As some of you may remember, I was going through the application process for the Australian Army Reserve as a General Service Officer. I passed everything in spite of a few medical niggles (I have a eustacean tube dysfunction which means I can't do anything with really rapid changes in pressure, ie. Parachuting, Diving, but I'm still perfectly fine with air travel and mountain climbing etc.).
However I was turned down at the Officer Selection Board, our British members might be familiar with it as we have the same system and I don't think it's changed in a long time, on the basis of my youthful lack of leadership or management experience, which is fair enough. I passed the PFA without really having to try (not like it's hard, I still need some work to meet the challenge of the BFA however). Anyway with that avenue closed, and my personal desire to serve as an officer waning, I've decided to make an application for the British Regular Army. I know that one can volunteer if they are a Commonwealth citizen, so I'm right on that mark, and I already have a myriad of specialist reports on that eustcean tube issue that should clear me (I'm going for Gunner OP Assistant, Infantryman (non-Para obviously), Tank Crewman). I finished high school and scored in the top 15th percentile of my state so I should be pretty right as far as education goes and I am of course profficient with English and Computers. I'll be able to meet my travel costs for the period in which I would be going through assessment, as I was saving for a trip to Europe anyway, so my question is this:
Do the Crown Armed Forces types think I have a decent shot at getting in? Would I be devalued because I'm Australian or would I be treated the same as UK recruits? My desire to join stems from an attraction to the Global nature of the British Army, the chance to be posted overseas and the greater opportunity to serve in Afghanistan or somewhere similar (who knows what's around the corner), the chance to earn pounds instead of Australian dollars, the fact that your Army has a pension where our's does not, a general desire to get out on my own and do something (very) different with myself for the next 4 or more years, among others.
I am curious also if service could earn me points towards British Residency? I figure being an English-speaker who digs the general values of the UK, and who has 4 years of service under his belt would at least have a chance. I'm also hoping to be posted permanently in Germany, as I assume this is not difficult with the 1st Amd being located there with 3 Arty regiments I could serve in (Assuming I get the OP Assistant place, although I'm willing to take any job they want me for), as, the way I see it, anywhere is going to be a long way from home for me, I might as well take one of the overseas positions so that some guy with a wife and kids in Bristol doesn't have to be separated from his family. I can pretty much guarantee that I won't get homesick since I have little family to miss, and my father is moving to France anyway so I'm going to find it a lot easier to stay in touch with him this way.
With this in mind, do you professionals think I will make an attractive recruit?
Many thanks for any help that can be offered.
However I was turned down at the Officer Selection Board, our British members might be familiar with it as we have the same system and I don't think it's changed in a long time, on the basis of my youthful lack of leadership or management experience, which is fair enough. I passed the PFA without really having to try (not like it's hard, I still need some work to meet the challenge of the BFA however). Anyway with that avenue closed, and my personal desire to serve as an officer waning, I've decided to make an application for the British Regular Army. I know that one can volunteer if they are a Commonwealth citizen, so I'm right on that mark, and I already have a myriad of specialist reports on that eustcean tube issue that should clear me (I'm going for Gunner OP Assistant, Infantryman (non-Para obviously), Tank Crewman). I finished high school and scored in the top 15th percentile of my state so I should be pretty right as far as education goes and I am of course profficient with English and Computers. I'll be able to meet my travel costs for the period in which I would be going through assessment, as I was saving for a trip to Europe anyway, so my question is this:
Do the Crown Armed Forces types think I have a decent shot at getting in? Would I be devalued because I'm Australian or would I be treated the same as UK recruits? My desire to join stems from an attraction to the Global nature of the British Army, the chance to be posted overseas and the greater opportunity to serve in Afghanistan or somewhere similar (who knows what's around the corner), the chance to earn pounds instead of Australian dollars, the fact that your Army has a pension where our's does not, a general desire to get out on my own and do something (very) different with myself for the next 4 or more years, among others.
I am curious also if service could earn me points towards British Residency? I figure being an English-speaker who digs the general values of the UK, and who has 4 years of service under his belt would at least have a chance. I'm also hoping to be posted permanently in Germany, as I assume this is not difficult with the 1st Amd being located there with 3 Arty regiments I could serve in (Assuming I get the OP Assistant place, although I'm willing to take any job they want me for), as, the way I see it, anywhere is going to be a long way from home for me, I might as well take one of the overseas positions so that some guy with a wife and kids in Bristol doesn't have to be separated from his family. I can pretty much guarantee that I won't get homesick since I have little family to miss, and my father is moving to France anyway so I'm going to find it a lot easier to stay in touch with him this way.
With this in mind, do you professionals think I will make an attractive recruit?
Many thanks for any help that can be offered.
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