Advice for the recruits [thread]

arybvtcw0eolkf

Visiting St.Bricins hospital this morning and I thought about throwing this thread together for our new (and hopeful) recruits, why?.. Because I met two recruits doing a discharge medical after just a few days training!!.

Here's my advice;

NEVER make a Monday morning decision!.. What does that mean ~ well recruit training is difficult, sometimes seemingly impossible and Sunday night/Monday morning you're at your lowest and inclined to give up the fight.. Do it on Tuesday, NEVER discharge yourself on Monday ~ tell yourself you'll do it Tuesday and I bet my life you'll never do it!.

NCO's, you'll come across as uncaring roaring bastards ~ this is true of a tiny minority, but for the vast majority its not the case and they only want to see you perform at your best and pass you out as a good soldier ~ your NCO's will never ask you to do something which is humanly impossible, or something they haven't done 'nor are prepared to do themselves ~ you'll be fine, just do as you're told.

Facebook, Twitter, boards.ie etc ~ lads be very, VERY careful what you put online. It happened here a few years back that a recruit decided to run a blog here (despite advice not to do so) and it landed him in a world of hurt.. The DF has policy in place regarding use of the internet and what you can and can not post, look it up if you're unsure.

Barrack room lawyer's ~ most platoons have one, AVOID!. I won't go into it here, but AVOID!.

Never lose a minute!.. I heard this one a few years back ~ from JDL (a legend) quoting Napoleon "I may have lost a war, but I never lost a minute preferring for one".. ie, if you see a lad lying on his bunk scratching his bollox you can almost bet a weeks wage that he'll be the one getting beasted because he forget to get something done.. if you've a few minutes break in your room ~ do something like bull a boot, square something away etc..

Thats it for me, there's loads more of course but finally remember ~ NEVER MAKE A MONDAY MORNING DECISION ~ that'll get you through most of the tough times in your career.

Good Luck ~ anyone else with pearls of wisdom for the forum's young bloods?.

Frosty McSnowballs

Il echo what Mak said, don't make a Monday morning decision. However, don't make an end of day decision either. So many lads who have had a hard day decide they want out after dinner time.

Remember, you volunteered to fill out the application form, jumped through all the hoops that were necessary and now you are in.....well fcuking stay in! It's not easy, if it was, then all the keyboard warriors and CoD fcukers would be doing it.

If you see someone struggling, fcuking help them. There will be a lot of times when you need help too. Don't be afraid to help or be helped. You are part of a team now so work like one. If you want to stand out, don't stand out for the bad reasons.

Just enjoy yourself too, you will be doing stuff that a lot of people don't get to do. You will be pulling the pin on a grenade and throwing it while your mate is buying a sandwich in Spar. You will have a 5 mile run in heavy kit completed before your mate has got up for work or college. You will be awake for about a week doing long insertion marches in all weathers through the mountains and rivers, digging trenches, eating ration packs, dragging yourself through the mud on your stomach to get to a proper firing position to suppress the enemy while another of your section will be taking the position.....your friends will be on holidays.

Just remember, you asked to be a soldier. Your NCO's are there to make you into one. Do what they say even if you think they are full of ****. You know fcuk all about it, they know all about it.

pablomakaveli

Learn to work as a team and dont jack on each other. The sooner you learn to work properly as a team the easier your life gets. If someone is jacking on everyone else and not pulling their weight call them out on it. It's not worth getting beasted because someone is being lazy.

If you spot something wrong with another lads kit or dress,tell him or fix it for him. Dont leave it to be spotted by your JNCO's.

Organize yourselves when doing block jobs sort out a rota so everyone knows what they are doing and make sure everyone has done their part.

If someones struggling with something your good at help them. They maybe able to return the favour when your struggling with something else.

Teamwork is a big part of military life and the sooner you learn that the easier your life will be.

Local-womanizer

Bring a sense of humour and take nothing personal, no matter what the NCOs say to you. They want a reaction, if you dont give them one they move on and put pressure on someone else.

And never stop running or marching, no matter how slow or behind you are to the rest, and no matter what is being screamed at you.

But seriously, bring a sense of humour!

Garzard

Hope it's alright to repost this here, [have already in the RDF Recruitment thread for those still waiting for training] and while it may be Royal Marines, I've found it to be pretty handy as far as looking for a general idea of the discipline and training.

LINK: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/royal-marines-commando-school

I suppose my own bit of advice for those also still waiting for attestation and training would be to practice and test your physical fitness regularly until you get called up, particularly in the running and push-ups. It's made a huge difference for myself over the past couple months, and has given a huge boost in fitness confidence.

pokerface92

Can i ask when you finish your recruit training the 16 weeks is there a final medical then at the end?

Manic Moran

When I reported in for Basic, the First Sergeant (Company sergeant) in Reception gave us three pieces of advice before handing us over to the Drill Sergeants.

1) Do what you're told.
2) Do what you're told.
3) Damnit, do what you're told.

Follow those three simple rules, and you will be successful. It's amazing how there's always one or two people who can't follow those simple rules.

5.11 Tactical

Its hard enough to get in these days and to throw that away is madness.

You will look back at recruits and realise it was actually one of the best times in your life, you were moulded into a soldier from a normal run of the mill civilian.

Stick it out and in 4 months part 1 done then 3 star another 2 months or so and then your unit.

Don't leave as you will regret it for the rest of your life...

Think everything through and dont make head strong decisions and always sleep on it,never make a stupid decision in the heat of the moment.

And finally be the grey man, dont attract attention to yourself, just do your job and get on with it.

cookie.monster

everything you learn in recruits from the very beginning is to help you through the tough but most enjoyable in my book near the end of your training when your actually out on the ground doing the tactical phase of your training, you will actually be sitting in your trench on stag thinking "jaysus so thats why we were doin all them push ups and sit ups and endless runs to be at my peak of fitness for this phase" if your dug in for 48 hrs the most amount of sleep your likely to get is probably six hours if lucky, eat what ever ya can also when ever you get grub in barracks as you will need this for energy to get you through the long days, also if your given an essay to write as punishment and you are dyslexic tell your directive staff in confidence don't suffer like i did

minidazzler

I'm gonna go against the grain.... if you think you're gonna quit. Quit early. That way another guy who is on the reserve panel can get in and replace you. as early as possible.