blonde poker forum

I saw this on FB today and it made me chuckle:

(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/7095_537346142988350_1805606683_n.jpg)

It got me to thinking of Wazz's suggestion; also speaking to some people my life is completely alien to theirs - with so many misconceptions. The poster above is almost accurate!

Now I said 'Us' as I know Millidonk has served, as has Leethefish and also Geo.  I've not asked them to participate in this, but am sure they would jump in on areas I may struggle on - or give another perspective altogether as we are all from different arms and services.

I fully expect Geo to pwn the thread as he always does with his wonderful writing!

DISCLAIMER PLEASE: Please try and shy away from politically sensitive/controversial subjects.  Many of those have been covered in great depth in the past; also, as a serving soldier I have to be careful with what I say!  Remember this is more of a 'lifestyle' thread.

Is it easy to pull birds in uniform?  :D

Mine was more like this:

What my friends thought I did / what I said I did:

(http://i1.birminghammail.co.uk/incoming/article219102.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/skyfall620-219102.jpg)

What I actually did:

(http://www.crh.noaa.gov/images/lmk/cool_season_severe_weather_web/radar_operator_med.jpg)

But with lots of crisps and chocolate wrappers on the desk

Yea, no questions that could compromise national security please, I don't fancy a trip to Hong Kong just now.

Marky was in for like 3 months. Navy though, so it doesn't really count.

Yes, very, although one time I did get spat at in Bedford. You take the rough with the smooth.

How else do you think I landed mrs fish !

How long did you sign up for?  How long left/plans to stay in after? (do you still sign up for a certain amount of time?) Did you regret signing at any point?  Best place you've been posted?

How long does it take to break in new boots?

9 years did 8. I don't regret signing but I regret staying in as long as I did. Should have left at 4 years. Augusta in Georgia. Just incred times. (Although not strictly a posting)


Army boys for that one. I tried piss, white spirit, wearing in the bath and still always got blisters. Thank god I didn't wear them too often. :)

Any of you ever been in a fist fight for your life? What happened?

I hear Milli liked a good fisting.

First 'proper' week experience?

Is there any bullying?

Keep the same pair as long as fucking possible !

Edit hi-tech magnums ftw

Open engagement ... Minimum 3 years I  was in for 5
Basically just have to give 12 months notice

rofl

Yes ... But it's swiftly delt with ( from my experience )

LOL @ Crabfat Milligan... 4 years son, 4 years and all hard graft ;)

Are initiations standard in the army?

What are the best and the worst things about serving in the forces?

He meant gave ldo.

Forces are pretty good at dealing with bullying tbf, but a lot of the "banter" that goes on your average Joe would probs consider as pretty severe bullying.

This
Most is just banter

Is there much racism in the forces?

Haha, about 95% of it would result in being handed your P45 I'd imagine :D

I can't remember seeing any in the 4 years I was in, but I don't doubt there was a small element.

I honestly did not see any at all

Will you make good teachers?

I wouldn't personally, but almost all my instructors on my 18 month qualifying course were senior ratings in the same branch.

@Racism, I had a black mate in the forces who said he received "positive discrimination". People would actively go out of their way to give him an easier ride. It proper pissed him off but never really saw any out and out racism.

Although, it was quite evident there was bits of racism left in with some of the old mob;

Every Tues morning we would have parade, normally the warrant officer would say stuff like "ahh it's Milligan, the incredible lopsided man" / "well if it isn't the honey monster" / "Did we bother to iron our uniform this week Milligan" / "ahh Milligan, the only man in history to make a uniform look scruffy". One Tuesday a major was taking parade (this major was well aware of who I was due to previous disciplinary measures taken against me)

Major: "Milligan, do you play rugby boy".
Me: "No, I play football and basketball Sir"...
Major: "BASKETBALL, Milligan, you some sort of N$%^&r or something"
Me: "No Sir, I just prefer basketball to rugby"
Major: "snarl, harumph, what, what"

Should the army training include - say between tours - academic qualifications to prepare for life on the outside?

When are they supposed to get drunk?  ;D

I'm not sure Her Majesty's finest are supposed to get drunk :D

That's what landbased postings are for ;D

Have you ever gone into a fast-food restaurant in Dublin and pretended to be Dutch whilst trying to buy some sauce for about 50c?

(that one's for jjandellis)

Was it cheese?!  Of course!  New it was an extra for a burger, but couldn't remember what it was :D

Do you still shout out in your sleep?

Oh dear, methinks I’ll be spending a bit of time on here. Lee has made a great start with replies, mine will differ at times, purely because we have served in different eras. I consider myself initially in the “old school” bracket. I joined in 1978 well before the PC brigade and H&S sank its teeth into the forces.

Not necessarily a bad thing, however I believe that anyone who really understands the forces way of life will realise that some leeway should be given.

I am fanatically proud of my 23 years of service, good and bad and obviously a huge supporter of our Forces (not of those who lead them.)
I’ll try to cover an answer for all questions.

As Lee said previously, wearing uniform in public except for special occasions is usually frowned upon, drinking in uniform in a public place I believe is still technically an offence. What most attracted “the burds” was the fact that the soldier more often than not had money to spend on them, was clean and fit. In most cases there was the element of “no strings attached/no ties”
The above was the cause of most trouble with the local lads in my experience, quite often the locals taking offence to the soldiers pulling the lassies and them kicking off and as was the norm, the soldiers more often than not would come out top, however it was always “they damn squaddies” that were to blame and there would be blanket bans on entering the main drinking places where the women could be found.

