Hi gents , sorry to piss on the parade so to speak , but the general rule nowadays is that recent military experience is required (last 5 years) , and in that relevant deployment experience.
A lot of the old guys you worked with in AG were most likely old sweats who had been on AG or other companies books in the past, I know for fact that AG in particular have now jumped on the duty of care bandwagon and are turning loads down due to their time out of the mil and lack of experience.
Relevant deployment history generally means , NI (pre ceasefire) , probably accounts for your 40+ ex cops .... Kosovo , Bosnia , Iraq , Afghan , Sierra Leone and a few others will be deemed as relevant. obviously a HE course is not the be all and end all , but if you dont fall into the above categories it can assist ... but make sure it has live fire exercises??? After all without it would be a tad useless on your CV.... "havent been in the mil for 15 years but fired poof soft on my HE course..." sort of statement!!
Keep sending out CVs , if you are not getting a bite ask for feedback and see if you are wasting your time.
From a personal note I disagree with the 5 yrs thing etc... anyone who worked in AG convoys with some of the old hard chargers like Andy W etc know what I mean!!!
M