brother rejected by army-help please

morganedge

How did they know about his 'self harm'?
The only incident that you can think of is banging his head on a wall when he was a kid, but maybe he told them about other times?
And his low mood and anger issues. Did they somehow find out about his counselling without him mentioning it too them?

cupkate

Morganedge-trust me. He didn't mention anything about self harm because he just doesn't do it. This is part of the info that was wrong in his medical files. GP has admitted an error and he has issued a letter to go in with the appeal.
"counselling" was my word. He didn't see a psychologist or a mental health professional-he just talked things over with a teacher. He wrote this on the form himself as he didn't want to hide anything.

jojo_the_joyful

Hello all and Cupcate.

I do wish your brother all the best of luck.

I thought I would share the story of my son. (My hubby joined at 16, served until he was 40, retired and rejoined the MPGS 5 years ago so that is almost 29 years service !!!)

He so wants to join the army, and became a corporal in the local air cadets with in 15 months of joining.

I phoned army carers a few years ago and they told me he needed to be 4 years clear of asthma before he could apply.

Last year or so, he left school and applied to go to Harrogate military college, but the paper work took so long, he missed the cut off age of 17 years 5 months, so he applied for the adult service. Mean while he trained and worked as a life guard, did the 55 miler on the 10 tors and completed the Royal Marines assault course a few times (Just up the road from us).

He had countless interviews with the army careas, went on countless experience days, went on a look at life residential course in London, that cost him a weeks work but he came top in fitmess & all the while letters were coming and going showing concern about a knee injury he sustained playing Rugby a few years previously.

Eventually a letter from the GP and the physio who treated him and completing a fitness diary ( and this boy is super fit, he runs, goes to the gym after work & all that sort of thing).

So 12 months after he first applied to the adult service, they informed him in December that they can not have him until Jan 2013 because of his asthma.

They knew this before they started sending him away for this and that. His work is seasonal & he did not apply for other positions in October as he had been assured he would be doing his selection in November and joining in January. They have cost him a lot of money in the long run.

(Not to mention that despite paying NI and tax for almost a year, he was not entitled to a penny as he was not 18 & his parents were expected to keep him.)

It is bonkers, he is soooo fit, like I say, the RM course is "something fun to do" for him.

I am confident he will get in next year but they have just wasted a year of his life.

cupkate

Hi jojo_the_joyful. That's a shame. I feel for your son. My brother was in a similar type of situation. I think the recruiters are always encouraging when it comes to keen recruits and will do everything they can to keep them. Unfortunately, the final say seems to come from the Medical branch who have never met the recruits. I hope it all comes good for your son in the end.

Alexd_2

At the end of the day this is just another issue of cuts... My brother is currently at sandhurst. He was forced into lucknow platoon after turning his ankle during exercise. It has now been over 15 weeks since the injury. An injury that should have taken just 6 weeks max to heal.

However due to negligence it took around 6 weeks just to get a scan done to assess the problem. He has since had to pay out over £2,000 for surgery just to stay on course.

Morale of the story... it could always be worse...

pauletruth

there are other ways at looking at this. he may not be quite mentally strong enough to put up with the army. if jhe really wants to do a uniform job there are better ones than the army. the ambulance and firebigade may well be intrested. the police and who know he may learn how to shoot people to. lots of medical jobs become a nurse and he could get into the medical corps. the reserve air medical folks have been after the wife for years.

tell him if the army are so dim that they don't want him then he is to good for them.

cupkate

Thanks to everyone who gave their views and help for my brother. Just thought you would like to know that he won his appeal and passed all of the other tests. He has finished 6 months training and joined his regiment. He is absolutely loving it. It was worth all the hassle in the end!

Esoog

Glad to hear it.

Buellguy

cupkate wrote: »

Thanks to everyone who gave their views and help for my brother. Just thought you would like to know that he won his appeal and passed all of the other tests. He has finished 6 months training and joined his regiment. He is absolutely loving it. It was worth all the hassle in the end!

Well done to him

Gonzo33

Good for him. Nice to see a young lad with a bit of determination.