Cadetship - impossibility or a reality

Billabongfitz

Hey,

only recently discovered that taking a cadetship in the army hosts the possibility of putting you into a university course of your choice!! I was planning to go to university then onto the army for a term, but to do them together would just uncomplicated matters!!

I know the chances of getting accepted into cadetship are really slim.... REALLY slim! So my question is: would the fact that i have pretty bad eye sight deteriorate my chances significantly or would it have any bearing? taking into consideration that i just want to join the infantry!

Is there anything i can do between now and the application/interviewing time to increase my chances of getting accepted?

any advice is welcome

bugler

Your chances are slim...a couple of years ago I heard there were 30 or so places and maybe 500-600 applicants. How accurate those figures are I don't know, but I'd believe them.

Your eyesight may well count against you. Make sure it's within the basic requirements before applying. As far as I know the medical would be a bit down the line, but there's no point wasting your time if you don't possess the basis level of sight needed. Whether they favour better-sighted applicants over blind blokes I'm not sure, but you'd imagine they would.

If you are dead-set on this and the eyesight becomes a factor then get Lasek performed. The Army is still stuck in the past is not accepting people who had laser surgery, but they won't be able to tell you have it done AFAIK.

As for other things you can do: Join the Reserve Defense Forces, and play sports seriously, especially GAA :-) I suppose boning up on Military Theory etc can't hurt. There's no point going to these things half-arsed. The likelihood is that some of the places are out of your reach due to nepotism / favours so you'll have to be fairly damn impressive to get in.

GerryRyan

bugler wrote:

some of the places are out of your reach due to nepotism / favours

Those days are gone (or so I'm being told). Yes, keep up the sports, doesn't have to be GAA btw.
Join your local RDF (not FCA) unit - do your best to make an impressoin there. It will carry forward.
Try and get someone in the PDF to give you a few mock interviews beforehand, this might be hard thought.

Have an interest in the army - history/organization.theory/tactics etc

As it stands - they are taking 50% school leavers and 50% people with some sort of qualification.

bugler

Those days are gone (or so I'm being told).

I'd doubt it to be honest. It's nothing particularly about the Army, it's with regard to any job or competition. Knowing people helps.

monosharp

bugler wrote:

If you are dead-set on this and the eyesight becomes a factor then get Lasek performed. The Army is still stuck in the past is not accepting people who had laser surgery, but they won't be able to tell you have it done AFAIK.

Why LASEK and not LASIK ?

bugler

Monosharp did you not get my PM?

I can't even remember the difference between them. Get the most modern one done, whichever that is. I'm not sure evidence of either of them being performed remains, mind you.

neilled

May i just restate that surgical alteration of eyesight currently excludes you from the cadetship competition. The following article may be of interest

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8122-2272068,00.html

The new booklet is due out in two months time so lets hope for a rule change.

neilled

bugler wrote:

Monosharp did you not get my PM?

I can't even remember the difference between them. Get the most modern one done, whichever that is. I'm not sure evidence of either of them being performed remains, mind you.

Yes they are detectable to an optician.... just do a quick google search

bugler

Does the Army get an optician to closely check everyone's eyes? I'd imagine they give you a standard Snelling test and then the doctor gives you the once over.

I've had a few medicals and it hasn't been detected. Including one to be cleared to box. I'd be fairly confident it wouldn't be picked up.

monosharp

bugler wrote:

Does the Army get an optician to closely check everyone's eyes? I'd imagine they give you a standard Snelling test and then the doctor gives you the once over.

I've had a few medicals and it hasn't been detected. Including one to be cleared to box. I'd be fairly confident it wouldn't be picked up.

Believe it or not i just read an article about members of the British Military, pilots & special forces (SAS) with NO eyesight problems getting laser surgery to improve their nightvision. A US Navy pilot with 20/20 vision but with deteriorating night vision (landing at night on aircraft carriers was becoming an issue) had the procedure.

They are also guys getting it, especially pilots just to get better then 20/20 vision.

And our crowd still won't allow it.

I take it that because theres so many applicants every year, especially for the cadets, that they simply don't allow it because its a way of getting down the numbers.

Alkers

Join the RDF, then you will at least know whether your eyes are good enough to pass the medical. I think it counts for about +3% in the selection process also.

monosharp

Simona1986 wrote:

Join the RDF, then you will at least know whether your eyes are good enough to pass the medical. I think it counts for about +3% in the selection process also.

Surely u jest ?

RDF eye "exam":

Recruit walks into room.
Doctor: Look at the chart, read the 3rd line.
Recruit (standing 7 feet away): AP.. eh ...
Doctor: Good man. Next.

neilled

No whislt you still get the doctor look at the chart stuff down at the barracks, they then actually send you for a proper "look into a machine test" in Bricins. Now you could cheat if you put your contacts in........ however if yer man looked in your eyes you'd be up the creek.

In reply to another poster - i read a book by a former brit squaddie who went and joined the royal marines during the early 90's and was promptly turfed out about three months into training when he was discovered as the doctor had noted durin the medical he had "funny shaped eyes". Not sure but its a risk you'd be taking.

Alkers

monosharp wrote:

Surely u jest ?

RDF eye "exam":

Recruit walks into room.
Doctor: Look at the chart, read the 3rd line.
Recruit (standing 7 feet away): AP.. eh ...
Doctor: Good man. Next.

When I was doing mine the two people before me were both refused for eyesight. One was colour blind and I'm not sure what was wrong with the other one. The test is carried out by the same doctor as the PDF test so there should be no difference. In dublin anyway...

Bam Bam

Billabongfitz wrote:

Hey,

only recently discovered that taking a cadetship in the army hosts the possibility of putting you into a university course of your choice!! I was planning to go to university then onto the army for a term, but to do them together would just uncomplicated matters!!

I know the chances of getting accepted into cadetship are really slim.... REALLY slim! So my question is: would the fact that i have pretty bad eye sight deteriorate my chances significantly or would it have any bearing? taking into consideration that i just want to join the infantry!

Is there anything i can do between now and the application/interviewing time to increase my chances of getting accepted?

any advice is welcome

You won't get a university course of your choice, it must be something that is of use to the DF

Eyesight is very important, even in "just the infantry", for the Cadetship they have to weed the numbers down a lot and if your eyes are bad, then you haven't got a hope, and I'm not to sure about glasses but I've never seen a cadet in uniform wearing glasses. But when your an older officer fair enough.

Laser eye surgery leaves tell tale marks on the eye, and is not an authorised procedure in the DF.

And if you get it and don't say anything and they miss it. It could come back to bite you that you basically lied during your application.

Do join the RDF as you'll get a tadte of Military life and at least learn to march and shape a beret properly.

The interviews are hard, and the questions are probing, all you can do to prepare for them is practice your answers and think about what they'll ask you.

How did you do............
Why did you............

dame

OP,
You won't be given the university course of your choice becasue;
(a) as another poster said; it must be relevant to the defence forces and
(b) you must have obtained the CAO points for the course.