Armed Forces Veterans

tangled_metal

I knew a guy who worked in a charity with an ex SAS man. It's a social sector charity and as a result emotionally hard on ppl. My mate says they offer counselling. Seems the SAS guy needed it and got it through his job after armed service.

Ben6899

Lagrange wrote:

I was in the army for 8 years and enjoyed it and left it. I'm doing well and don't give a toss for my past or any contrived benefit that I don't really want or need.

What a refreshing outlook. Nice one.

ben@31

Ryan_W wrote:

I’d like to think there would be a sensible cut-off point for this.

Say 6 years served onwards.

As stated, some cnut that pulled the pin halfway through trade training shouldn’t receive the perks.

My brother PVR'd from the Army halfway through his trade training (think they didn't offer him the trade he wanted?). But he wasn't discharged straight away, he was still doing gash jobs on his unit the day he left. I think he was holding in the MT section. So they did get some work out of him.

ryan_w-2

Ben6899 wrote:

Lagrange wrote:

I was in the army for 8 years and enjoyed it and left it. I'm doing well and don't give a toss for my past or any contrived benefit that I don't really want or need.

What a refreshing outlook. Nice one.

Pretty much in the same boat.

Did 9 years, got out on good terms and haven’t looked back.

I do feel for my boys that are still in.

Had a top table for my mates leaving do in the summer, and they were asking how civvi street was.

Bit awkward telling them the black and white of it.
They’ve all done 14 years + now and still on mediocre salaries.

I’ve more than tripled my Cpl wage in 5 years, however, I do miss the guys, not the RAF!

BelgianBeerGeek

Ryan_W wrote:

Ben6899 wrote:

Lagrange wrote:

I was in the army for 8 years and enjoyed it and left it. I'm doing well and don't give a toss for my past or any contrived benefit that I don't really want or need.

What a refreshing outlook. Nice one.

Pretty much in the same boat.

Did 9 years, got out on good terms and haven’t looked back.

I do feel for my boys that are still in.

Had a top table for my mates leaving do in the summer, and they were asking how civvi street was.

Bit awkward telling them the black and white of it.
They’ve all done 14 years + now and still on mediocre salaries.

I’ve more than tripled my Cpl wage in 5 years, however, I do miss the guys, not the RAF!

+1 to Lagrange, and sort of why I started the thread. Did 5 years mainly battering my liver in Germany and sweeping the tank park. Left, have done lots of things since and it's just a part of my past. Glad I did it but "been there, done that".
Thought the whole idea was quite insulting.

manglier

For retail discounts for vets, this:
https://www.defencediscountservice.co.uk/

mr_goo

Ryan_W wrote:

Ben6899 wrote:

Lagrange wrote:

I was in the army for 8 years and enjoyed it and left it. I'm doing well and don't give a toss for my past or any contrived benefit that I don't really want or need.

What a refreshing outlook. Nice one.

Pretty much in the same boat.

Did 9 years, got out on good terms and haven’t looked back.

I do feel for my boys that are still in.

Had a top table for my mates leaving do in the summer, and they were asking how civvi street was.

Bit awkward telling them the black and white of it.
They’ve all done 14 years + now and still on mediocre salaries.

I’ve more than tripled my Cpl wage in 5 years, however, I do miss the guys, not the RAF!

My son is currently going through RAF selection process. Hope it isn't as bad as you are alluding to.

BelgianBeerGeek

Mr Goo, being in the armed forces is just like being in a lot of other jobs. It's what you make of it. Yes the forces can, and will, impose on you in ways that working for Morrison's or the local council won't. There are still lots of excellent career opportunities for lads and lasses in the forces - don't listen to the old and cynical. And in my opinion, the money isn't that bad.

trivial_poursuivant

BelgianBeerGeek wrote:

Mr Goo, being in the armed forces is just like being in a lot of other jobs. It's what you make of it. Yes the forces can, and will, impose on you in ways that working for Morrison's or the local council won't. There are still lots of excellent career opportunities for lads and lasses in the forces - don't listen to the old and cynical. And in my opinion, the money isn't that bad.

