Anyone been in the RAF/Navy??

Was it overall a worthwhile experience being in the forces?  And more importantly - What did you train as and what job opportunites were available when you left with the forces on your cv? I.e If you were in intelligence or engineering, did that enable you to get a job in the same field when you left?  How do employers look at this on your cv?

I joined the Navy at 17 as an artificer...fast track rate.
I did my 12 weeks basic training, then picked my trade. went for AEA, aircraft engineering artificer, did about 4 mnths of this and got glandular fever, spent 1 mnth trying to work with this till I collapsed, then spent 3 weeks in hospital, 2 weeks at home reovering and then 1 mnth held in divisions because I decided to leave.

I would have to admit though, I loved the basic training and feel it helped teach me to understand discipline.

It's a ballache flip-flopping between Iraq and Afghan every 18 months, but the immediate pension for older Forces members is worth it's weight in gold.  I'm not so sure I'd join now though with the new pension scheme.

However I've met some great people and done jobs/seen things which many would die for.  Unfortunately when you are 'in the seat' so to speak, these unique experiences seem the norm and therefore less special.

I can't say about job opportunitis on the outside as I haven't left yet.  Needless to say our training is second to none and serving in the Armed Forces looks good on anyone's CV.

I joined the Army at 18 & did 7 years.

Did my adult nurse training through the army, basically got paid to go to uni whilst doing military stuff, did two tours - 1 in iraq & 1 in afghan & a year in germany.

On leaving they give you a special grant to do any sort of training you want so you have extra qualifications for civvy street, because of my nurse degree i walked straight into a job so did my LGV license with the grant.

I made great friends & had some awesome experiences in the forces, its a good career if you chose to do it!!

I'm currently in the RAF.  Training is good and a lot of trades now receive civilian qualifications.  I have NEBOSH Certificate, HND in Environmental Health and am currently undertaking courses to become a qualified Occupational Hygienist.  All paid for.

I love being in the Forces and am proud to wear my uniform.  Some people see going off to the desert as a downside to the lifestyle but I enjoyed Iraq and am looking forward to Afghanistan.

After all that is what I am trained to do.

Boogaloo


I'm currently in the RAF.  Training is good and a lot of trades now receive civilian qualifications.  I have NEBOSH Certificate, HND in Environmental Health and am currently undertaking courses to become a qualified Occupational Hygienist.  All paid for.

I love being in the Forces and am proud to wear my uniform.  Some people see going off to the desert as a downside to the lifestyle but I enjoyed Iraq and am looking forward to Afghanistan.

After all that is what I am trained to do.

NEBOSH

 
Can I ask, whats your job title within the RAF?

Trident

Boogaloo


I'm currently in the RAF.  Training is good and a lot of trades now receive civilian qualifications.  I have NEBOSH Certificate, HND in Environmental Health and am currently undertaking courses to become a qualified Occupational Hygienist.  All paid for.

I love being in the Forces and am proud to wear my uniform.  Some people see going off to the desert as a downside to the lifestyle but I enjoyed Iraq and am looking forward to Afghanistan.

After all that is what I am trained to do.

NEBOSH

 
Can I ask, whats your job title within the RAF?

A very safe Toilet Cleaner?

I was a Medic in The Royal Navy for 7 years,its deffo a young mans game so think ahead,most senior rates are divorced a few times so be realistic and think ahead.

Relationships and marriages can work but most fail,i know this isnt what you asked but you have too consider this IMHO,as down the line you may wish to settle.

I had a great time made great friends,choose to come out while i was young enough to do other stuff and retrain in something else if needed,i was a Leading Medic at the time of leaving (Like corpral) but promotion can be very role driven ,some it takes ages to get anywhere other it dont,makes sense really Medic for example is a very trusted and responable role,more so when you get some rank and in charge of others.
On board a ship you may be the only Medical personal (dr,dentist,physio the lot).


