I served as an Officer in the Royal Corps of Signals and completed tours in Iraq (1) and Afghan (3) before I resigned my commission a few years ago. I was in EW and my role meant more frequent tours..be aware that particular specialisms will take you into conflict areas (should we be engaged in any) more often than others. I completed twice as many tours as some of my Sandhurst contemporaries. There is no 'front line' in the sense there was in past wars and so you are up to your ears in it wherever you go. If you join and we are still deploying to Afghan you will go to areas where you will see people kill, be killed, be maimed etc on a regular basis. I have served at FoB's where we were losing two or three soldiers a week to very serious injury. The reality of Afghan is not the dead soldiers you see on the news (though that is very sad indeed) it is the daily grind of death and injury and unpleasant crap. But its a war, it's what you see on TV, speeded up with you in the middle of it.
There are also great moments, even in Afghan, same as anything else in life. I have seen things I would prefer I could unsee. I made friends and gained skills I will always have.
I believe this is something to think about before you join..you will be expected to face whether you can take a life and watch them taken. Whatever trade you join. This said it isn't everything it is about but you need to decide if you can get your head around it. If you can its probably the best experience you will have, you will make great friends and experience things which other people will never do. The technical trades have a very high standard because this is about life and death.
All sounds very serious doesn't it and believe me I enjoyed my service and had a great time overall. I left because I wanted to do something else and I don't regret either being in or leaving for a minute. I don't think there is much on the outside I can't deal with now.
I am working as a developer these days and now have a large team working for me. I didn't learn my dev skills in the military, I was interested enough to get into it myself, but I believe my quick journey to a senior management position is a direct result of my service training. After I left the Army I worked in the MoD for a while and that also helped my CV. I also have two masters degrees. Don't imagine that any service will fill your CV in for you..actively seek and supplement it yourself. Making things happen for yourself is a good indicator of whether you can be a leader or not. As an Officer you need to drive yourself and your soldiers and set a great example..you can't be at the back or having a bad day. Drive is what its about.
If you have the qualifications and the aptitude I would strongly recommend joining as an Officer, the opportunities are good, the leadership training is pretty much second to none and the breadth and depth of what you get to do will be considerably wider than most enlisted soldiers. The lifestyle is also rather better (but not in conflict zones).
I also believe that you need to recognise that most enlisted soldiers don't become Officers and there is no automatic path to being one if you join that way.. Also its not about commanding respect on the grounds of time served. As an Officer my most valuable resource for experience and advice were my NCOs..men and women with many years of service who are promoted to a service command rank; they are not Officers and most do not want to be (some will get commissioned towards the end of their service but are then sometimes rank capped). Any who want to be Officers will usually have moved out of the ranks fairly early on.
Officers are not managers, they are leaders who are accountable for the leadership decisions they take. If you join as an basic rank (Signaller, Private etc) don't expect a career path that leads easily to the commissioned ranks. Not that some enlisted soldiers don't take commissions, there were quite a few talented men and women on my course at RMAS from the ranks and they added a needed balance, but a lot of people will simply become Officers directly.
You do earn your experience and your credibility by being a junior Officer first (and if you think you know it all as a 2nd Lt you well and truly deserve to have your arse kicked).
Having said that if you want to be a technical specialist and work directly on a lot of kit then the other rank specialities may be for you as the technical work is done by comms specialists (in the Signals) and not as much by Officers.
Honestly, in my experience the armed forces is full of divvies that seem barely capable of coping in the real world and would otherwise be stacking shelves at Tesco. Not only that, but the pay is crap and the lifestyle seems depressing to me
I think that's a rather narrow and not very rounded view that probably says more about you than about soldiers in general. I think this sort of stereotypical view shows a lack of analysis (you could say it about most people, I might generalise about people posting on this forum based on you, but I don't think that would be very fair) but that is simply my view and you are entitled to think whatever you like.
The Army has some very stupid people in it and some very bright ones..because it reflects the society that feeds it. In a lot of cases the Army offers education, stability and decent pay (in comparison to outside if you factor in it also houses its soldiers) to young men and women looking for an opportunity to improve themselves and forge a decent life.
That said, the Army doesn't look after soldiers as well as it should after they leave and there is far more they could do. I think, even after all this time, they have not entirely worked out the consequences of what serving in places like Afghan actually mean for young men and women who leave the services after a short time. The longer you stay in the more there is to come out to, in most cases.
So, long post over, I would say I recommend serving as long as you really think about it before you join and decide carefully what you want to do in and out of the Army. If you are working out goals, seeing a benefit, choosing a trade based on what you want to do after, you are placing yourself in a great position to get the most out of an Army career. Know what you want and how the Army will help you get it. If you have a degree try and join as an Officer if you believe you have what it takes..you will be paid more for a start.
You won't do front line work for a year and then get into a trade if you join as a Private soldier btw..you choose your Regiment or Corps do basic training, then learn your specialism and then will be deployed to do it.
.and I think it is unfair that one should skip the ranks and go straight to officer, I also dont want to be caught up with all the admin **** and i do not want to hold an empty title. The pay is the only tempting bit. the pension is moot too.
You don't skip any ranks to join as an Officer. I didn't hold an empty title. I held one based on my experience, my service and my skills and I made decisions which affected peoples lives and ran operations that made a difference between success and failure for hundreds of people. If you think Officers have empty titles don't join as one..if you want to serve for others then join as an Officer. The motto of Sandhurst 'Serve to Lead' is that for a reason. You don't serve for you. You serve for your soldiers.