It has changed a lot in the last decade and non of it for the better. I’m not saying it’s all bad but it’s no longer the long career it offered before. If you want to spend a few years in to get some qualifications or just the experience fine but it’s not something I’d consider doing 20+ years in if I were to join tomorrow.

mfin

I respect that the military do jobs that most of us don't want to do, but that's just it, they do want to, the rest of us don't. It is painted as some kind of noble life choice, it's not really, it either appeals to you or it doesn't.

Well I think these kinds of recognition are pointless purely from the fact that if you choose to work in the military, you work in the military. You get paid for doing the job that you choose to do. Yes, you should have the right level of pay and support services, of course you should. Past that, nobody nowadays SERVES in the military, it's a nonsense term that needs dropping.
(There are of course a great many people who see it as their only real job choice if they see it as the only viable and easy way out of a deprived area, so it's not all black and white, but those people aren't making a noble choice to "serve" either).

If you work in the highways agency do you get special recognition for the trauma you might get from arriving at terrible accident scenes sometimes before anyone else? or the police for putting themselves in unarmed peril and getting called to awful scenarios such as shotgun suicides, hangings and accidents? No, you don't. ...so why should the military be any different?

trivial_poursuivant

mfin wrote:

I respect that the military do jobs that most of us don't want to do, but that's just it, they do want to, the rest of us don't. It is painted as some kind of noble life choice, it's not really, it either appeals to you or it doesn't.

Well I think these kinds of recognition are pointless purely from the fact that if you choose to work in the military, you work in the military. You get paid for doing the job that you choose to do. Yes, you should have the right level of pay and support services, of course you should. Past that, nobody nowadays SERVES in the military, it's a nonsense term that needs dropping.
(There are of course a great many people who see it as their only real job choice if they see it as the only viable and easy way out of a deprived area, so it's not all black and white, but those people aren't making a noble choice to "serve" either).

If you work in the highways agency do you get special recognition for the trauma you might get from arriving at terrible accident scenes sometimes before anyone else? or the police for putting themselves in unarmed peril and getting called to awful scenarios such as shotgun suicides, hangings and accidents? No, you don't. ...so why should the military be any different?

Spoken truly by someone who as never been shot at. The ethos of the armed forces are what binds us. It’s more than just a job or a career. No other employment type dictates your entire life . Not just the hours you work. You are bound by the rules 24/7 365 days a year.
You can be told to go and do anything the CoC see fit and you have no choice. Serve is a suitable word since you give up a lot to do so. Your freedom to do many things are restricted for the service of your country. You may even have to make the ultimate sacrifice. Even the emergency services don’t have to give that level of commitment.

It is very fair to say, unless you have served in the armed forces and lived it. You cannot appreciate the job. It’s more than 9 to 5 job. You live with and socialise with the people you work with. You have to to build the unit cohesion needed when you are out on ops and the pressures they bring.

Matthewfalle

Trivial poursuivant wrote:

mfin wrote:

I respect that the military do jobs that most of us don't want to do, but that's just it, they do want to, the rest of us don't. It is painted as some kind of noble life choice, it's not really, it either appeals to you or it doesn't.

Well I think these kinds of recognition are pointless purely from the fact that if you choose to work in the military, you work in the military. You get paid for doing the job that you choose to do. Yes, you should have the right level of pay and support services, of course you should. Past that, nobody nowadays SERVES in the military, it's a nonsense term that needs dropping.
(There are of course a great many people who see it as their only real job choice if they see it as the only viable and easy way out of a deprived area, so it's not all black and white, but those people aren't making a noble choice to "serve" either).

If you work in the highways agency do you get special recognition for the trauma you might get from arriving at terrible accident scenes sometimes before anyone else? or the police for putting themselves in unarmed peril and getting called to awful scenarios such as shotgun suicides, hangings and accidents? No, you don't. ...so why should the military be any different?

