Son has decided he wants to join up

miamoo

My son is almost 16, he is doing his GCSE's in may and then was going to go to college.
Just recently (the last couple of months) he has shown an interest in Joining the army as an army careers officer went to his school to do a talk.
He has applied for the college place to keep his options open, and is going to the army careers office to speak in more detail.

The thing I am most worried about is most of the parents who post on ARSSE say how there son/daughter wanted it since they were 10,11yrs mine has taken a quite sudden interest, has anyone else's child joined up this way, and stuck it out?

Dont get me wrong he is perfect for the army in my opinion, he loves all sport, trains hard, does as he is told (including getting up in a morning lol) and gets on really easily with other lads his age.

I have balanced the talk about all the amazing things they will do, with things I have read up on my self like up at 6am, no sweets/chocolate for 6 weeks,getting your room trashed because 1 locker was wrong so you work better as a team, and so on
But he is still as keen to go (which I am really proud of) what do you think?

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pinkcloudnine

Hi, Miamoo, i think its great your son wants to join up. My DD2 also 16 & doing GCSE's this year, wanted to join the army after A levels, however as she has asthma & needs glasses ffor distance they won't entertain her. She is very fit, & loves sport, especially rowing & swimming. She is looking at attending Welbeck defence 6th Form college for her A levels & going into the MOD as an engineer!! Welbeck also takes all the forces for A levels & sponsers them through uni too. Downsides, leaving home at 16 [me worrying] parental contribution required for the 2yrs, based on income, need to delare everything for last year including overtime etc. If child drops out at uni or during course, parents have to pay back quite a few thousand pounds!!!
Does you son have an area of interest in the army & is he wanting to A levels?

miamoo

Thanks for the reply, no he wasn't going to do A levels, he had applied for a construction/engineering course as this is what he has been doing at school for the last 2 years.

In the army he hasn't really decided what he wants to do, probably something along similar lines, he wants to speak the the recruitment officer about that.

helsee

i would let him begin the recruitment process and see how he feels. He'll have to speak to the recruitment office, do the barb tests, go to selection etc. It can be quite a long process and he may have a wait- recruitment numbers are high at the moment!

Let him go into it a little more and see how he feels. You can go and speak to the recruitment office aswell.

ICATQ

What is he intending to do in the Army? What rank level is he looking at, soldier or Commission?

Could he sort out a visit to an Army unit nearby that will give him an idea of the day to day routine of the Army.

davetrousers

miamoo wrote: »

I have balanced the talk about all the amazing things they will do, with things I have read up on my self like up at 6am, no sweets/chocolate for 6 weeks,getting your room trashed because 1 locker was wrong so you work better as a team, and so on
But he is still as keen to go (which I am really proud of) what do you think?

What about getting shot at?

Getting sent to Afghanistan and getting blown up by a roadside bomb or suicide bomber? Or witnessing his friends being blown up.

Possibly firing a shot that kills innocent civilians?

nmmerri

I did the lower sixth form at school and never went back after the summer hols. Eventually got kicked out of the house until I got a job so I went to the careers office and after the tests, I joined the Royal Corps of Signals and am still serving in the Armed Forces 21 years later although I am now an RAF officer. My advice would be to try and join up as an officer in the first place (hindsight is always 20:20!) and do as much research as possible into exactly what the various jobs actually entail. The recruiters will always tell you about the positives but it's best to talk to someone who is actually doing the job for a fully balanced view.

miamoo

davetrousers wrote: »

What about getting shot at?

Getting sent to Afghanistan and getting blown up by a roadside bomb or suicide bomber? Or witnessing his friends being blown up.

Possibly firing a shot that kills innocent civilians?

Yes obviously he already knows these things, I was talking about a balanced view of the initial training.

StrawberryYogurt

As a forces wife ( we are in Germany right now) of many years I can tell you that if my Son wanted to join up, I would be SO proud!! Good on your son! The army offers so much these days, yes its scary the climate we live in but it IS one big family when it counts

Education, promotional courses, training e.t.c are really encouraged now and invested in. Its all changed a LOT!

Some of my spur of the moment decisions have been the best I have ever made...I had a light bulb moment and joined here on the spur of the moment and its changed my life So dont knock those spur of the moment things! lol

Good luck to your son and thoughts to you x

miamoo

StrawberryYogurt wrote: »

As a forces wife ( we are in Germany right now) of many years I can tell you that if my Son wanted to join up, I would be SO proud!! Good on your son! The army offers so much these days, yes its scary the climate we live in but it IS one big family when it counts

Education, promotional courses, training e.t.c are really encouraged now and invested in. Its all changed a LOT!

Some of my spur of the moment decisions have been the best I have ever made...I had a light bulb moment and joined here on the spur of the moment and its changed my life So dont knock those spur of the moment things! lol

Good luck to your son and thoughts to you x

Thanks so much for the message, it means alot.

helsee

davetrousers wrote: »

What about getting shot at?

Getting sent to Afghanistan and getting blown up by a roadside bomb or suicide bomber? Or witnessing his friends being blown up.

Possibly firing a shot that kills innocent civilians?

theres a lot more to the army than afghan and deployment.....