Is joining the British Army a long process??

LFC Paddy

I'm interested in joining the BA as an officer and I am just wandering when I should send my application. I want to try and time it so I do AOSB for summer next year. I know the processes involved and I tried asking on the British Army website but the woman just kept on going about contacting an officer recruiter but thought I could get an answer on here

Note I'm 18 atm and I am doing my LC next year so I want to try and time the AOSB for after the leaving. Also I have dual citizenship as I'm british/irish.

Please no immature answers and anti-british ones

jamesdiver

There is quite a few threads on this, but good luck with it.

LFC Paddy

jamesdiver wrote: »

There is quite a few threads on this, but good luck with it.

yer been looking through them

going to email the recruiter up in N.I. tomorrow but just wanted to know how long to get to AOSB from people with personel exp.

They aren't pretty helpful on the website as soon as i told them i was from Ireland they kept on telling me to go up to Belfast which isn't convenient

AllthingsCP

LFC Paddy wrote: »

I'm interested in joining the BA as an officer and I am just wandering when I should send my application. I want to try and time it so I do AOSB for summer next year. I know the processes involved and I tried asking on the British Army website but the woman just kept on going about contacting an officer recruiter but thought I could get an answer on here

Note I'm 18 atm and I am doing my LC next year so I want to try and time the AOSB for after the leaving. Also I have dual citizenship as I'm british/irish.

Please no immature answers and anti-british ones

Can a Irish person enlist as an officer?. I taught we could only enlist as recruits for general services, Could be wrong best of luck with it, just finish my barb test and interview.

mattjack

AllthingsCP wrote: »

Can a Irish person enlist as an officer?. I taught we could only enlist as recruits for general services, Could be wrong best of luck with it, just finish my barb test and interview.

Yes you can , a friend of mine joined , going to Sandhurst after the leaving cert.

AllthingsCP

LFC Paddy wrote: »

yer been looking through them

going to email the recruiter up in N.I. tomorrow but just wanted to know how long to get to AOSB from people with personel exp.

They aren't pretty helpful on the website as soon as i told them i was from Ireland they kept on telling me to go up to Belfast which isn't convenient

I from Tipperary had to get a 5.am bus to Dublin then from Dublin to Enniskillen be their at 12.30 pm for my interview, my advice to you get a B&B spend the night otherwise the BARB will seem a lot harder even tho 99.9 percent should do well in it. If you want direction's to the Recruitment office in Enniskillen pm me.

AllthingsCP

mattjack wrote: »

Yes you can , a friend of mine joined , going to Sandhurst after the leaving cert.

Did not know that cheers

tac foley

The Irish have the same rights as the Commonwealth when joining the British Armed Forces.

tac foley - retired officer in the British Army

AllthingsCP

tac foley wrote: »

The Irish have the same rights as the Commonwealth when joining the British Armed Forces.

tac foley - retired officer in the British Army

Cheers Tac.

pablomakaveli

I took me just over a year from mailing my application to starting phase 1 training. I know other lads who got in less than half that time.

There doesn't seem to be a set time to get in but be prepared for a long wait OP.

Lady Chuckles

How do these things work anyway?
If I'm a soldier in a foreign country, could I move to Ireland and be an Irish soldier instead?

tac foley

Lady Chuckles wrote: »

How do these things work anyway?
If I'm a soldier in a foreign country, could I move to Ireland and be an Irish soldier instead?

Your post doesn't actually make much sense to me, so you'll hopefully forgive me if I've misunderstood your question. Since you may have asked it in a serious fashion, I'll do my best to answer it in similar, serious, fashion.

AFAIK, you must be an Irish citizen to be able to join the Irish Armed forces - the PDF [Permanent Defence forces].

Being a 'soldier in another country' would mean little or nothing to an Irish recruiter, who will ask -

a. What country?

b. What kind of a soldier?

and most importantly - are you actually Irish and how old are you?

I've never ever heard of such a proposition in my life, and I doubt if anybody else has, either, so it will be interesting to hear what other posters - with far more experience than I have of the way that the PDF works - have to say.

I have to honest with you and tell you that although I was as qualified as anybody here to join the PDF - way back when, of course - the awful rates of pay, glacially slow promotion, extremely limited opportunities for somebody with my particular ready-made skill set in languages, lack of foreign travel opportunities and all the other things we take for granted in the British Army meant that it was an instant no-brainer.

tac

Lady Chuckles

Thank you for your response. I'm sorry I wasn't clear enough
I was indeed serious and I know that you'd have to be an Irish citizen. I guess my main question would be if I need to do those 16 weeks training (if I became a citizen) if I have been trained in another country.

I'm 25. Swedish. Quartermaster. Soldier.
My special someone is Irish, hence the thought of the Irish army.

I was just playing with the idea that (at some point) maybe I could continue in Ireland. I know very little about how it works there and was just intrigued to know. I hope you could understand why I'd ask, I meant no offense

tac foley

Ah, understood. I'm afraid that no training you may have had as a recruit would give you a pass on doing it all again if you joined the PDF.

All the basic stuff you did as a recruit in Sweden, to enable you to live in the Swedish environment as a soldier, would count for nothing at all in any non-nordic nation's armed forces.

I hope you see the points I made.

Best

tac

PS - as you can see from my name, my long-ago ancestors came from Southern Sweden, probably what is now called Skane. A doctor friend in Gothenburg - no relation at all - is totally indistinguishable from my father at the same age in every way. It's uncanny and totally weirds me out to see him.

pablomakaveli

Lady Chuckles wrote: »

Thank you for your response. I'm sorry I wasn't clear enough
I was indeed serious and I know that you'd have to be an Irish citizen. I guess my main question would be if I need to do those 16 weeks training (if I became a citizen) if I have been trained in another country.

