Our Team

Ed Cullen joined the Army in Aug 1979 as an Infantry Junior Leader at Norton Manor Camp, Taunton. were upon passing out he joined his regiment 1St Battalion the Kings Own Royal Border Regiment in Berlin as part of the Guard Force guarding the infamous Rudolf Hess. On competition of his tour of Berlin, Ed transferred to the Royal Army pay Corp which followed by many different tours of duty from as far spread as Hong Kong, Cyprus and Germany, where he was accompanied by his Wife Jackie and 3 children, two of whom were born in overseas stations. Ed did quite a few operational tours including, Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Sierra Leon and Afghanistan. Ed worked his way through the ranks and was commissioned in the rank of Captain in 2001.

Ed retired from the Army in January 2011 in the rank of Major and he has build up a thriving Bar/Catering Company with his wife over the past 9 years, his passions are Golf, Rugby, Boxing, and most of all his 6 wonderful grandchildren.

Jason was born in 1970 and joined the Army at the age of 17 in Bovington, Dorset. During his 12 years stationed Germany with the Royal Tank Regiment, Jason travelled the world participating in multiple tours of Canada, Cyprus, Northern Ireland and Poland. In 1999 Jason retired from the forces and now works for the NHS. In his spare time he works as a Funeral Operative and is an active member of the Taunton Veterans Breakfast Club. Since 2019 Jason has been a key member of Somerset Armed Forces Day Committee working tirelessly with his team to organise and host a free event for the Community of Somerset.

Pam was born in Taunton 1949 and her father was in the Oxon Bucks Regiment, later to become The Royal Green Jackets. So moved away to travel around the world to Cyprus and Malaya etc. 1965 they moved back to Taunton and Pam worked doing payroll at CEPO Jellalabad Barracks. Pam went over to Berlin for a holiday and met up with a soldier she knew from Malaya and they got married in 1968, so started being posted around the world again including Hong Kong, Germany and Ireland. In 1994 Pam’s husband retired from the army and they settled in Taunton again. In 2006 they decided to move to France to retire then 2018 decided to return to Taunton. They joined the Veterans breakfast club in Vivary on their return and Pam heard someone say they were looking for a secretary for SAFD committee so volunteered and was accepted and been with the team for a while now.

Elaine was born in Hamilton, Scotland and although she hasn’t served herself she has family members who have. In her early 20’s she moved to Spain and worked in tourism and property management before returning to the UK and settling down here in the South West. Through mutual friends she got to know some of the people involved with Somerset Armed Forces Day and was more than happy to volunteer and her role is helping out with the social media side of things.

Shawn was born in 1974 and joined the Army in 1992, he was a proud guardsman wearing the badge of the Coldstream Guards but unfortunately his Army life was cut short due to medical grounds. Shawn got himself back fighting fit and then after training at the Defence Animal Centre became a dog handler for the MOD. When his dog handling days ended he then joined the Admiralty and did a diploma in lithographic printing where he stayed for a further 18 years. The printing section of the Hydrographic Office was then outsourced which led Shawn onto his job today patrolling the grounds of Musgrove Park Hospital as a Security Officer. In his spare time he has picked up coaching qualifications along the way in Football, Athletics & Swimming as sport has always been his passion. Shawn and his wife were key to starting North Curry Youth FC and ran it for 12 years taking it from one team to nearly 200 youth players. These qualities Shawn will now be transferring to being a part of what he calls an amazing team and joining us as our treasurer.