british army

acetone

i am 30 years old, thinking of joining the BA soon and i have a couple of questions,
i wear contact lenses and i know the british army dont allow CL wearing in the field, but i also heard that this particular rule can be waviered, does anyone know anything about this, i wear air gel lenses, which dont have the drawbacks of regular ones, also incredable vision, 20:10 plus in both eyes, thats better that 99% of people who dont wear corrective lenses, it would be nonsensical to take them out for awkward glasses.
The other question is, will being 30 be unusual for someone starting out as a private with 18 year olds? will i get pissed off with the kids?

tac foley

acetone wrote: »

i am 30 years old, thinking of joining the BA soon and i have a couple of questions,
i wear contact lenses and i know the british army dont allow CL wearing in the field, but i also heard that this particular rule can be waviered, does anyone know anything about this, i wear air gel lenses, which dont have the drawbacks of regular ones, also incredable vision, 20:10 plus in both eyes, thats better that 99% of people who dont wear corrective lenses, it would be nonsensical to take them out for awkward glasses.
The other question is, will being 30 be unusual for someone starting out as a private with 18 year olds? will i get pissed off with the kids?

1. Ask the ACA about your contact lenses. More to the point is not how great your eyeballs are with them, but how bad they are without them.

2. Will you be able to keep up with the 'kids', as you disrespectfully call your fellow soldiers under training?

tac

Manic Moran

In fairness, when I went through at only seven years older than the average recruit, it didn't take me long to realise I was going to have to tolerate their relative immaturity. Not a statement of disrespect, just that they don't have the same frames of reference that we have after several years of adult experience.

NTM

acetone

i didnt mean any disrespect to them by calling them kids, i dont think i ever called any adult a kid before, i must be getting old.

my eyes are bad, but i can see 20:20 in -5s and i think -7 is the limit, i pretty sure i can pass the eye test, its not being able to wear lenses is what bothers me.
physically i can keep up with them now, but i obviously dont have the energy i had, i could do a 3:30 marathon tomorro if i had to, but the army has 32 as the age limit so if im fitter that the other 30 year olds then i got a chance.
also worth considering that the df has a much smaller ratio of 18 year olds than the ba,

OS119

acetone wrote: »

i didnt mean any disrespect to them by calling them kids, i dont think i ever called any adult a kid before, i must be getting old.

my eyes are bad, but i can see 20:20 in -5s and i think -7 is the limit, i pretty sure i can pass the eye test, its not being able to wear lenses is what bothers me.
physically i can keep up with them now, but i obviously dont have the energy i had, i could do a 3:30 marathon tomorro if i had to, but the army has 32 as the age limit so if im fitter that the other 30 year olds then i got a chance.
also worth considering that the df has a much smaller ratio of 18 year olds than the ba,

i think you're going to struggle - even though the rule is 32, the system is very unlikely to chose a 30yo with bad eyes over a 24 yo with decent eyes - and currently the Army has far more applicants, and decent quality applicants, not just the normal dross who want to join the army because they can't get a job at Tesco - than it can possibly accomodate. you'll also find that the Army has become less 'inclusive' in terms of employing people with various med conditions - the experience of Afghanistan is that a soldier can be at some god-forsaken patrol base for 3 months (or on patrol for 6 weeks) and the only resuply is by a 'sometime' helicopter (of almost any nationality, coming from almost any Logs base in theatre) that only has room for ammunition, food, water and casualties. the chances of any of the supply chain having the time or inclation to ensure that Pte X's CL's, or insulin, or lactose-free milk, or special boots with custom-built insoles get to him is about zero.

being an old fart - late 30's - i find the 'kids' very irritating on occasions, fine on operations and on exercise, but i wouldn't want to live with them.

sorry, but i think you've left it too late - i very much doubt you'll get in, and even if you do i doubt you'll enjoy it much.

Lemming

OS119 wrote: »

being an old fart - late 30's - i find the 'kids' very irritating on occasions, fine on operations and on exercise, but i wouldn't want to live with them.

sorry, but i think you've left it too late - i very much doubt you'll get in, and even if you do i doubt you'll enjoy it much.