Also with the Navy consider that you may get Iraq etc but also you may get a long deployment,which means let say someone was in the Army they get sent to Iraq then the next draft they get sent to Germany,they can fly the wife and kids out,you cant do that on ship (sure they may visit but clearly cant live with you)

Life on Board is VERY demanding,your living in very close confines,we had the prision service look around our ship with a view of making a prision ship,the guy looking around was disgusted and said"ill never let a prisoner live in these conditions"

Its not a cruise there are no weekends off at sea,its a working vessel and you earn you keep,ive also been on the field and i found on board life much harder by far.
On one prep for Basic operaional sea training,in this they put the ship and crew thru every mock disaster you can imagine,during this we had three lads try to top themselves and one threw himself overboard.(Meeeeddic!)

Ive seen and done a few cool things and id never regret it but its hard to balance home and forces life,i made a massive effort to not talk about the Navy or use jargon when home ,as i was aware i may leave and want to drop back into my old life.


Pick a role that is required in civvie street,they dont need many missile loaders but be careful of two things
1) you will get roles that are equal or surpass the civilian role but the qualifaction will be changed slightly ,so it wont fit into civilian life,i know lads that were on top Computer courses that commanded 45k plus jobs on the out,but they let them do the course and then they withheld the final exam so they had the know how but not certified.

Myself i got Royal college of surgeons of London BARTS,NVQ'S,City and Guilds,Dip,remote area unassisted medic,dive medic,off shore medic.etc,etc loads and loads,when i left everyone said the same awesome quals and experiance but they didnt know what to do with it.

Im currently in my third year of Uni to get a Degree in adult nursing,they did even recongnise the quals to get on the nursing degree,im not saying i know it all i dont but of course the experiance stood me in good stead,ive not dropped below a 89% thru Uni and a lot of times ive been on par with some of the lecturers on some topics,but its not nice to have to find three years to start over

The sad thing is when i was in Nurse Practioners were just being developed and we had to teach the civvies ones how to suture,take bloods and other stuff,then i can get on the basic nursing course,can drive you nuts if you think fo it but you just have to empty your glass and take it on the chin


2)The Forces office when you apply will test you,then say you good for set roles,A,B and C,you then choose one ,this is BS they just feed you the jobs they are told to fill,they will even lie and tell you "oh join as this and you can,change during basic it dont matter etc"more BS


Its a massive change to your life and youll never be the same or look at life the same afterward,id Join the RAF they seem to get treat the best from what Ive seen.
Got a few mates still in so if you need any info down the line im happy to help mate

What ever you do make sure your doing it for the right reasons,then pick and trade and get running ready for Basic training(the best bit,wish i was able to send all my time in the forces doing that bit)

I dont know about currently but it seems that things are going more tri service and joining as one,so it may all change.

seems to be a breeeding ground for ex forces medics here!  i was a nurse in the navy, good life id say, but join the raf as others have said. have mates in all 3 as we all trained for 3 years in the same unit then went our seperate ways so get a good insight into their lives/roles/deployments etc. raf much more adult about things in the main.
Good life for a single, harder for married

good luck!

ASC what years were you in did you work in Haslar?

Was student 99-02 and worked in g block around 2004 or 05 i think, then got the f outta dodge....

The trade training wasnt at Brum then was it( for nurses),was you at block house for training? if so you may well know me

yeah think brum kicked in around 03, i did my 998 in birmingham, mainly at blockhouse but got sent all over the show as it was during training really.  fun days but not for me now!

Cool i was at Haslar lived on Hells kitchen at Albert block worked on isolation and infectious /tropical disease(a3 or 5?) then ran the Plaster room for a year.

