In the Navy . . . .

M.E.

Your daughter sounds to be very bright and interesting. How about her going to Uni and then going to Dartmouth for Officer training? She will have a wider choice of career.
My daughter joined up after Uni and is training on helicopters.

jennihen

thankyou for all the info!
We'd not thought about the RAF. TBH I'm sooo relieved she doesn't want to pursue Hair and Beauty! Can't believe she was even offered it as an option!!
DD1 has the opportunity to travel for 6 months or so after her 'A' levels which brings her to 18. My biggest concern is how she will deal with being in such a male-dominated environment. Being only 14 at the moment, it feels like I'll be throwing her to the wolves!!

We've got a lot of research to do but I'm really pleased she's thinking ahead. I might have blagged her a good work placement next year with a family friend - he reckons he can give her a really good insight into life onboard ship and some of the career choices open to her.
I've got a few concerns about the Medical - we have a few problems that run in the family but its by no means 100% certain that they will have been passed on - its not genetic. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

In the mean time we'll get to the careers office over half-term . . .
Thanks everyone for the helpful advice
JH

Hope basic is tough - wouldn't like any of our forces to be unprepared!

jennihen

Hi ME
My Dad was a Rodney so I'm open to that as well!! She's well-turned out and she keeps her kit in good order (I know Pony club isn't quite the same but there is a dress code and some expensive tack to take care of) She always does well in tests and speaks up well, I think she could do really well for herself in any of the services.

mountainofdebt

Firstly if you have a Sea Cadet unit near you I would throughly recommend your daughter gives it a whirl as not only will it give her a taste of military displicine, the opportnities to go to various bases and on various courses around the country will be vast. and the friends she will make - well!

Secondly, the minimum age that the navy will look at her is 15 years 9 months though if she is bright she should consider officer entry which can be done straight after A Levels - in fact she may want to consider A level sponsorship - I think the minimum A level entry requirements for officers is 180 UCAS points.

Thirdly, if your daughter has a leaning towards engineering then she could apply for a place at Welbeck College but there is more info on that on the RN website.

Best bet is to book a meeting with the Careers Advisor at your local office who can go through the various options with her, Bear in mind though that they may consider her to be abit young to show much interest in, so they may just give her the basics but as she gets older they will become more actively involved in her application. As an example, my son (17) is keen to join the RN as an Officer and has been on a number of trips to RN bases to 'live the life' so to speak and has even spent a week at the Dartmouth Naval Officer College - came back bouncing with enthusasiam!

An interesting by note to your daughter joining after going to Uni - I was told by a recruitment officer that the RN prefers to ge the recruits after 6th form rather that after Uni as the RN can mould the people easier. In addition to this the Rn will pay for the Officer cadets to undertake a degree with the OU - whilst studying their chosen career with the RN. This is what my son is planning to do rather than go to a bricks and mortor Uni.

jennihen

Going to get DD1 to sit down this afternoon and start a file where she can keep all this info!
There are so many options available - we'll start with the careers offices at the end of the month. Thankyou to everyone for the advice. I wish my Dad was still around - he'd be really proud . .

glitterycloud

Good luck to your dd, I joined the Navy just after my 18th birthday and it was a blast! I enjoyed the basic training and found the specialisation training really good too. I would say that it is very much a single person career, alot of moving around the country or ships.
I wasn't very career minded and after 4 years I got bored of constantly moving, not being able to plan my life (holidays, christmas's, family get togethers) and consequently left. I joined up solely by myself, my parents wern't really that interested in what or why I wanted to join. If my parents had shown more interest maybe I could/would have joined a more active branch ( I chose Meteorology & Oceanography branch)
Still I feel it has given me a great start in life and I wouldn't be where I was now without my military background.

woody01

glitterycloud wrote: »

Good luck to your dd, I joined the Navy just after my 18th birthday and it was a blast! I enjoyed the basic training and found the specialisation training really good too. I would say that it is very much a single person career, alot of moving around the country or ships.
I wasn't very career minded and after 4 years I got bored of constantly moving, not being able to plan my life (holidays, christmas's, family get togethers) and consequently left. I joined up solely by myself, my parents wern't really that interested in what or why I wanted to join. If my parents had shown more interest maybe I could/would have joined a more active branch ( I chose Meteorology & Oceanography branch)
Still I feel it has given me a great start in life and I wouldn't be where I was now without my military background.

How interesting did you want it?
I take it you had a stint on the Endurance? Its the billet WE ALL wanted but being an PO (Yeoman), it was a tough one to chase down.

I spent most of my sea-going career on the destroyers (didn't want to serve with the 'splits')
Then, off to Pompey and shore based for 2.5 years so quit.

A sailor wants to be at sea, not teaching the scrotes flashing light for 25 months.

glitterycloud

woody01 wrote: »

How interesting did you want it?
I take it you had a stint on the Endurance? Its the billet WE ALL wanted but being an PO (Yeoman), it was a tough one to chase down.

I spent most of my sea-going career on the destroyers (didn't want to serve with the 'splits')
Then, off to Pompey and shore based for 2.5 years so quit.

A sailor wants to be at sea, not teaching the scrotes flashing light for 25 months.

Sadly being in such a small branch meant I spent my wren days ashore side, 4.5 years in naval establishments can be pretty boring hence my decision to leave!
Only people whos face fitted got endurance and rfa's.

globalds

Has your daughter thought about Royal Fleet Auxiliary
http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/operations-and-support/royal-fleet-auxiliary/

Part of the Merchant Navy ,so Civilian . But very closely involved with Royal Navy and the rest of the armed services.
Nothing but sea time ,Maybe a bit of time spent in port ,but the accommodation on board is a cut above the RN.

jennihen

Hi Globalds
RFA came up on Warship the other night - you're right - accommodation was a lot better!!
There's so much to think about - good job she's got plenty of time!
Its made me think about my Dad - I'd love to find out a bit more about his service career. Is there a central records office that I could contact?