Spoken truly by someone who as never been shot at. The ethos of the armed forces are what binds us. It’s more than just a job or a career. No other employment type dictates your entire life . Not just the hours you work. You are bound by the rules 24/7 365 days a year.
You can be told to go and do anything the CoC see fit and you have no choice. Serve is a suitable word since you give up a lot to do so. Your freedom to do many things are restricted for the service of your country. You may even have to make the ultimate sacrifice. Even the emergency services don’t have to give that level of commitment.

It is very fair to say, unless you have served in the armed forces and lived it. You cannot appreciate the job. It’s more than 9 to 5 job. You live with and socialise with the people you work with. You have to to build the unit cohesion needed when you are out on ops and the pressures they bring.

Methinks that MFIN has never served in either the military or emergency services and knows no one who has.

TP has summed it up eloquently - top post.

mfin

I have 4 close friends who work in the emergency services, and a couple in the military.

It is a choice people make, to do that particular job, nobody is being forced to nowadays. It's not really serving.

I completely get that it may be extremely stressful, and horrible, and dangerous or extremely dangerous at times. You don't have to do it though, it is a job.

bikes`n`guns

Why ?

They joined the army , so why do they need to be identified by a V or anything else ?

What makes them different to others that have served the nation is different ways ?

Perhaps power station workers should get a little light bulb on theirs for keeping the power on to the UK ?

trivial_poursuivant

Bikes`n`guns wrote:

Why ?

They joined the army , so why do they need to be identified by a V or anything else ?

What makes them different to others that have served the nation is different ways ?

Perhaps power station workers should get a little light bulb on theirs for keeping the power on to the UK ?

If you read the posts, neither I or any of the other serving or ex serving want it. We all agree the govt can shove it and just pay us properly and give us the equipment to do our jobs and forget about token gesture bullshit offers

bikes`n`guns

I agree, but was answering the original post.

mr_goo

BelgianBeerGeek wrote:

Mr Goo, being in the armed forces is just like being in a lot of other jobs. It's what you make of it. Yes the forces can, and will, impose on you in ways that working for Morrison's or the local council won't. There are still lots of excellent career opportunities for lads and lasses in the forces - don't listen to the old and cynical. And in my opinion, the money isn't that bad.

What it has done for my son's well being in run up to selection is to get him into sports, become extremely fit and very very mindful of what he eats and drinks. So I've seen the benefit to him there. It's one of the attractions for him, an organisation that encourages you to be fit.

BelgianBeerGeek

Mr Goo wrote:

BelgianBeerGeek wrote:

Mr Goo, being in the armed forces is just like being in a lot of other jobs. It's what you make of it. Yes the forces can, and will, impose on you in ways that working for Morrison's or the local council won't. There are still lots of excellent career opportunities for lads and lasses in the forces - don't listen to the old and cynical. And in my opinion, the money isn't that bad.

What it has done for my son's well being in run up to selection is to get him into sports, become extremely fit and very very mindful of what he eats and drinks. So I've seen the benefit to him there. It's one of the attractions for him, an organisation that encourages you to be fit.

Better than that, he will get a chance to have a go at all kinds of sports and activities paid for or heavily subsidized by the taxpayer. I work with the military and boy do they whinge about the job (some things don't change) but somehow that whinging stops when they bugger off snowboarding or kayaking for weeks on end.

mr_goo

BelgianBeerGeek wrote:

Mr Goo wrote:

BelgianBeerGeek wrote:

Mr Goo, being in the armed forces is just like being in a lot of other jobs. It's what you make of it. Yes the forces can, and will, impose on you in ways that working for Morrison's or the local council won't. There are still lots of excellent career opportunities for lads and lasses in the forces - don't listen to the old and cynical. And in my opinion, the money isn't that bad.

What it has done for my son's well being in run up to selection is to get him into sports, become extremely fit and very very mindful of what he eats and drinks. So I've seen the benefit to him there. It's one of the attractions for him, an organisation that encourages you to be fit.