Geo

When I joined you chose a 3/6 or 9 year initial signing on term. The longer you signed up for the higher your starting rate of pay. Being a Scot, I signed on for 9 at the higher rate of pay. You had to complete 3 years and then if you had signed on for 6 or 9 you could apply for PVR - Paid Voluntary Release. 12 months notice and you then paid back the difference in rate of pay gained.

Now it's an open engagement with a minimum 4 year term, however some corps - Royal Signals for example have a minimum of I believe, 6 years. This is due to the extensive expense in training these guys. When the internet/broadband/cable era hit the Signals lost so many men due to the huge salaries being offered by the big companies for doing something they had been doing, with less pressure and obviously the savings in training them for these companies was huge.

Geo

What's the best/most rewarding single thing you've done in your careers?

It's actually a great question Mr T.

There are so many myths, some already mentioned, soaking them in piss, standing for hours in a bath etc.

Through the years Army issue boots were a disgrace and too often we would buy our own. Lee the Fish was spot on, first pair I bought for myself were hi tech Magnums and as he said, wear them till they fall off you.

There is absolutely no substitute for a correct fitting pair which you break in by using and keeping them waterproofed - dubbin was the absolute nuts back in the day. Modern materials have seen huge improvements.

Probably the best boot produced for the Army was the Northern Ireland patrol boot. Calf length and a lot lighter than normal, however treated well they were terrific.

I first started with boots DMS and puttees - that will give the young ones a chuckle

(http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww48/geo_album/bootsandputtees_zps4161587e.jpg) (http://s704.photobucket.com/user/geo_album/media/bootsandputtees_zps4161587e.jpg.html)

Wow Silo,

Honestly, so many things I'll have to take time on that.

Regards your other Q's:

Ended up not regretting signing up - there were many moments where I had the "what the f**k am I putting myself through this for" feeling

Ballykinler in Northern Ireland was my favourite posting, spent 2 years there. I loved NI and spent a large part of my time there, a lot of it voluntary tours.

Geo

Not sure about for my life, however I've enjoyed a few great scraps over the years, although you wouldn't think it if you saw me - lol

Things were different in my time, you got in a fight, if you were grounded there wasn't the kick him when he's down mentality we too readily see nowadays and of course rarely were knives used then either.

Being the stubborn twat I was then (some would say still am,) I probably took a couple of bigger beatings than I should have for refusing to stay down.

Most great battles were against other units when based together or on some sort of exercise. Ironically whilst there are many stories of the Jocks and English Regiments battling each other, Jock on Jock Battalions were some of the fiercest I witnessed.

Geo

I was very fortunate Pads. My home life was such that I was already fending for myself, living off the land sort of thing as a constant runaway.

I settled into training fairly easily. In the first week we had our first Basic Fitness Test (BFT) 1 and 1/2 miles squadded run out then an individual best effort the 1 and 1/2 miles back in. I tore it up and finished a good minute and a half ahead of everyone else in a time rarely seen done by a new recruit, I was very fit and excelled at most sports, it made me for most of my Army career.

Geo

What made y'all sign up ?

Bullying, to be honest it pisses me off that almost everyone I have spoken to about Army life, it's one of the first questions asked.

Absolutely there was/is bullying, I wrote a piece quite a while back:

Is there bullying in the Army? Yes, definitely, it has always been there. I believe there are different  types of bullying, not levels, as I said before bullying is bullying. The most common is from your peers. It’s the ganging up on the weaker individual, the guy who can’t run as fast as the rest of the squad. It’s the guy who can’t take in the lessons being taught as quickly as others. It’s the guy who’s hygiene and tidiness is not as sharp as the rest. The guy that is holding the rest up. This is most common during training. An example:

Jonny has passed his tests and has been accepted into a training regiment. Jonny is a clever lad and passed all the tests easily. Jonny interviewed well and passed all other criteria regards health, crime etc. Jonny only just passed the fitness test during recruit selection. The Army careers officer takes all this into consideration before deciding whether Jonny can be selected to join the Army. Jonnys only weakness is his fitness, however taking all into account and the fact that Jonny will receive sufficient fitness training during his recruit stages he allows him to take his place at a training depot.

Jonny begins the training and at first copes well with the lower level fitness at the beginning of his training. Jonny excels in the weapon lesson, the map reading, the first aid etc. Jonny begins to struggle with the fitness, we are now 6 or 7 weeks into training and we are running as squads, the squad needs to travel 8 miles within a certain time and Jonny is holding them up. Jonny’s section are in competition with the other sections of his training platoon for the best section prize, Jonny is preventing them reaching there goal………………….get the picture.

It’s the last task in the competition and it’s all to play for. Jonny’s section currently lead the competition but there’s only a couple of points between them and 2 section. 2 section don’t have a Jonny. In this scenario I have seen two things happen. Jonny picks up a mysterious injury the night before and can’t compete………….no he doesn’t, his section give him a beating and ensures he cannot take part next day. The other scenario is that Jonny does compete, tries his heart out but unfortunately lags behind. 2 section win by a few seconds and take the title, Jonny takes a beating, it’s his fault, if he had kept up we would have won it. If Jonny had kept up with the pace however and they still lost Jonny doesn’t get beaten, they are all responsible, they aint gonna beat themselves. It happens. However consider this……….


Jonny has got through all that and Jonny is now with his Regiment. He excelled in the first aid classes and continued these once joining his unit. Jonny is now the team medic.

