Army views please

Oldernotwiser

In my experience, going into the army at an impressionable age changes people. Be prepared for this.

PlutoinCapricorn

RAF College Cranwell has an electrical and wireless school ..

I think that it must take a certain kind of person to thrive in a service environment. I guess that young people are attracted by the opportunities and excitement, and need to learn the realities for themselves.

lesley1960

andygb wrote: »

In the present climate, I would never advise any youngster to join the armed forces. We are involved in two wars thousands of miles away, which have nothing to do with the defence of our country. Why are we in Iraq and Afghanistan? Why are our troops being sacrificed thousands of miles from home, in places where we are not wanted, and where hundreds of thousands of people have been killed because of our politicians.
Our wars have resulted in acts of terrorism in the UK, but the government will not admit it. Our troops are sent away with inadequate equipment, and with no end plan.
What will happen to the thousands of troops in years to come, when we see the all too apparent effects of exposure to depleted uranium, and the psychological disorders resulting from the horrors of battle.
We are not under threat from an invading country, but anyone joining up now, will probably be asked to take part in armed conflict, and possibly kill other people - and for what?

I can see your point , but how can you have a trained and efficient armed force that has never seen armed combat ?
Its too late to train people if ever we get to stage that we under threat of invasion( although a lot of people would argue we are )

andygb

Sue-UU wrote: »

To andy: I'd rather our lads be out there, helping the locals where possible, and keeping it all from coming over here instead, and I'm sure that if asked, they would agree with that. We are not under threat from an invading country, but by golly we'd be at threat of so much IF our lads came home.
Whatever you say or think, no one forced our lads to do what they're doing, they're there of their own volition and proud of all they do and I'm sure that we as a nation are just as proud of each and everyone of them!

Sue

I just do not see where this threat would come from if our army(s) (US included), had not started these wars in the first place. If we take Afghanistan for starters, it was the US who backed the Taliban (Mujadeen) against Russia originally, even though we knew what they were like. All through the eighties and nineties we said and did nothing, as they reduced the country to rubble, imposing the strictest form of Sharia law, forbidding women to be educated, work or even to go outside their homes. I f we really want to stop the threat from Afghanistan, then we have to bash some heads together in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, because it is from these countries where the ideology of radical Sunni Islam has originated - Wahhabism.
If the real reason for attacking Iraq was regime change, then that should have happened along with "Desert Storm", before we allowed Sadaam Hussein to massacre thousands of Kurds and Marsh Arabs and Shia, who tried to organise an uprising, believing that George Bush Senior would back them.
In addition to this, I am not proud of anything which our troops are doing in Afghanistan and Iraq, and I would like to see them all safely back in this country.

andygb

lesley1960 wrote: »

I can see your point , but how can you have a trained and efficient armed force that has never seen armed combat ?
Its too late to train people if ever we get to stage that we under threat of invasion( although a lot of people would argue we are )

So, do we just go and attack countries who pose no real threat to us, just so that we can get a "bit of practice" in?
Shall we go and kill a few hundred thousand people somewhere else, and bomb their infrastructure back to the dark ages?

richardw

Tell him to try and find a poor 22 year old fully qualified electrician with a bad life in civvy street, I don't think there are many.

Snakeeyes21

After iraq and afghanistan i no longer support the army i was once part of.
they are now no better than murdering thugs in uniforms.
i hope everybody who voted for the war, and those who have taken part in it are tried for war crimes.
hundreds of thousands of innocent iraq men, women and children have lost their lives, and our government has the nerve to call them the terrorists.

Oldernotwiser

sturgeon62 wrote: »

Hi
Our 17 yr old, is currently thinking of joining up. At present he is six months into a four year apprenticeship as an Electrician but has decided he wants to do something more worthwhile. We have tried to make him realise how fortunate he is to have an apprenticeship and what he would be throwing away. Tried persuading him to perhaps keep the apprenticeship but join the TA's etc but he is still set on joining. He has an appointment tomorrow to kick it all off, followed by the presentation talk and application form. He knows its a long process with lots of stages to pass so at present has agreed to keep working.
Obviously the presentation tomorrow will be from an Officers viewpoint So we would really appreciate if anyone has any views good/bad of what its like to join as we know no one in the forces. Thankyou

You need to discuss with him the fact that he will be heavily "sold" the idea of going into the army. There's nothing particularly wrong with that so long as he realises that there's an agenda to the process and it's not the same as a normal job intervew with people competing for scarce vacancies.

sturgeon62

I was just browsing this board and was really surprised to see this thread had resurfaced. So I thought I would give you an update. We decided to just support him in his decision. He passed the fitness, run etc. But then failed the medical, they found a heart murmur. He was deferred for a year - which means he can reapply in September (the selection was last September). The GP sent him for Hospital tests but he was completely cleared, no murmur was found. He has a job albeit boring so is just doing that until something else comes along, he has a second interview next week for a Gas Engineer Apprenticeship, has grown up a bit since and said he will have a rethink about the Army, he may try again in September. Just glad he is healthy and happy really.

Oldernotwiser

sturgeon62 wrote: »

I was just browsing this board and was really surprised to see this thread had resurfaced. So I thought I would give you an update. We decided to just support him in his decision. He passed the fitness, run etc. But then failed the medical, they found a heart murmur. He was deferred for a year - which means he can reapply in September (the selection was last September). The GP sent him for Hospital tests but he was completely cleared, no murmur was found. He has a job albeit boring so is just doing that until something else comes along, he has a second interview next week for a Gas Engineer Apprenticeship, has grown up a bit since and said he will have a rethink about the Army, he may try again in September. Just glad he is healthy and happy really.

Like several other people, I hadn't noticed that the thread was an old one. Thanks for the update.

(What happened to his electrician's apprenticeship?)