British Army- Army Legal Services

Don Quixote de la Mancha

I'm male 27 qualified solicitor. I have my own business making about 80k a year. looking to expand on that.
I love the outdoors.

i have a good friend who started in sandhurst in January and to cut a long story short I'm thinking of joining the ALS. I'm told if commissioned I start as a captain. On a four year commission with longer commissions after that.

My biggest concerns are as follows:

Money- I have no debts but I dont want to be a pauper and would have idea's of a type of lifestyle I should lead. I know the money wont be great but would it be ok, could i keep other stuff going like get some one in to run my business and keep an eye on it.

Lifestyle- It has to be better than the 9-5, but would i get a chance to do all the other army associated activities etc

Family- I come from a republician family, not mad IRA but they would believe in armed struggle. Do I tell them, or do i say i'm going to the UK for work!


I have always wanted to join the army but never had the balls, if i do this will I sacrifice having a family and being a finiancially secure.

I would appreciate all opinions

regards

Don

PatsytheNazi

Don Quixote de la Mancha wrote: »

I'm male 27 qualified solicitor. I have my own business making about 80k a year. looking to expand on that.
I love the outdoors.

i have a good friend who started in sandhurst in January and to cut a long story short I'm thinking of joining the ALS. I'm told if commissioned I start as a captain. On a four year commission with longer commissions after that.

My biggest concerns are as follows:

Money- I have no debts but I dont want to be a pauper and would have idea's of a type of lifestyle I should lead. I know the money wont be great but would it be ok, could i keep other stuff going like get some one in to run my business and keep an eye on it.

Lifestyle- It has to be better than the 9-5, but would i get a chance to do all the other army associated activities etc

Family- I come from a republician family, not mad IRA but they would believe in armed struggle. Do I tell them, or do i say i'm going to the UK for work!


I have always wanted to join the army but never had the balls, if i do this will I sacrifice having a family and being a finiancially secure.

I would appreciate all opinions

regards

Don

" I come from a republician family.......do i say i'm going to the UK for work! "

' Yawn ' :rolleyes:. Another wannabe funny guy......ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

It wasn't me!

PatsytheNazi wrote: »

" I come from a republician family.......do i say i'm going to the UK for work! "

' Yawn ' :rolleyes:. Another wannabe funny guy......ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

I really don't think so. Plenty of people have done just that. I've known guys who didn't reveal what they were doing for a living for years to their families. Some even passed off deployments as work placements abroad. Not all got good receptions when they eventually did disclose what they did for a living either.

Don Quixote de la Mancha

PatsytheNazi with the greatest of respect you are a gimp.

I made this post because I wish to become better informed. I respect that you are entitled to your opinion but you have no right to attempt to judge my intellect based on an anonymous post on an online forum. If you have any affiliation or knowledge about the post I made please contribute.

Edit- Part of Patsys post has now been deleted.

“We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It's one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it's another to think that yours is the only path.”

PatsytheNazi

It wasn't me! wrote: »

I really don't think so. Plenty of people have done just that. I've known guys who didn't reveal what they were doing for a living for years to their families. Some even passed off deployments as work placements abroad. Not all got good receptions when they eventually did disclose what they did for a living either.

Really :eek: Like Arnie Schwarzenegger in True Lives :eek:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B7HG8_xbDw

:rolleyes:

Donny5

Don Quixote de la Mancha wrote: »

PatsytheNazi with the greatest of respect you are a gimp.

Don't worry about that eejit, Don. For this kind of thing, though, ARRSE is probably the best place to look for details.

Morpheus

yes try www.arrse.co.uk, very good "alternative" to our fine selves here. please ensure that you tuck your sense of humour into your arrse pocket as you WILL need it. best of luck with your plans.

Manic Moran

Now I know that those joining the Brits aren't the sharpest toools in the box

I know you self-edited that one out (Yes, us Mods can see what you wrote even after you delete it) which was a good call.

Over the past, you've received from me a one-week ban, and a two-week ban. The next one is going to be measured in the plural of 'month,' and it's going to be on a hair trigger.

Are there any questions?

NTM

krissovo

Don Quixote de la Mancha wrote: »

Money- I have no debts but I dont want to be a pauper and would have idea's of a type of lifestyle I should lead. I know the money wont be great but would it be ok, could i keep other stuff going like get some one in to run my business and keep an eye on it.

Lifestyle- It has to be better than the 9-5, but would i get a chance to do all the other army associated activities etc

Money wise you will be on roughly £40k per year as a Captain, if you live in the Officers mess your mess bill including rent and food will be about £400 - £600 per month which leaves a fair amount of beer tokens. It may be higher depending on the bull**** in the mess you stay in, hope you dont get a old cavalry or guards mess or your looking at £1000 minimum. You will hardly be broke but will not be driving the latest BMW. £40k does not sound a lot but sometimes its hard to spend your pay and it soon builds up. You will often be away from your home base where you will not pay food and you will be guest in a transit mess where you will often not pay for food.

Lifestyle - In my experience of the Army Legal personnel you live a fairly isolated life, you will not have the team spirit shared by front line troops or during your training in Sandhurst (you will miss it!) and limited opportunities for adventure training (but not non existent) however the community is professional and friendships last longer. My only experience of the Army legal service was when I was on the receiving end of a Court Marshall and I got quite close with my "Brief", he later transferd to a logistical unit as a troop commander to experience the "real" Army.