Better than that, he will get a chance to have a go at all kinds of sports and activities paid for or heavily subsidized by the taxpayer. I work with the military and boy do they whinge about the job (some things don't change) but somehow that whinging stops when they bugger off snowboarding or kayaking for weeks on end.

Yep. That's one of the things that has attracted him to joining the RAF.

tangled_metal

Why didn't anyone from armed forces recruitment tell me that when I was at school?! I was heavily into whitewater kayaking but it's an expensive sport of you want to do the good stuff around UK and Europe too. Too old now at 45?

trivial_poursuivant

Tangled Metal wrote:

Why didn't anyone from armed forces recruitment tell me that when I was at school?! I was heavily into whitewater kayaking but it's an expensive sport of you want to do the good stuff around UK and Europe too. Too old now at 45?

Not big into kayaking but the army helped me get a few Adventurous Training quals. Mainly rock climbing and MTB leader. Only problem is getting the time off work to go when units are busy. I know some people who constantly get chances to do AT and also loads who never ever get chance which is a shame, bad management imo. I do enjoy a fortnight in Bavaria in the summer getting paid to do one of my hobbies.

Matthewfalle

Tangled Metal wrote:

Why didn't anyone from armed forces recruitment tell me that when I was at school?! I was heavily into whitewater kayaking but it's an expensive sport of you want to do the good stuff around UK and Europe too. Too old now at 45?

We do every sport you could ever want and get paid for it. They will also pay for your instructor quals and if you go Rupert you have to have a qual before being issued your red trousers. White water rafting, skiing, mountain biking, sky diving, hockey, footy, rugby, badminton, road cycling - the full lot.

I'm a MTB instructor and get paid to fly around and instruct mtb'ing. I'm also an expedition medic so head off to random places to look after people doing stuff.

It's a perk of the job. They want people doing sport and not whorin' fightin' drinkin'.

Also sorts of offsets working ridiculously hard at your job and the inherent risks involved.

mr_goo

Mr Goo wrote:

BelgianBeerGeek wrote:

Mr Goo wrote:

BelgianBeerGeek wrote:

Mr Goo, being in the armed forces is just like being in a lot of other jobs. It's what you make of it. Yes the forces can, and will, impose on you in ways that working for Morrison's or the local council won't. There are still lots of excellent career opportunities for lads and lasses in the forces - don't listen to the old and cynical. And in my opinion, the money isn't that bad.

What it has done for my son's well being in run up to selection is to get him into sports, become extremely fit and very very mindful of what he eats and drinks. So I've seen the benefit to him there. It's one of the attractions for him, an organisation that encourages you to be fit.

Better than that, he will get a chance to have a go at all kinds of sports and activities paid for or heavily subsidized by the taxpayer. I work with the military and boy do they whinge about the job (some things don't change) but somehow that whinging stops when they bugger off snowboarding or kayaking for weeks on end.

Yep. That's one of the things that has attracted him to joining the RAF.

Mind you he has to get through OASC at Cranwell next year. By all accounts it's a tough couple of days. However he's living by the maxim of giving it his best shot and having no regrets in later life.

trivial_poursuivant

Matthewfalle wrote:

Tangled Metal wrote:

Why didn't anyone from armed forces recruitment tell me that when I was at school?! I was heavily into whitewater kayaking but it's an expensive sport of you want to do the good stuff around UK and Europe too. Too old now at 45?

They want people doing sport and not whorin' fightin' drinkin'.

But that’s the best part. Maybe not the fightin’ Bit but hey as Meatloaf once sang, two out of three ain’t bad

Matthewfalle

Trivial poursuivant wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Tangled Metal wrote:

Why didn't anyone from armed forces recruitment tell me that when I was at school?! I was heavily into whitewater kayaking but it's an expensive sport of you want to do the good stuff around UK and Europe too. Too old now at 45?

They want people doing sport and not whorin' fightin' drinkin'.

