Considering Army Career

[AnotherOopsie]

Definitely worth talking to a recruitment officer.

There are options on the website to talk live to a recruiter, or alternatively pop into the Armed Forces Careers Office.

Believe me, I'd definitely finish school and get as much education as possible before you make a choice.

In 2012 I dropped out of school to Perdue my own military career, and was going to go to AFC Harrogate (where the "young soldiers" at 16 go).

You can apply at 15 and 7 months, which I did in February 2012.

Done my BARB test, personal development day, interviews and selection and was offered and start and training date for September 2012.

Bare in mind there and age limits to jobs and at 16 you are limited to a very short list of them.

Now, during this time, I was doing school exams. And I was very naive to think I knew it all, had my mind made up etc and showed little interest (I did do well for th circumstances though).

So I left school, and began a little weekend job in July to keep me ticking by and busy until I buggered off.

However, a family situation cropped up that simply couldn't be ignored, and unfortunately I had to withdraw before I even started.

Luckily I was able to find an apprenticeship and have recently finished that 4 year apprenticeship. I'm very, very lucky to have been able to get that, because as far as me and everyone else was concerned, I was a schoolboy that just dropped out.

So genuinely, do yourself a favour, don't rush into it.

Take time to weigh up your options and think of your future. As others have said, look at the requirements to become an officer, or get a trade behind you.

It'll be worth it in the long run.

 

[Roundel91]

never know someone else may have the same questions and save starting up a new topic

 

[Infanteer]

I got university entry grades when I left highschool but decided that instead of going to uni I would join the Army (Australia), so I joined at 17 which was a bit of a surreal experience because most the other lads were at Kapooka anywhere from 2-10 years older than me. When I joined up we all thought East Timor would be the next Nam so I was keen to get amongst it, that did not turn out to be the case fortunately. We went to the boozer the night before my 18th birthday during boot camp and I still wasn't allowed a beer but hey, that is understandable. We had three choices on what ECN (job) we wanted to be, I put down infantry, infantry, infantry because that is all I wanted to do, they told me I had to at least pick one other job so I put down combat engineer as my best mates dad had been a tunnel rat in Vietnam and that seemed awesome. In reality all I wanted to do was become a grunt because I thought it was bad ass and would give me some unique experiences which it did. I was recommended to apply for officer training at my inital interviews but decided against it because I wanted to experience the action, not supervise it, that was my attitude at the time. My family have a strong military history, my cousin and I ended up in the same battalion for example.

​I served a bit past my initial enlistment period of four years and was deployed several times, I got out because it was time to get out in my opinion. It was also taking a toll on my body, being a grunt is bloody hard work, anyone who tells you it isn't is talking out their bum. When I went through the school of cool we had quite a few drop outs, going through SF was not something I wanted to do after experiencing life in an infantry battalion because to me being a grunt was physically demanding enough.

​I learnt some great skills and made some great mates. You learn values like initiative, a solid work ethic, working as a team and looking after your people, these are values that are lacking in a vast segment of the civilian population.

​I am sure they have left handed weapons, we had left handed weapons in the aussie army, its the army not the catholic church. I am left eye dominant, right handed so I struggled with getting good groupings initially. Practice improved this but I need to shoot all the time to get good results, I am a talented shot but if I don't shoot for a while it drops, I am not a natural. I was very good on a machine gun though so I ended up carrying one for over 2 years including deployment.

​My recommendations are get a trade, when I got out I was a glorified security guard, there is work overseas in pmc's but the quality of that work and your safety working for those companies varies significantly. I went back to school because I wanted to get ahead. Another cousin was a warrant officer who had about 4 trades behind him, he got out and is now on six figures working in the mines.

​If you do decide to go into a combat role than look after your body, I was running conservatively a marathon a week some weeks on bitumen roads then going out to fraternise with the local women and attempt to drink my bodyweight in liquor. Not a good mix...

​Save some cash, put some away for a rainy day.

The lads that have been there and done it are giving you from the ones I read good advice.

​My advice also is if you are a young'un than take a year off after you finish school if you want to join the military. Travel, prepare your body by getting as fit as possible, contemplate your decision as it is a long one. Also look at joining the TA as that could be a better option for you, it will give you a taste of what it would be like. Joining the British military for me would be an option but I am approaching mid 30s and am now too old however I will look at the TA when I fulfil the residency requirement here. Hope that helps mate, good luck.