They are on operations and they have an eight mile tab to their objective. Jonny is not as fast as the rest of the guys, the guys go at his pace, they are a unit, every man has a specialist task, the machine gunner, the sniper, the radio op, the mortar man. Every one of them is an infantry soldier however they all bring an added dimension to the team. For a successful operation they all need to get there together. It’s an ambush!!, they fight their way through it and chase off or kill the enemy. There’s a casualty, one of the guys has taken a bullet in the leg. Jonny is the medic, Jonny tends to his wounds and administers morphine, Jonny arranges the medivac. Jonny saves his life, this guy who a year earlier gave Jonny a beating because they lost a race in training. Sometimes competition can be a bad thing. And by the way, Jonny is a British soldier so he continues on and treats the enemy casualties as well.


The second type is the power crazy guy, not necessarily a tough guy but he holds the rank. Give me any bother and you’re in trouble. I abuse my power, I’m a Corporal or a Sergeant and because of this you’ll do what I tell you. It starts off with simple stuff, making you do press ups in the middle of a puddle when there is plenty of dry ground around, making you run with the rifle above your head, no reason for it you haven’t done anything wrong, it’s just harder that way, that’s all. You aint gonna go running into battle with your rifle above your head I can assure you so why make you do it? These are the guys who if you correct their mistakes or go one better than them they don’t like it. Your of lower rank, you shouldn’t beat me, I’m going to punish you. In all honestly this is frowned upon in the Army and if reported these guys are dealt with. But that’s the problem, the soldier fears grassing him up for fear of further consequences, if not by the NCO but from his mates. The guy responsible for the bullying of the brother of the forum member I believe was one of this type.

The 3rd type is what we’ve just seen recently, soldiers in particular jobs who are basically given license to bully. Usually it’s the Physical Training Instructor or a member of the Regimental Police. The Gavin Williams case has just finished and the accused have been found not guilty. They killed the lad, they are responsible for his death. Why did they escape punishment? because they were following orders? What a load of bollox. The Adjutant who ordered them to carry out the beasting should have been in the dock with them and they all should have been punished. I accept they did not mean to kill the lad, however they are responsible. No different than if I was driving my car and reached down to change a CD, not concentrating on the road and a child steps out and I hit and kill them, I’m guilty. I should and would be punished.

Beasting has been a part of Army life probably from inception. It’s not nice, most soldiers have suffered some sort of beasting at one time or another, it does not make it right. I was offered the post of Provost Sergeant in my regiment at one time, I turned it down. I didn’t want to have to change the way I was expected to treat soldiers who had stepped out of line. The thing I don’t get also is that during their careers they all most probably suffered some type of punishment drill. I bet they cursed the sod that was doing it then so why go on and do it yourself.


Then you have the out and out thug. This is the guy who, whatever he done in life would be picking on people, usually the big guy that has other limitations and thinks he can make up for it by bullying others. The guy who can’t be bothered to get off his arse to go to the Naffi for his fags so gets the weaker guy to go for him, he won’t refuse, he’s afraid he’ll get a kicking. The guy who is with his mates in the pub, whilst they are chatting up the girls he’s picking fights, he’s not a nice guy, no point trying to chat up the girls he hasn’t a chance. It’s his deficiencies, he’s usually ugly, he’s obnoxious, he’s got nothing going for him but he’s big. So he punches people and he feels superior. He’s a wanker.

Geo

Rarely seen or heard of initiations tbh. I think what you may be reffering to is things like the old "Regimental Bath"

Basically you have a soldier who is deemed to be unclean, doesn't keep himself or his kit clean, he becomes a liability. Red Dog can explain better than I ever could the importance of cleanliness when living in close knit groups.

A Regimental Bath was where said individual would be dragged to the bath/shower and scrubbed using any cleaning substance or tool available. Vim/bleach/shampoo/ scrubbing brushes/bass brooms (http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww48/geo_album/bassbroom_zps84237653.jpg) (http://s704.photobucket.com/user/geo_album/media/bassbroom_zps84237653.jpg.html)

There are stories of bass broom handles ending up in rectal areas.

Geo

No racism amongst the soldiers etc, but what about against the people of the countries you have served in?

Do you think national service should compulsory?

Is there much banter between the other forces if u work together (navy, RAF)

Good:

Travel obviously, I was fortunate to travel throughout the UK, most of Europe, Cyprus, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, US - Washington State and Seattle were immense.

Sport/adventure training (Hill climbing/rockclimbing/skiing/scuba diving) there are Forces associations for almost any sport. If you excel at a sport you can spend a good bit of your career doing nothing but your chosen sport. Think Akabussi - Kelly Holmes and others - so much of their career time spent doing sport at a high level and still making good rank (although not neccesarily for military competence) I had a period of about 5 years when I was football for 6 months and basketball for the other 6 playing for both the Regiment and Infantry sides.

Bad:

Time away from family, it's definately a single mans career nowadays - too many operations on the go, very little home time.

Being prohibited in entering some drinking holes or clubs, even in my home town, simply because I was a soldier. Edinburgh here has a large Garrison with 3 Regiments and has had for many years.

Witnessing horrific scenes, whether death and injury during operations or visiting poor areas of some of the countries we exercised in.

Death of colleagues/siblings.

Geo

I spent 18 months at a tri-service base, played rugby with loads of RAF/Army lads and the banter was great. Even outside of Rugby I can't think of many people I didn't get on with, and I think the Signals lads were generally the only ones who got into shit more often than any others.

That was generally down to the fact they came to Chicksands straight from basic if I remember rightly, so it was their first chance to let of steam if you like, and there were definitely some exciteable characters amongst them.

