’ tank after putting it through its paces on the proving ground.”

Babcock is a main sponsor of Tankfest, which takes place at the Bovington Tank Museum from June 26-28. Visitors to its stand can find out about a wide range of career opportunities available.

More information about vehicle technician roles available nationwide at Babcock can be viewed here [LINK]