Don Quixote de la Mancha

krissovo wrote: »

Money wise you will be on roughly £40k per year as a Captain, if you live in the Officers mess your mess bill including rent and food will be about £400 - £600 per month which leaves a fair amount of beer tokens. It may be higher depending on the bull**** in the mess you stay in, hope you dont get a old cavalry or guards mess or your looking at £1000 minimum. You will hardly be broke but will not be driving the latest BMW. £40k does not sound a lot but sometimes its hard to spend your pay and it soon builds up. You will often be away from your home base where you will not pay food and you will be guest in a transit mess where you will often not pay for food.

Lifestyle - In my experience of the Army Legal personnel you live a fairly isolated life, you will not have the team spirit shared by front line troops or during your training in Sandhurst (you will miss it!) and limited opportunities for adventure training (but not non existent) however the community is professional and friendships last longer. My only experience of the Army legal service was when I was on the receiving end of a Court Marshall and I got quite close with my "Brief", he later transferd to a logistical unit as a troop commander to experience the "real" Army.

Thanks for the reply. The more I think about it the money is not really important. I am sick to my teeth of working 9-5. I reckon ALS has to be a better option. At least there may be an oppurtunity to transfer or do some adventuring.
I sent off my application and am told the interviews are in July. I really hope I get called up for interview at least.

Does anyone know what the career prospects are like coming out of ALS?

SamuelFox

Don Q, if you are serious about this talk to Col West in Belfast – he is the Army Career Officer and his contact details are on the net. As a lawyer you will appreciate that advice on a specific subject is usually worth what you pay for it, so by all means get a flavour from here and from ARRSE but if you want up to date advice that you can rely on talk to Col West.

Firstly, are you admitted to the roll of solicitors in NI or England and Wales? I suspect that this will be required of you, but if you are qualified a few years in Ireland it shouldn’t be a drama.

The money is better than line officers get – you wear a Capt’s rank but get a lot more pay. Pay ranges will be on the net somewhere. Realistically, if you are earning €80k from your firm it will be hard to make anything after paying a locum so maybe consider selling up? The ALS might also have an opinion on outside interests too.

The competition is supposed to be intense since the downturn and I have heard that they look for advocates with a lot of court room experience, especially in criminal and family law. If you join these areas will be the mainstay of your existence anyway.

In terms of the recruitment process one of the broadsheets did a legal careers supplement that has a feature on the ALS. Its a few years old but its on google somewhere.

If you are selected you will go to the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst and do the Professionally Qualified Officers Course over four weeks. It gives Priests, Doctors, Dentists, Lawyers, Vets etc a grounding in military culture and a very basic level of military proficiency.

After commissioning you are posted on the strength of a teeth arm unit (for about 4-6 months) to develop your understanding of the military and the people you will be working with. Depending on the Unit you are posted to you may be a Platoon Commander or more likely a Company 2 i/c. The Unit will not deploy while you are there, and most likely will be just back and shortstaffed, so they will be glad of you. Obviously while you hold the appointment you are there to learn and get some experience so little will be expected of, and your responsibility will be minimal, unless you have a non-military skill or interest that the CO feels would be helpful to the Unit, in which case you may be given responsibility to organise something in that area.

After the teeth arm attachment I suppose you do some time of Military Law course before being sent to wherever you are to be based, but what little I know is from chatting to a Lawyer during his teeth arm attachment so Col West will be your best source for the rest. Similarly Op deployments – I don’t know how that side of things work but Col West will set you straight.

If you are joining with a view to spending time outdoors I’d say (but I could be wrong) to forget it! ALS is an office based job in large garrisons so after RMAS and attachment you will be a lawyer in a uniform. Similarly, if you want to transfer forget it too - doing PQO course will mean you are not qualifed to take another role. Unless you get ordained, but thats probably not what you were thinking!

Lifestyle- It has to be better than the 9-5, but would i get a chance to do all the other army associated activities etc

Again, I don’t know, but the hardest working people in the non-deployed army are the AGC, which the ALS is part of. That’s because paperwork, which they deal with, is hugely important in the Army and takes a long time to create and process. I suspect that you’d be working a normal 9-5 working day, but it would depend on your boss and your location. I’d say it would be very unlikely that you would get to do much of the fun side of the military – unless you have a very understanding boss there is no incentive there to send a PQO on adventure training or expeds.

Family- I come from a republician family, not mad IRA but they would believe in armed struggle. Do I tell them, or do i say i'm going to the UK for work!

Two issues here – a) will you pass the security check process? Its pretty thorogh and they won’t take a chance. b) Is it worth it? You won’t be able to tell some of them and it gets tedious lying at family events. A lot of us do that, but with respect we get a lot more in return from the military lifestyle than a PQO would. Saying that once you say that you are a solicitor in the UK it would satisfy 90% of people.

Given all that I’ve said above would you be better considering the TA or even the RDF in Ireland? AFAIK you can join the ALS as a TA officer which might provide you with the best of both worlds. Just a thought.