Millidonk was at the same base too, so would be able to offer some insight from a RAF perspective and I imagine it wouldn't be much different. The RAF actually had a welcome party in the form of 'Kaz' I think it was back in 2002 :D

There always has been, you must remember that before joining the Army they were Joe Bloggs civvy street

More likely to become more tolerant (unracist doesn't sound right) after joining the Army than joining the Army making you a racist imho.

Even in 1978 when I joined we had blacks in our Regiment, Scottish Blacks, born and bred in Edinburgh. one of our mates was Kenny Roches, a funnier man you couldn't meet and well liked by us all.

In 1979 we were at Balmoral as part of the Royal Guard and based in Victoria Barracks in nearby Ballater. On the day that Mountbatten was killed by the IRA there were TV crews all around as The Queen was in residence at Balmoral. Kenny was on main sentry duty, resplendent in No1 Dress ceremonial and he was seen all over the news channel. A message came down from the hierarchy that he was not to be placed on sentry duty for the rest of the tour as they couldn't have a black face in Scottish uniform plastered everywhere - disgusting and us junior ranks were well miffed.

Nowadays racism at all levels is not tolerated, I'd be foolish to even think it has gone all together.

In answer to Vinny - no different from the reply above, if someone is inherrently racist they will carry that with them. The fact that a soldier is sent to war against another nation won't instantly change him to be racist. He will have a loathing for those he is there to fight against, however a respect for those not involved. Without doubt with the odd exception.



Geo

What makes a good Sergeant?

What makes a good officer?

I would, in fact I believe I do. I now work in pensions and am the main trainer for our pensions department. It wasn't something I intended, just became knowledgeable and found myself as the "pension guru." They needed someone to take on the training of new starts and I had no hesitation in stepping forward. Been doing it for the last 2 years and the feedback I get is tremendous, especially in the manner I take training. I hate all the corporate shit, full of buzz words etc. I tell it and train it as it is.

I spent a lot of time on various courses training to be an instructor in the Army, you got the pamphlet, had to learn it parrott fashion and take the lessons with nothing more that a crit card. In civvy street I can have all my lesson plans and process notes to hand to refer to if required.

I had thought of going to teacher college a few years back as a good friend and former manager of mine did so and kept prompting me to follow suit as he thought I'd do well. I stuck to the security of a secure wage - bit of a coward then and regret it now.

As a recruiter I spent many weeks with kids from rough areas, taking them for week long get a feel of the Army sort of things during summer holidays/easter breaks. Teaching them all sorts from drill/first aid/map reading/ weapon handling. it was an absolute blast.

The control of the classroom and being able to teach would be little problem for someone from the forces who had spent years as an instructor. My worry would be fast tracking and whether they would possess sufficient knowledge in subjects in a shorter period.

Geo

I chortled

Geo

Have you ever been asked to do, or support, something in the forces that you didn't believe was the right decision?

How would you feel about killing someone in battle if called upon?

 :)up

Most degen army story you dare tell us?  :D

Another good question Mr Bedi.

I'm against it myself, nowadays it would lead to so many problems. It is exceptionally hard to train an individual who doesn't want to be there in the first place. We must endeavour to convince young men that the Army IS a suitable career, current climate doesn't do that and it is so much harder to recruit young men these days.

There are many concientious objectors which of course is their right, however how many more would claim to be co in order to avoid conscription. We would also have many others finding other ways to avoid and the possibility of retribution from others for "conscript dodgers"

Whilst you are here and forgive me as I don't mean to offend as I haven't asked, are you Sikh?

There was a move some years back to raise a Sikh Regiment for the British Army. It had the backing of Community leaders however was abandoned after The Commission of Racial equality cited fears of it being racist and sectarian.

During the World Wars there were up to 27 Sikh Regiments fighting with the British Army and were some of the most decorated units.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1555507/Sikh-regiment-dumped-over-racism-fears.html

We always loved being attached to RAF or Navy Units as they always had the best of everything regardless where they were, The RAF especially always had top notch messes/canteens with the best of grub. I spent 4 months at an RAF radar post on the top of a hill in the Falklands and we had an absolute ball ad were treated like kings.

I did small stints on HMS Abdeil (a frigate I think) and also Joined HMS Edinburgh for sea trials just after she was commissioned. Sad to see her decommissioned a couple of weeks ago after something like 30 years service (jeez I'm feeling old now.)

We mentioned about drinking in uniform earlier, here's what happened when members of HMS Edinburgh tried to get a drink in a pub next to Edinburgh Castle after their farewell parade in Edinburgh 2 weeks ago

http://www.scotsman.com/edinburgh-evening-news/latest-news/hms-edinburgh-crew-barred-for-uniform-in-pub-1-2938211

Geo

Yes geo I am A proud British Sikh :)

I can't think of ever being in a situation where I didn't support what I was asked to do, then again I wasn't involved in Iraq or Afghanistan which I have never hidden the fact I think we are involved in for the wrong reasons.

If called upon again in battle I wouldn't hesitate after all it's likely to be him or me. Would be no different than having to defend myself say against an intruder at home if I had to defend myself.

Geo

I was studying Business Studies, English and Law A-Levels, but unfortunately Criminal Law wasn't an option and business law didn't appeal so much. That coupled with the fact my teacher was a drip didn't encourage my dedication and I left after the first year.

