Born into a military family, Mick attended 14 schools over his childhood. His dream of being a professional footballer came to an end after an unsuccessful trial with Lincoln City and he visited the careers office aged 16 to join the 1975 junior paras course. An ankle injury left him unable to perform any jumps, and Mick briefly left the army before rejoining 29 Commando. Passing SAS Selection on the second attempt, Mick went on to serve 14 years in B Squadron, and received his QCB for efforts in Northern Ireland. Mick was deployed to the UAE for the first Gulf War, and then posted to Bosnia, where he was taken prisoner. After leaving the regiment, Mick moved into corporate security, where he would carve out a 22 year career in locations like Kazakhstan and Nigeria. Mick and his daughter now run Hawkes And Co, and deliver security training for a number of sectors, including agriculture and rural crime prevention.