r/britishmilitary

20F immigrant wanting to join the armed forces. Came to this country when I was 6 and yeah I do love the country but idk if that's the reason for me wanting to join the armed forces...it's more that my life is boring. I've done nothing absolutely nothing, except go to school (now in Uni) and do that part-time job in retail. I've never ever done any extracurricular activity outside this. Didn't even travel outside going back to my birth country like maybe 3 times, never did anything outside my comfort zone. So 2 years ago I saw the reserve units in my town and this poster with a woman on it and I was like hmmm..... let me go and research on the RAF now.

And ever since I have this itch to join, but once again "comfort zone" comes in the way and I'm suddenly too anxious to apply and I'm back to the dead life I have.

But also what do I say when they ask me why I want to apply????? I won't just sit there and lie and say YESSSS YESSS I'M SO PATRIOTIC I WANT TO JOIN THE RAF AND SERVE. I am patriotic though....but I wouldn't say patriotism is driving me to join the RAF.

I will say though, if I join I will commit but idk if I'm going in with the right reasons

Looking at getting back in after a few years out because the leaving plan went to hell. Considering my options and saw some roles like RAF WSOp give direct entry at Sgt level with all the joy that entails.

Im cant see any other roles that do that aside from obvious ones perhaps like medical/law qualified bods. My question is does anyone know of any other roles with direct entry at higher rank?

Happy for any of the 3 services, just prefer Army as its where I was before

I’m going into my second year of uni (first year of my course) and trying to decide which one to go into. I want to join the military full time after my degree so which one would be better?

Hi

I was just wondering whether anyone knew what options were for high or very high readiness in the reserves?

I know that roles like 4 PARA will have an option for these, but i'm currently applying for RMP reserves and was wondering whether there would be any opportunities to take part in short notice deployments with the likes of 16 AAB etc.

I'm aware that RMP were involved in the likes of OP Pitting, and it would be good to know if this would extend to any reserve elements they had?

Cheers in advance

Gents (and gent-esses)

This was originally posted last week but for some reason it got stuck in Mod approval purgatory and the code was in danger of expiring:

Just wanted to pass on a massive thanks to you all, since launching last week, I got over 240 sessions (clicks) from Reddit with some leading to orders and most joining the mailing list.

Never did I expect such a welcome and the feedback yous gave was truly so helpful.

In the interests of ex military helping ex military/SP, and
As a thank you for making my launch and experience to date so positive; here’s a discount code for 15% off (no minimum requirements. Expires next Saturday (29/8))

I'm doing same day dispatch this week also;

BMTHANKYOU15

Thanks again gents and gentesses.

Much appreciated.

Hope to see you soon!

(To try and avoid the approval trap, the link to the website is gonna be a comment below)

The Old Kitbag

Wondering if anyone has any recent info on the reserves Battlecamp course at Grantham? There’s a few bits online but nothing current. Wondering what to expect in terms of course content, PT, how much free time etc. I’ve heard it differs from Foundation a fair bit.

I've seen videos of the day to day life as a King's/Queen's gaurd and some of the soldiers appear to be 18 or in their early 20s. I assumed you were supposed to serve as a mainstream regular soldier for some years before being considererd for Household Division.

I am an Australian citizen in his younger years considering a millitary/ millitary police/police role in Britain.

Hi everyone, I’m in the process of joining a new reserve unit after a long and annoying medical stand down. My job situation has changed since I was last in training and I was wondering I’m weighing up my options in terms of time commitment for pursuing the CCS at Sandhurst. Does anyone know if reserve soldier phase 1 has any equivalency to any of the Modules of the CCS? It’s all changed since I was last able to train

So I was in MD’d back in 2014 (long story involving SA needed time to grow up get over it etc etc)* husbands been in 16 years wants to do 22 years. We have two kids now I’m in HMPPS, looking to do something else as yeah don’t think it’s for me fully.

Options I have ;
- MDP
- local police
- potentially joining back up depending if it suits.

Has anyone done this? Did it work for you? I’m 32 so I’ve matured a lot compared to a broken 19 yo. Any advice/experiences welcome.

As mentioned in the title, I am a British citizen applying from overseas, and have been living overseas for over 10 years. I apparently need to live in the UK for 9 months before being able to go to basic, but I don't want to put my life on hold for more than half a year waiting.

I've looked around and any information on a residency waiver is contradictory and hard to parse through. Any information on the application for a waiver or anything similar would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

Morning all,

Some of you may have seen my posts previously on this sub but I wanted to create an actual post [If the Mods will allow it].

Firstly, I'm a serving Int Corps reservist, and over the last couple of months I've created Field Decks - a deck of cards covering a lot of the things you'll need to know for Phase 1. It covers the 6 section battle drills, harbour areas, the SA80 WHT, SA80 maintenance and more.