I wasn't sure what to do then, so was working in my father's office as his PA temporarily until I worked out what to do. He suggested the Navy to me, told me about his time served, (14years Fleet Air Arm) and that if you're in general branches you have to queue for promotions.  So I had a look at the different branches and applied to be a Comms Technician because it was entry to Chief Petty Officer in 6 years via exams, and you didn't have to wait in rosters for promotion.

Thought so mate but had never asked, great to see you say British too and not just English, I'm a proud British Scot.

Geo

+1

Geo

Put your hand up if your too much of a poof to join the army/navy/AF  ;indestructable; No way I could do it, respect to you all.

What a cracking thread, I'm glued the it.

Thanks to all concerned.

This reminded me of this memoir

The Junior Officers' Reading Club

(http://www.channel4.com/assets/programmes/images/the-tv-book-club/book-3-the-junior-officers-reading-club/d8071457-891f-464a-83c6-178f2a3d2c5f_412x232.jpg)

Telegraph Review (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/5721386/The-Junior-Officers-Reading-Club-by-Patrick-Hennessey-review.html)

I think it's really good so this is pretty much a recommendation - but if any of the Forces chaps have read it then their take on it would be a more informed perspective (?)

hahaha fucking incred. Kazper the over friendly ghost. forgot about her nice. girl. :) .

This was my favourite posting ....just awesome !

1. I kinda liked it in Vegas where nearly every weekend the U.S. forces guys left the Hotel in uniform and all the punters stood and applauded. Gushy but wtf. I loved it. It's a shame we can't be the same over here.

2. The last picture. Is this Wazz?

Re roofed a school in Bosnia so the kids could get back to work.

I was an infantry soldier but I was already a qualified carpenter when I joined up.

Chicksands Nov 02-Jan 05 and Sep 07 - Jan 09.

DSSS baby or D triple X as it was more commonly known. ;)

Nice thread JJ. making me feel all nostalgic, AFCO tomorrow.

I find civvies find it quite bizarre when I talk about the gas chamber,  NBC drills and the fact we are trained to shoot to kill.

also got to go to Washington with RAF, was pretty cool. I loved walking down the government officials queue in immigration like a boss.

Don't know if you consider it degen and it's a story I've never told outside those that were involved.

1988 I was based in Girdwood Park in Belfast. We had been visited earlier that day by the 2 Signals Corporals who were to later drive into the funeral cortege and be brutally butchered.

I was known as a "mugger" in these days. I was very good at identifying known/suspected terrorists on the street. This had came by studying the reams of mug shots and photographs that had been built up over the years.

Later that evening I and 2 others were flown up to Castlereagh to view multitudes of photographs and most shockingly, the full footage of the whole incident taken by Heli Tele - the helicopter camera to identify any known names throughout the footage. What you see on youtube and the likes, whilst shocking, is only a portion of what we witnessed.

Suffice to say it had a huge impact on us all and I for one didn't cope well in the next few days.

I was given a day off and a night pass to visit the UDR club on site to go have a few beers. I joined a couple of others and some of the UDR guys we had been working with and overdone the drinking.

At last orders a couple of them invited us to join them carrying on the drinking at a house nearby. I stupidly accepted and was sneaked out of the camp hidden on the floor of the car his wife had came into base to pick him up in.

I can't even remember much about being in the house and the next thing I knew I was sitting in the Guardroom with the Guard commander, afriend of mine, wrapped in an old G10 blanket and bleeding profusely from a number of injuries. He was asking me, "who done this to you?" he was certain that I had been given a severe beating, however all I kept saying was "a car, I was in a car."

Word soon  came that there had been a huge crash as a car had hit some concrete bollards and the driver was seriously injured.

It soon transpired that after a few drinks one of the guys had offered to drive me back to base and would sneak me back in through the UDR gate. We never made it. I found out later that his story was that a car had approached him on the wrong side of the road and he had swerved to avoid but had hit the concrete bollards.

Judging by the injuries I had I can only assume I had been thrown from the car, my head, arms, chest all had lacerations and next day severe bruising, no exaggeration that I had bruising to probably 80% of my body.

I found that night that I had some great mates. The guard commander told me that I had been wandering aimlessly along the road and had stopped at the sanger at Crumlin Road court and asked the sentry for directions to Girdwood park base. He had alerted the guard who had came out and collected me.

They cleaned me up, got me to bed and spoke to the RUC when they arrived to say they had been informed that one of us had been in the car and needed to interview me. The guys arranged that they would come back next day as I was in no fit state. They also got them not to say anything to anyone and just arrive as a normal stop off next day for a brew.

They then spoke to the Sergeant who had gave me the time off and between them, somehow it was all kept in house. The RUC interviewed me next day and I couldn't tell them much other than I had definately been in the car. The driver did survive but with serious injuries.

The four main parts where I was very fortunate:

1. How I never died from the impact seeing the injuries I had, although no breaks (I was kept laid low for over a week after having seen the medic who confirmed no breaks)
2. It was kept quiet from the Sgt Major and OC - if not it would have ended any Army career.
3. From the site of the crash I had wandered about a mile, mostly through a very staunch Republican area and how I wasn't picked up by someone who potentially would have done me permanent harm I will never know
4. I was lucky to have such great mates around me when I needed them most.

Geo

Good enough Geo, nice story  :)up

I was bored with floor boarding !!
I was getting into a few things I shouldn't ...wanted to Do something to make my mum proud !......lol

I didn't like telling girls I worked at sainsburys and probs wudda ended up in prison if i didn't do something.

and to play my part and protect my nation ldo.