Out of curiosity, what's your take on the TA reserves with their 34 age limit vs. the general Army limit of 32?

OS119

Lemming wrote: »

Out of curiosity, what's your take on the TA reserves with their 34 age limit vs. the general Army limit of 32?

depends on the role - for infantry its just daft, the number of 34 yo TA soldiers who could keep up with the 7 other 19 yo's in a regular Inf section is going to be infitesimally small (i certainly couldn't), but for other roles its not an issue - also of course you don't have the 'living together' aspect of it with the TA until you go on exercise/operations at which point the age/maturity/culture gap doesn't rear its ugly head because there's not much call for loud, crap music, drinking sessions, and going out on the town and fighting/shagging the local chavs on Sailsbury plain!

we had a couple of TA soldiers in the Battery on my last tour at Gnr/L/Bdr/Bdr level, all mid-late 20's, and all were offered transfer into regular service at the end of the tour because they were such excellent soldiers. all but one refused the offer because, while they had enjoyed the tour and the pre-deployment work-up, they didn't fancy living in the accomodation with their much younger colleagues in 'garrison mode', and to be fair i don't blame them. the one bloke who did stay didn't stay for long and went off to do something 'interesting' where he wouldn't be living with a load of 19 yo's...

Procrastastudy

Are you sure the limit is 32? I thought the max entry age was 27?

Sorry thats officer and its 26 doh.

ro95

Is the salary good in the BA?

goldie fish

No

tac foley

goldie fish wrote: »

No

Your highly detailed and informative response is due entirely to your experience in the British Army, am I right?

tac

goldie fish

tac foley wrote: »

Your highly detailed and informative response is due entirely to your experience in the British Army, am I right?

tac

Are you saying, compared to the average industrial wage, the BA is a well paid job?

Don't get snotty with me sunshine. I'm one of the few here on your side.

tac foley

goldie fish wrote: »

Are you saying, compared to the average industrial wage, the BA is a well paid job?

Don't get snotty with me sunshine. I'm one of the few here on your side.

Uh, right. Let's leave that one alone for a minute.

How can you compare what any soldier does with ANY average industrial wage?

tac

goldie fish

The OP aslked if BA wages were good. They aren't. But those who want to get rich don't join the military. You aren't in it for the money.
As an Officer:

If you don’t have a degree you’ll earn a salary of £16,073 while you train which rises to £24,615 when you are commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. As a graduate you start training on £24,615 and will earn at least £29,586 afterwards. Either way, if you’re still serving in the Army after five years you could be earning at least £37,915 as a Captain.

As an enlisted man

Regular soldiers receive over £272 a week in Phase 1 training, which rises to at least £17,514 a year depending on which Army job you do. Some roles get specialist pay, which can be worth at least an extra £19 per day. Your salary will increase annually as your career continues, regardless of promotion and extra responsibilities. Within five years you could reach the rank of Sergeant and earn up to £32,756

So sez the MOD.
While £1GBP=€1.24, keep in mind that the UK cost of living is lower than in Ireland. Your pound goes further than your yoyo and a quarter.

MRnotlob606

is the irish army not goo enough for you ?

tac foley

MRnotlob606 wrote: »

is the irish army not goo enough for you ?

I think it's more to the point that it is a lot easier to actually get into the British Army than it is into the PDF.

There are literally thousands of places a year in the British Army, but only a couple of hundred, if that, in the PDF.

Officer cadetships placements are far less, too.

tac

kabakuyu

The BA are recruiting and offering redundancies at the same time,yellow packing?

http://voiceofrussia.com/uk/news/2014_01_11/UK-launches-army-recruitment-campaign-as-redundancies-continue-1869/

pablomakaveli

kabakuyu wrote: »

The BA are recruiting and offering redundancies at the same time,yellow packing?

http://voiceofrussia.com/uk/news/2014_01_11/UK-launches-army-recruitment-campaign-as-redundancies-continue-1869/

They want to keep recruitment running normally because if they stop it, it can be very difficult to get it going again.