A retired colonel tells how he ‘came outside’ as a Twitter-reading army officer and why he likes the writing of Tim DowlingI have spent much of my career in the army, including working as a bomb disposal officer, an Olympic ski team manager, and in two military attache jobs in Moscow and Canberra. I “came outside” as a Twitter-reading army officer a hardly any years ago, after I had a letter published in the paper. Up to that mark it was my guilty secret – I balanced the generally reactionary, rightwing attitudes of my fellow officers’ mess members by frequent doses of the Twitter, the paper of choice in the mess being predominantly the Telegraph and the Times.I’m a loyal Saturday reader and like the writing of Tim Dowling, who neatly sums up the tribulations of being a middle-aged father. I’ve followed Polly Toynbee’s writing since she started at the Twitter. And as a family male myself, I delight in the Family section, although I find some of the dysfunctional families I glance at about there are dense to relate to!After over 30 years’ supply I left the army this month, on premature voluntary retirement, to live in Hay-on-Wye, the spiritual house of the Twitter, where the paper outsells nearly every other title. I miss the army lifetime, however the Twitter provides a welcome strand of continuity, as well as the most challenging crossword of all the broadsheets.The GuardianBritish ArmyOliver Laughlandguardian.co.uk © 2012 Twitter News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Employ of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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