I'm 25. Swedish. Quartermaster. Soldier.
My special someone is Irish, hence the thought of the Irish army.

I was just playing with the idea that (at some point) maybe I could continue in Ireland. I know very little about how it works there and was just intrigued to know. I hope you could understand why I'd ask, I meant no offense

I believe you may be too old to join the PDF regardless since the cut off age is 25.

tac foley

Hence my comment about age in my post..............................

Best

tac

Lady Chuckles

... which makes me wonder even more :P

pablomakaveli

tac foley wrote: »

Hence my comment about age in my post..............................

Best

tac

You don't appear to have mentioned the actual age limit of 25 so thought it was worth highlighting to the other poster.

amurph0

tac foley wrote: »

AFAIK, you must be an Irish citizen to be able to join the Irish Armed forces - the PDF [Permanent Defence forces].

Actually I think you just need to be an EU citizen, but have permanent residence in Ireland.

It doesn't state it on the website but you can find it in the Terms and Conditions document for Cadetships. (The nationality requirements are the same for enlistment AFAIK).

a. At the time of application,
(1) Be a citizen of Ireland or,
(2) Be a refugee under the Refugee Act 1996 or,
(3) Be Nationals of EEA States
or the Swiss Confederation, or,
(4) Be Nationals of any other State who are lawfully present in
Ireland and have five (5) years lawful residence here

Lady Chuckles

Thank you all for your help
I truly appreciate it.

amurph0

Lady Chuckles wrote: »

Thank you all for your help
I truly appreciate it.

Being 25 you are too old for general enlistment in the army. Although if you have the right educational requirements you could apply for a cadetship and become an officer in the PDF. The cut off age for cadets is 27 so you're still within the age requirements. Have a look at the document in my last post to see if you are eligible for a cadetship

Although you cannot send in an application any time you want, applications are only accepted for a short period usually once per year and cadets are selected from the people who made applications during that time period. You'll probably have to wait until next year before you can apply.

EDIT: Also that 25 year age limit is for the army, the age limit for a Naval Service recruit is 26.

MRnotlob606

6-8 month application process , very important decision to make, a friend i know applied for the army and was buzzing for it, he was always talking about it and used to always post army videos on facebook, he finally went to the army and lasted a whole week before going home, think it through

OasisManUtd

I've been waiting a year now,you should send your application off as soon as possible mate.

OasisManUtd

No mate don't bother with B&Bs it's a piece of piss get the train down after it

AllthingsCP

Here is a good series ye all more then likely seen it but for anyone seeking a career in HM Force should watch it. its 5 parts here is the first on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS89GxuN88c.

al2014

hi,just wondering has anyone had to get police clearance for british army? seem to be having trouble as the garda only issue police certs for visas and not for personal use.thanks in advance for help

tac foley

I have to admit that I've never heard that one.

Are you asking because you have been in trouble with the police?

If so, you are required to declare if you have any criminal convictions, past or pending, when filling out the application form to join the British Army.

tac, barely awake.

discus

al2014 wrote: »

hi,just wondering has anyone had to get police clearance for british army? seem to be having trouble as the garda only issue police certs for visas and not for personal use.thanks in advance for help

Its annoying mate, only some people seem to get asked for them. I had major dramas about it. In the end, I got a police certificate of character, which seemed to do the trick.

tac foley

Hey, I just learned something new. How do the police know you well enough to vouch for your character?

Surely the usual background checks carried out by the recruiting personnel - you having made a declaration that you are not a criminal, never have been a criminal, and not awaiting punishment -would show that you are a person of good character?

tac

discus

Well, I was thankful to have someone high enough in the organisation to get onto my local super to do it...

al2014

thanks for reply guys,no criminal convictions, past or pending just hassle getting a cert from garda.i got a cert from the freedom of information saying the garda have no info on me.hopfully this will do but i am afraid of being delayed again.was supposed to be starting at itc in feb but this delayed me.local garda station informed me that that was the only cert i could get.bit mad really.

pablomakaveli

I had the same problem as well. It drew the application process out for me by a couple of months and when i rang to say i couldnt get any official paperwork other thana letter stating i had no convictions they told me not to worry about it anyway and it didn't matter.

al2014

ok thanks will send them what i can and see how i go.must be some way of getting past it, seen as there is so many of us already serving

redout

Anybody know what they take as the equivalent of GCSE? I already contacted the recruitment office up North and was told that the army don't actually have anything official on this and will use whatever the civilian bodies use! I tried a quick google and got some conflicting results - some are saying it is junior cert whilst others are saying leaving cert.

Richard

redout wrote: »

Anybody know what they take as the equivalent of GCSE? I already contacted the recruitment office up North and was told that the army don't actually have anything official on this and will use whatever the civilian bodies use! I tried a quick google and got some conflicting results - some are saying it is junior cert whilst others are saying leaving cert.

GCSE is the equivalent of Junior Cert, A Level is the equivalent of Leaving. Obviously they are different types of qualifications but they should be equivalent. If you get no joy on here, what about asking the Royal British Legion's ROI branch - http://counties.britishlegion.org.uk/counties/ireland. They might be able to put you in contact with someone who could help.

al2014

not sure if it will help you but if they cant find a equivalent they just get you to do the BARB and other aptitude tests to see if your up to scratch and able for the job your applying for.Thats what they did with me anyway.

janet1989

pablomakaveli wrote: »

I took me just over a year from mailing my application to starting phase 1 training. I know other lads who got in less than half that time.

There doesn't seem to be a set time to get in but be prepared for a long wait OP.

If you pass the selection process, can you defer your place? I'm in University and I won't finish until August, but I hope to apply withing the next few weeks.