Son has decided the army is for him

tigercub

Hi there
I am looking for some help for my son, and not sure this is the right board to post on.
DS is nearly 11 and has already decided he wants to join the army, says he is going to Harrogate when he is 16 etc.

My problem is, we have looked into cadets for him, but he apparently has to be 12 for this. Sea cadets will take from 10, but he wants the army.
Does anyone know of anywhere in the Leeds area that might be able to take him. He is so eager to go somewhere.

I did have my doubts about him wanting to chase this career, but he is so determined, I am putting aside my worries to help him with what he likes.

Thanks in advance of any help

flexrider

you could try these two links i have found personally i think he is too young yet.

http://yorkshirearmycadets.co.uk/cadets/forecast.htm

www.armyjobs.mod.uk/education
if it no good best to get on the fone and start asking

hope that helps

cheepskate_2

tigercub wrote: »

Hi there

DS is nearly 11 and has already decided he wants to join the army, says he is going to Harrogate when he is 16 etc.

You never know.. My son knew from 3 he wanted to go into the forces and after he left school at 18 he went into the RAF.

When he was going to the cadets we originally went to look at the Army one, as it was nearest. DS just didnt like it.

When we took him to the RAF one , what a difference, and he seemed to like the look of it.

I would let him have a look at the 3 forces cadets if possible and he will get a feel for one of them.

Good Luck

tigercub

He's definate about wanting to join up, this is all he has talked about for the past 2 years.... Army this army that, when I'm in the army i'll.......

Esoog

I would also suggest taking your lad along to all the Cadet forces, I was in the Air Cadets and it taught me all kinds of useful stuff as well as instilling a sense of discipline/respect etc in me (despite this my uniform is green now not blue), whereas the Army Cadets who were based next door to my squadron were basically a bunch of scallies. Fast forward a few years and whilst at Uni, through the Army, I decided to help out with the Army Cadets in the local area (extra money & good chance to use what the Army was teaching me) - most of them were all good kids, however it was still pretty much the same. The kids were more interested in smoking than the lessons organised and were always causing trouble, I asked some of them why they went to cadets and they said for a place to smoke where their parents wouldn't hassle them.

I'm not trying to paint everyone with the same brush but its worth thinking about, from my own personal experience the kids are "better" (in terms of behaviour etc) at Air Cadets.

tigercub

Thanks for that esoog, I have been talking to him about air cadets. A friend of ours son is in the RAF and at a base in Saudi, and he does seem interested in that. Only thing is the entry age for Air cadets is 13,, a 2 year wait, with him nagging that there is nowhere to go

Ivrytwr3

if he is serious about joining up, then a another year or two wait won't make much difference.

When he comes to actually joining up, that isn't instantaneous either. I've know people who have waited 12 - 18 months before even getting an interview!

mountainofdebt

I can understand why he would want to go into the Army Cadets if he wants to join the Army; my son refused to join the Air Cadets which has a unit cross the road from us but instead goes to the local Sea Cadet Unit 20 miles away as he wants to join the navy

tbh alot of the people that attend his unit has little or no interest in joining the navy - for them its almost akin to going to the local youth club with the exception that they understand that they are expected to turn out smartly on parade nights (and gawd help them if they aren't!) and that there is a fair amount of discipline dished out. Yes there are some as young as your son but they do different activities to the older cadets and are approprately supervised.

Joining the cadets is the best thing that has ever happened to my son; its changed him into a confident disciplined young man; not only that he's been given opportunities that his friends can't really comprehend - he's been on numerous courses, making friends from all over the UK and some from abroad in the process

I would be tempted to suggest that he tries the sea cadets - if only to get a feel for what a cadet force unit is like.

carlsberggal

Cadets teaches them to be responsible for their actions, to work as a team and most of all respect for others. My son joined the army cadets at 13 (that was the age then), he went on to become a cadet leader and joined the 'real' army 18 months ago. He won't be able to say what area of the country he wants to be in when he joins the army proper. My son did his initial training in Pirbright then a further 6 months training in Portsmouth. Go along to your local cadets, they may let him 'watch' a couple of times to see if he would like to do it