I had dreams of being a soldier from a young age. As soon as I was old enough I went to the careers office, however as I had left school before sitting any exams I couldn't join as a Junior soldier was told to come back when I was 17 as an adult soldier.

I went to the Police HQ in Edinburgh and asked to apply to join them, the young lady took me to a room, measured my height and told me I was too small and I was out the door within 5 minutes, I've had a disliking (and a few run ins) with the Police since.

I went onto the trawlers, deep sea fishing for a while, hardest thing I've ever done however saved quite a bit of cash then went back to the careers office at 17 and joined up

Geo

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<. This was above my platoon door in basic training .....I love this saying

I don't think so .....

I taught my nephew as an apprentice for 6 years we get on great now but I was really hard on him and always shouting at him for simple little things!

Tks guys.

How many pages do you think this will make?

I'll take the over.

Says a lot. People love the forces. People are fascinated by them. People don't know the half of it.

Lovely girl, definitely went above the call of duty for inter service relations ;D

I was there Jan 2002 - May 2003 @ DSSS

There are a couple of story's from Bosnia I would like to tell ......close shaves but I am not sure i should

Just change the names, the location, the event and you should be alright :)

Was my boyhood dream too, misspent youth put paid to that though regrettably.

I actually went back to recruitment when I was 27 (Second Gulf War) Lasted about 15 seconds in there :D

Guy, "how old are you"

Me, 27.

Guy, you're not what we're looking for.

Massive respect to you guys.

Cliffs of degen story-

Got lost in the system at HMS Nelson, was P7RD with suspected Narcolepsy for 18 months

Tests were inconclusive, but they still held me back for further investigation as they couldn't believe it was just tiredness.

Asking about going on course, told that I have to wait and after waiting for well over a year was sent to sweep leaves up and down the old SCU Leydene.

Basically lost it after a few weeksn doing that, went home for my 21st birthday beginning November 2001 and thought I'll take an extra couple days off to see if anyone even notices.

They didn't, so took the week and then ended up staying home for 3 months...

Got a phone call  at home one morning in February from the Master-At-Arms in HMS Collingwood, dad brings the phone into the bathroom. Her first words were 'PCT Herron, what are you doing?'

Without thinking  I replied 'Having a shave at the moment maam'

Obviously there was a warrant out for my arrest, but I said there was no need to waste police time like that. I would drive back to base and report to the reg office immediately. It was kind of a relief to be honest, but I'm still bewildered to this day how it all played out, and my mind was racing as I drove back to Collingwood to be interviewed.

Do the things you do and see leave a mental scar?

Do you think that most people turn to the armed forces when there's nothing else to do/last resort?

Most accurate war film that depicts army life? (I'm thinking Private Benjamin)

I have a cousin who has fairly serious mental illness, you never can say 100%, but its probably because he served in the forces.

Lee can speak for himself, but I remember him telling me on the ales 1 night about how twitchy they are when they come home from service about random loud noises/shouting and stuff and wanting to duck for cover as a result of being used to that.

As Geo knows, my ex-hubby used to be in the army before we met and served in the gulf war and bosnia. Some of the stories he told me were just horrifying, and the mental images alone when I think about them are so haunting and enough sometimes to bring tears to my eyes. I remember after he told me a particularly harrowing story involving a young child that i'd have preferred to remain in blissful ignorance, but that also feels wrong to say. I don't know how widespread ptsd/mental health issues are among the forces, but I know I couldn't deal with the atrocities of war - massive respect to those that can and do.

I believe most soldiers that have seen active service and especially the aftermath do hold some mental baggage. The levels differ.

Woodsey mentioned earlier about soldiers back home jumping at the sound of sudden loud noises and this is very true, heard many stories regards this and suffered similar one day when visiting Edinburgh Castle and forgetting as we approached at 1pm that the 1 o'clock gun was due to go off. When it did I absolutely shat myself. Wife and sons pissed themselves at the state I got myself into.

Lee mentioned earlier about the many varying types of people who join the Army but yeah the majority are from the lower echelons of society, not always a last resort though.

The whole ptsd and the likes is a very touchy subject. I know many who have suffered huge mental illness brought on by experiences whilst serving, I also know too many that play the ptsd card merely for extra benefits and an unwillingness to work.

I also know many civilians who have never done service who suffer mental illness.

Anyone who read my troops thread may remember that one of the reasons for starting it was that I was going through a bit of a tough time, a good friend killed and a spate of suicides of former colleagues at that time.

I'm not a film watcher really so haven't seen many, Private Ryan probably closest in showing the horrors, opening scenes were tremendously realistic imho. A book I read many years ago by Leon Uris - Battle Cry had amazing similarities to my own experiences during the bootcamp/training portion. A great read if you like war tales and based on his own experiences.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Cry_(Leon_Uris_novel)

Geo

Does it sometimes feel like this sort of life puts constraints on your freedom? Most people can do what they want in their free time, like jet away to Spain for the weekend on a whim. Seems like prison in regard to lack of liberty. Then again suppose oil-rig worker and lighthouse keeper are just as fcked.

What are your opinions on allowing women in frontline combat ?

In your experiences what, if any, roles do you think are suitable for women in the military ? (Keep it clean boys!)

Please don't be all P.C. about this, anyone who is putting their life on the line has a valid opinion about who there working / fighting alongside.


Finally, would you recommend a military career to your daughter / sister / granddaughter?

P.S. Just to clarify I'm not trying to provoke a feminist debate here, I just genuinely interested in what you guys think.