Its all going t1ts up now from what i hear for the Medical staff,cnat belive they closed Haslar stunning place best draft EVER.
300 Plus female nurses,100` Plus female HCA's then radiographers and other staff and a hand full of male nurses and medics,total fest Lol

timmyjd

brucieflea - yeah ive got some fond memories of it all, but when i still talk to some of my mates who are still in, it gives me a shudder to think if i would still be going on with all that, and dont miss some of the regimented daily stuff. reading that back, yep old age has kicked in! But as said before it is definately a younger persons game.

timmyjd - sorry for hijacking your thread a bit! As you can see there are people here who did have a good time and have good memories etc, just my two pence worth is just think about what you are prepared to sacrifice. if that is all ok, you will probably have the best time life has to offer in terms of experience and travel, training and opportunities to just do things that you wouldnt as a civvy.

good luck with it all mate

Hey

You never mentioned Army in your title - any reason why, or you not considering that?

Been in the Army 19 years now, currently in Afghanistan

Been all over the world.
Got Diploma in Management
HND Buisness administration
Various NVQs in Logistics
All driving licience from Moterbike up to including HGV1 and Bus, JCB etc and Army put me through them all

so all good for a CV when i leave

Problem being that once you done 22 years (or more in the RAF/Navy) - do i really want to be doing any more pressure jobs with all the qualifications i have got, or do i just want to chill, live on my pension and become a lolly pop man?!

as for the new pension scheme, i am not on it, but it is not that bad, only difference being that you dont get quite as much monthly, but you do get another large lump sum when you reach 60 (thats the catch, you got to live till then!!)

But the best experience you will get out of the forces - is life experience!

Trident
 


Can I ask, whats your job title within the RAF?

l'm an Environmental Health Technician.  Which is a bit of a pants job title as people automatically think "tree hugger".  However the Yanks have the much more appropriate title of Preventative Medicine.

Basically I try to stop people becoming ill in the first place.

I'm in the process of joining the Royal Marines.

It got to the point where I was just like there has to be more to life than this. Had a look around and started reading about the Marines, what they do and more importantly how they do it. I knew at that point that I wouldn't be able to settle in anything else unless I gave it a shot.

I don't presume to imagine I have found 'my thing' but I'm quietly hopeful it is my calling. Of course there is also the consideration they may not want me and even if they do say come and have a go, passing out is anything but a forgone conclusion.

Sorry bit of a ramble there, what I was getting around to was that if your considering a crack at the forces...what have you got to lose?

Jesus didnt know there were this many ex mob mateleot on here.

Im ex Navy, did 7 years. Joined as an OM Comms. Its no longer OM (Operator Mechanic), i think the new prefix is CIS (Communications and Information systems Specialist) but ended up taking my PTi's. I gained a basic NVQ 2  Public Services at Raleigh, the basic Seamanship certificate at vernon. I gained NVQ's in Telecommunications (including morse code) at Collingwood (loved that place). I also studied for my A levels in my own time, the Navy paid for that too.

The PTi's course left me with a REP's Advanced Instructor Level 3, a Diploma in SAQ (Speed Agility Quickness) and a handful of Adventurous training qualifications (which i took more to get out of other things than for actually wanting to take them haha). Ironically i ended up back at HMS Collingwood for the last 8 months of my Naval career, which was ideal as im from Portsmouth.

Since leaving the forces i worked first managing a glass prep and build factories production unit to my current Full time job as a welder. I also run my own business on the side as a semi-pro photographer so have not really used any of the   Quals i gained while in.

All in all i'd highly reccomend a life in forces. I think the old adage of "when your young and single its the best job in the world, when your married/nearly married with kids it becomes one of the worst" still holds true. Or at least i found it to be the case. Even as a short career (as i went for) it'll allow you to see a bit of the world, get paid for it and have a laugh with people who you'll truly be mates for life with. What you join is down to you...best bet would be to take a look at all the job choices that interest you from across all 3 Services and then make your choice from there.

Just out of interest did any of the other ex Mob/navy lads/Ladies here ever serve on HMS Newcastle 98-00 (loved the toon), HMS Iron Duke 00-02 or at Yeovil 02-04 and Collingwood for 8 months in 04??????? Be small world if any of us were serving in those places during the dates given.

I was at Collingwood around 2000 working in the sickbay and at other times but cant recall the dates tbh