They're available to buy now for £12.99 on www.fielddecks.com, and you get free shipping when buying more than one deck. I'd really appreciate any support - even if it's just telling your oppos, and I aim to have them dispatched same day.

Thanks all!

N.B the Function Test card is very slightly incorrect, which you can see the details for on my instagram [@FieldDecks]. The price is currently reduced because of this.

The thought of joining the army has remained on my tongue for a while now. I come from a family that has a strong military history.

My years have been spent working in automotive trades, both as a mechanic and at bodyshops. The reason I didn't join earlier was simply because my career path was all over the place, and I couldn't decide fully on what to do.

Most of my experience in the trade has mostly been that, just experience, no solid qualifications apart from a City & Guilds L3 in motorcycle repairs and maintenance.

Fast forward to present day, I realise I want a solid CV in the future. As well as learning something completely new and experiencing what being a soldier is really about.

My fitness isn't amazing, but I'm working on it and improving. My medical checks are all green and I have no dependents, still living at home.

What's the likelihood of me getting in at my age?

For a while now I've wanted to join the army and last year I joined the cadets, and so far its been so fun and I think a career in the army would really suit me. But, I have a bit of a dilemma. I really want to join after a degree (and through the scholarship scheme hopefully they would help fund it?) but I go to a really academic school. I know I'm expected to go to uni, and it would be great to be an academic there, but I'm not sure what to study either. I'm really interested in politics, international relations, I like history and english (lit) too, but for me to do a degree in those subjects doesn't seem like it would benefit me much? Like I'm not sure what job I could go into. And if the army would prefer someone with a more technical degree. That being said, if I do join the army I don't know what regiment/corps to join. Being an officer pilot sounds fun but other than that I'm unsure. I would appreciate any advice on this!!

P.S - if anyone has any tips on improving fitness for the army I'd really love to hear it. Being a skinny teen girl I'm finding it a little hard to build muscle and get good at running but I'm trying.

Keeping it vague, are there any mental health charities that can help provide support with ptsd to service personnel? Partners gone through dcmh, been refered for a few different things and advised continuing one med and adding another in the mean time until therapy starts. Rmo has stopped the meds saying theres no point and just kinda gone 'deal with it, bye' and just had the letter saying wait times for dcmh are 5-7 months, he gets out in 9. Anything else we can try to access in the mean time?

Hi all,

Curious to know a bit more about what the RMP Reserves actually do - is it one of those roles that's more suited to the regular element or is there a good bit of stuff the reserves can be involved in?

I'm not a police officer, so wonder if it's more suited to serving civilian coppers, and also just wanted some insight into their Phase 2 training.

Cheers!

pretty much the title, i just feel it would be better to to talk to someone who has experience. i just have a lot of questions.

New UK Military Surplus Website – The Old Kitbag 🇬🇧

Hi all,
I’ve recently launched The Old Kitbag, a small UK-based military surplus business specialising mainly in genuine British military clothing, headwear and kit.

I’ve been gradually building up the catalogue from MOD surplus stock, with things like:
• British Army MTP clothing
• Royal Navy PCS & foul weather kit
• RAF, RN & Army berets
• Cap badges and insignia
• DPM and older British issue kit
• Bags, coveralls and assorted surplus
I’m trying to keep the focus on genuine surplus, sensible prices and accurately described condition, rather than filling the site with reproduction kit.

The website has only recently(Today!) gone live and I’m still working through a fairly substantial amount of stock, so there’s plenty more to be added over the coming weeks.
If British military surplus is your thing, I’d really appreciate you having a look:
theoldkitbag.co.uk
Even if you’re not buying anything, any feedback on the website, pricing, or what you’d like to see stocked would be genuinely appreciated.
Cheers!

I don't intend to pretend to be something I'm not! I'm just wondering if they can tell a fake wearing their uniform that are worn in the battlefield? And what would happen if a King's Guard not currently on sentry duty or in formation comes across these fakes?

Hi folks,

I’ve alway wondered if you were actually allowed to leave your posts before the 2 hours was up in order to use the lavatory before returning to your post for sentry duty. I would’ve found it very uncomfortable just standing there for 2 hours holding in bodily waste in front of onlookers.

Also, have you met Frank yet? He’s the tiny soldier that may join the cadets.

As a soldier, are you also allowed to bring a gaming PC to the barracks? I’m a PCMR member myself

​

I'd like to join a year or 2 after I finish college but I'm torn between 3 roles I know I'm not guaranteed the role I want but which should I strive to get?

1. Tank crew (hopefully loader)

2. Aircraft technician

3. Officer pilot