Massively, I couldn't get a tattoo without permission, grow a beard, gamble as much as I wanted,  couldn't travel to places without getting permission, if allowed at all. Couldn't have gfs of a certain nationally.  (fwiw not all of these apply to your average service personnel) Couldn't apply to go on big brother or state political affiliations. obviously no drugs etc. There are lots of good things but the lack of freedom I had to endure to keep my security clearances did play a part with me leaving.

women on frontline abs fine imo. I have seen some utterly useless males when it comes to combat training etc. Seen 9. 5st men who can barely carry their own bergen and I've seen 14st women who could throw you over their shoulder.

Sisters = yes
Daughter = not in a million years.

I remember seeing jobs for MI6 a few year ago and thought it might be interesting to look at in more detail. Part of the conditions were you didn't have a gambling or drink problem, I binned the thought at that second as they no doubt would have looked through my financial details and seen gaming transactions a couple of times a week lol.

Tattoos wtf? Half of servicemen have them surely?

No gambling or drink problem?

James Bond?

That's what I thought!  :D

Out of interest, if you can say, where would be the kind of places you wouldnt be able to travel or have a gf from?

I was in the same branch as Millidonk, but Navy and several of those were why things didn't work out :D

yeah tonnes of people have ttattoos but we were supposed to apply for permissionn. You get a blank person and you have to draw on what you are planning on getting. normally fine if not political or on ur face or whatever. Also gives them a record to help identify you. I forgot about not being able to have long hair or dye it.

In my trade they go through your bank statements and all that, thoroughbackground cchecks into you and your family, ask very probing questions about eeverything you can imagine. (basically if it's been disclosed you are unlikely to be blackmailed over it) 

Woodsey I did get into trouble over drinking and gambling, they hate gambling full stop when DV is concerned but you had to drink a fair bit to be pulled up on tha. ;)

@red I know a guy who left (before he was booted) as he had an Israeli gf who he is now married to.  for me Russian, Iranian, Chinese, Syrian,  eastern block and middle East really. I had a gf who was half Italian / half Polish but born and bred in England and they investigated her. Jamaican is fine tho. :)

I'm not actually sure if normal servicemen have any restrictions? I know Germany and French are fine.

Apologies for my god. awful posts btw. on phone and contacts drying out. :(

That another out gone then.......FFS!!!

All good stuff mate, this is an interesting thread.

Gambling has always been a big no no in the army !

We had most of the same stuf as you Milli, but tattoos were fine as long as they weren't on display iirc, and we deffo didn't have to draw what we intended on getting ;D

We were allowed sideburns to the bottom of the ear, but no tache and needed permission to grow a full beard.  I think the mob was a bit more lapse on the hair side of things than RAF and Army.

All the DV stuff is pretty much universal isn't it, so we all the same restrictions there I  think. The clearance interviews were pretty com, I remember having them when I first got to Chicksands and going through clearance levels.(Blue B to Red A?).

What is DV?

Sorry mate, should have written it out... It's 'Developed Vetting'

It was all done while going through career course training at Chicksands, so that you can have access to all the stuff needed to learn how to do the job.

Remember it being a pain in the ass as we got deeper into the course, you had to study in the classrooms and then the books went back into the cupboard. You weren't allowed to take any notes out, nothing written down and had to just revise from memory for exams.

Stands for Developed Vetting which is the clearance you require to access Top Secret material.

one thing I always thought was cool, I used to work on something that was so secret that even the name of it's classification level was a secret. (if that makes sense)

My dad was in the army (still is) so I also know what it's like growing up In the military should anyone have any questions.

lol @ revising. navy fish.

Morse code was fun, plenty of broken stuff in the classrooms during that part of the course :D

I was pretty golden and got up to 20 words a minute lively, but a few of the guys got stuck early doors and got pretty bent out of shape with it all. I think I hit a wall for a week or so around 20 and then cruised up to 30 without too many more problems.

Then there was Mavis Beacon to get your typing up to scratch, I think it was 40wpm minute was the minimum required during the foundation part of the course.

All seems pretty dull in comparison to jjandellis, Geo and Lee who were obv putting in proper graft...

Only one guy in our battalion was allowed to grow a beard ....the mascot

2nd battalion the royal Anglian regiment..... nick named the "poachers".  The guy used to dress up like a poacher for functions shotgun over his shoulder!

For the rest of us clean shaven everyday .....or extras (extra duties)


No rules on tattoos apart from if it prevented you doing your job .....self inflicted injury.

Yeah, think we were the same with tats actually, and I had a huge palaver with my Divisional PO in basic training about shaving!

I am really hairy generally(apart from my nut now obv), so would shave in the morning and by lunchtime would have a shadow. My instructor rips into me about not shaving in the morning, and how that is my first warning etc.

I wait until he has finished, inform him that I had shaved and throw in that I'm shaving at 4am so it's effectively evening at lunchtime... Went down well [  ]

Anyway, next day I have to shave in front of him and he says he will inspect me again at lunchtime. Gets to lunchtime, shadow is on the way and he realises he made a mistake. No sorry, just a 'You hairy f***ing monkey Herron!' and away we go :D

Comedy!

The spitting image Frank sketch was a classic.

Great thread!

Did you feel as though you were adequately kitted out when sent out on missions?  From what I heard the kit we give our troops are behind the times when compared to how the Yanks equip their soldiers?

i was in Celle Germany when they introduced combat 95 gear ...my company was chosen to trial it at the time the kit was the bees knees in comparison to the rest of the battalion!

lee ......if there is any buckshee kit going can you get my lad any ....
webbing or a smock he loves it !!
size small
cheers dude!