But that’s the best part. Maybe not the fightin’ Bit but hey as Meatloaf once sang, two out of three ain’t bad

i'll go with this. If anything the paperwork is a nightmare.

tangled_metal

A mate lived near Preston barracks way back. Apparently some paras were based there at the time. Weekends were the same around the barracks. Drunk paras challenging the locals (drinking but also fighting). The first sign of trouble in the nearest pub and the red caps (isn't that what royal military police are called) came in batons swinging. They'd check which were locals and paras. One group would be left bleeding the other thrown into the back of a truck and back to barracks.

That was witnessed by my mate a couple of times. Mind you he did see a group of paras come off worse from the locals once. A rough area by all accounts and not one I know well enough to dispute.

I have no idea if the above was true or exaggerated. It was a paraphrasing of what a friend told me. I would not want to unfairly paint the paras as liking a fight if that's not true.

trivial_poursuivant

Tangled Metal wrote:

The first sign of trouble in the nearest pub and the red caps (isn't that what royal military police are called)... .

I’ve always preferred the name ‘Monkeys’ myself

A real monkey would probably be more effective anyway. RMPs have very little power nowadays. SIB (CID for military) are the only ones with any sort of power now and even that is quite limited. Military prefer to leave civil offfences to the real police and then charge you with a bringing the army into disrepute charge on top of it. Double jeopardy. But then army legal are so inept they probably won’t get any charges to stick in a court marshal.

tangled_metal

Well it was a good long time ago. Cracking skulls was still the RMP way. It didn't matter whether army or civilian. But first, sort them out later.

jgsi

Matthewfalle wrote:

Trivial poursuivant wrote:

mfin wrote:

I respect that the military do jobs that most of us don't want to do, but that's just it, they do want to, the rest of us don't. It is painted as some kind of noble life choice, it's not really, it either appeals to you or it doesn't.

Well I think these kinds of recognition are pointless purely from the fact that if you choose to work in the military, you work in the military. You get paid for doing the job that you choose to do. Yes, you should have the right level of pay and support services, of course you should. Past that, nobody nowadays SERVES in the military, it's a nonsense term that needs dropping.
(There are of course a great many people who see it as their only real job choice if they see it as the only viable and easy way out of a deprived area, so it's not all black and white, but those people aren't making a noble choice to "serve" either).

If you work in the highways agency do you get special recognition for the trauma you might get from arriving at terrible accident scenes sometimes before anyone else? or the police for putting themselves in unarmed peril and getting called to awful scenarios such as shotgun suicides, hangings and accidents? No, you don't. ...so why should the military be any different?

Spoken truly by someone who as never been shot at. The ethos of the armed forces are what binds us. It’s more than just a job or a career. No other employment type dictates your entire life . Not just the hours you work. You are bound by the rules 24/7 365 days a year.
You can be told to go and do anything the CoC see fit and you have no choice. Serve is a suitable word since you give up a lot to do so. Your freedom to do many things are restricted for the service of your country. You may even have to make the ultimate sacrifice. Even the emergency services don’t have to give that level of commitment.

It is very fair to say, unless you have served in the armed forces and lived it. You cannot appreciate the job. It’s more than 9 to 5 job. You live with and socialise with the people you work with. You have to to build the unit cohesion needed when you are out on ops and the pressures they bring.

Methinks that MFIN has never served in either the military or emergency services and knows no one who has.

TP has summed it up eloquently - top post.

He's a w anker first class ... I'm not eloquent.

FishFish

Tangled Metal wrote:

A mate lived near Preston barracks way back. Apparently some paras were based there at the time..

I was in the Parachute Regiment - and none of the battalions were ever in Preston Barracks. It was a TA centre and a Court Martial venue. The Parachute Regiment were variously in Aldershot, Bulford, Edinburgh, Colchester and abroad with a bit of Greenham Common and Ireland thrown in.

I presume your mates were vicariously involved in beating up paras in all of these locations. Most people were.