Glad to hear this.

Spot the difference:

Geos head protection and body armour 1979

(http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww48/geo_album/Geoskit_zps9e400c2f.jpg) (http://s704.photobucket.com/user/geo_album/media/Geoskit_zps9e400c2f.jpg.html)

Lees 2012/13

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Geo

Fair points, however no idea why you always seem to put things forward aggressively.

Absolutely the restrictions are many and very annoying. Had many leaves cancelled due to being called back for other things, to cover firemen and binmen strikes for example. Quite recently a number of friends, recently returned from ops had leave shortened to assist at the Olympics after the G4S debaucle (incidentally their accomodation was camp beds in a multi storey car park). As an Infantryman, our annual leaves were usually dictated to you around ops and training etc so rarely did they tie in with school holidays to be enjoyed with the kids etc.

Like to put things straight on the gambling side of things, what was prohibited was things like private card schools. Reasons for this was the potential trouble that could be caused, i:e soldiers owing large debts to each other, not paying up and the potential retribution this may lead to.

In our NAAFIs/messes there would be fruit machines. On ops we would run sweepstakes/radio bingo etc. All controlled usually by a Senior NCO. It's not like we couldn't go to casinos and play poker/roulette etc or take a trip to the bookies. Horse betting is quite a big pastime for many service personnel.

Tattoos were fine as long as not offensive or in ridiculous places like the face. However if it went wrong and required medical treatment and taken off duty due to this then you could be charged with missing duty due to self inflicted wound.

Beards were generally not allowed, believe it or not mostly due to hygiene reasons, hair attracts lice and the like when in dirty conditions potential to cause disease.

Another reason is the wearing of gas masks, nowadays they are rubber and create a vacuum when placed on the face, a beard was found to break this vacuum and therefore be liable to gas leaking in.

For a lot of Regiments, mine included, we had a tradition where only the Pioneer Sergeant could grow a beard.

Geo

Great questions lady.

I'll try to answer  being as un-pc as possible.

Women do now serve in the front line, however it is avoided if possible, purely for morale reasons. From an Infantry point of view, we had many females attached to us, mostly in admin jobs. The soldiers tended to be very protective of their female colleagues. We had many females attached to us that were as fit and strong as a lot of their male counterparts. The devastation of losing a close male colleague would be nowhere near the death of a female under your protection, much the same as whilst we hear of so many deaths of men due to war/terrorist attacks etc, when women or children are killed it causes outrage and quite rightly so.

There is of course the danger that in a long period on ops in close confines that females may be put at risk of sexual assault. It will take a very long time for front line soldiers to accept that is fine to have women in the front line and it's not because they aren't capable, in a lot of cases they truly are.

Until we stop getting involved in operations that are unwarranted and things settle down to be predominantly home defence I wouldn't recommend the Army to anyone.

Geo

I have often wondered how soldiers feel about doing that kind of work. I can think of lots of possible attitudes to it:

- pleased to be helping the general public out of a fix
- unhappy to be undermining a strike
- pleased to be undermining a strike
- a nice change from the usual stuff
- it's good to be doing something useful instead of training
- it's a waste of the investment in my training
- indifferent - it's just another part of the job

No doubt there's a bit of all of those and others, but what is the predominant view among the soldiers who have to do it?

 :hello: Claire

Greta to see things picking up for you, pass on my hello to Gatters.

I've never spoken much to Mrs Geo regards some of what I seen and we've been married 33 years next week. It's a strange one and we each react differently. Many tend to keep these things to themselves, however I have seen many take great pleasure in describing things in graphic detail.

the 2 main things that stick in my mind is the full heli tele footage of the Corporal Killings I mentioned earlier and being part of a clearing up operation on The Road To Basra and other areas at the end of the Gulf war. Not easy prising melted human from metal vehicles I can tell you.

Measuring mental health/ptsd is very difficult, mostly due to too many using it as an excuse for early release or to claim additional benefits. There are too many cases not receiving the care they require and deserve.

xx
Geo

Hi John,

can't really speak for others, however I would expect most would be along the same lines as me.

Strike breaking - matters not a jot to us, we aren't able to strike and do a job much tougher and get paid far less (certainly in my time.)

waste of the investment in my training - especially for the firemens strike we underwent additional training - learning the intricacies of firefighting was fascinating and pretty hard work and in some parts was similar to some Army training. Oh and I got to drive a green goddess - man what a god awful machine that was.

(http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww48/geo_album/Greengoddess_zps4129e6e7.jpg) (http://s704.photobucket.com/user/geo_album/media/Greengoddess_zps4129e6e7.jpg.html)

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Geo

Just came onto thread to ask about thoughts on compulsive redundancies I have just read about.  Not sure if the above post covers it or not?  In terms of the level of experience and competency will this make a difference?

Actually, could you explain the differences? Presumably the uniforms and protective stuff are made of higher-tech material and you prob wouldn't be given a helmet that is too big nowadays but, beyond that, I can see that they have changed a bit, but I don't know enough about it to understand what is different without it being spelt out for me.

Will try add to this thread when im home off this oil rig.

Cliffs are:

14 years army, REME avionics technician so not a "proper" soldier from 1993 -2007

Served with a few SF units inc the task force who were looking for the people who cut iff Ken Bigley's head, again as an avionics tech, not one of the sneaky beaky brigade

Tours of the 3 Bs, Bosnia, Belfast and Baghdad

Worked with all colours, sexual orientations, religions etc

Career ended by a medical discharge post head injury (brain damage ITT)

Mick