Royal Marines or Ex Royal Marines

Have a look on http://www.arrse.co.uk – the ARmy Rumour Service – but also home to many serving in other branches. its very honest and full of good advice. There will be dozens of similar threads so its worth doing a search but they are a good bunch and willing to help. There is a lot of pessimism though as some have been serving for a long time and recent cuts/changes to service are not going down well….

My advice would depend upon how academic he is, joining at 16 will be really tough. It is an adult environment and he will be expected to endure everything the rest of the troop endure. They will consider it to have been his choice to join up. I have friends who joined up at 16 and didnt last long, others who joined at 18 and were sponsored through Uni who are still there and one or two who joined after Uni and again, are still there.

I’ve worked in the MoD shuffling paper for 11 years, I’ve worked with a lot of Military, mostly senior NCOs and Officers but also younger squaddies at Deepcut. The important bit to remember is that first and foremost they are professionals then soldiers, be it Engineers, Drivers, Medics etc… you learn your trade hand in hand with regular soldiering.

The horror stories of abuse and bullying are pretty much in the past, I wouldnt say they are history but its rare and should it occur, its dealt with accordingly. The stories of macho physical abuse and that sort of stuff mentioned above is laughable and usually the sole reservce of fat blokes in certain pubs around Hereford…

I wouldnt discount the regular Army though or Navy with a view to transferring to the RM at a later point.

The important bit to remember is that first and foremost they are professionals then soldiers

Everyone in the army is a soldier first, tradesman second.

I wouldnt discount the regular Army though or Navy with a view to transferring to the RM at a later point.

You cannot transfer to RM from the army. You’d need to leave and rejoin. Not sure about navy but I’d imagine you could.

I’m ex RN.

The only thing I’d re-stress is KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT. It should be like a test to say as little as you can get away with.
There is a reason that you have two ears and one mouth.

This is brilliant advice and very true 😉

All second hand nonsence. My mate said this, my mate said this.

Yeah, must be utter nonsense*, he’s only been in the army 15 years. Ill reiterate though, sorry if my post offended you, It wasn’t intended to. Just wanted to give my two cents as I think the advice (whilst you may not agree with all it) of a 12 year vet and a family friend who served over 30 years in various wings of the military on plenty of soil and is now damn high up in one of them is probably useful.

Whilst i didn’t want or intended to offend you, the OP might find info from different angles useful. Because of course a Marine like yourself will always recommend the Marines – because it suits you, but it doesn’t suit everyone and that’s why there are alternative routes aren’t there?

Just to make super sure, I will say it again – my original post was worded wrongly and I was a tad sloshed. Sorry.

Everyone in the army is a soldier first, tradesman second.

Someone I know worked in army comms for about 5 years. They traveled ahead of units to set up communication equipment, erect radio towers etc. He loved the job, it was exciting and he loved working at heights, never fired a bullet in anger. He didn’t mind though because he loved the job.

IME you will also find that most, if not all, in the Army who are not Paras but have completed both P Company and the All Arms Commando Course are more proud of having got the dagger…

Probably true a lot of the time but depends on the person doesn’t it. 🙂

Yeah, must be utter nonsense*, he’s only been in the army 15 years. Ill reiterate though, sorry if my post offended you, It wasn’t intended to. Just wanted to give my two cents as I think the advice (whilst you may not agree with all it) of a 12 year vet and a family friend who served over 30 years in various wings of the military on plenty of soil and is now damn high up in one of them is probably useful.

Were any of those Marines? If not then I would bet it’s just a bit of inter-force bad mouthing.

There is a lot of competition between the Army and the Marines/RAF Regiment as the Army believe they’re the ones who should be on the ground and not the respective units from the RAF/Navy.

IME you will also find that most, if not all, in the Army who are not Paras but have completed both P Company and the All Arms Commando Course are more proud of having got the dagger…
Probably true a lot of the time but depends on the person doesn’t it.

Hence qualified by saying most… 😉

Not necessarily dave. IME, it’s whichever they got first. I reckon it forms their mentality and attachment to a particular mindset (Airbourne or commando). Some swap between units just to avoid going to hatland.

Hmm, I suppose but I sit across from somebody who has both and got his wings first, he says dagger every time. But then, I’m a hat so what do I know… 😉

You cannot transfer to RM from the army. You’d need to leave and rejoin. Not sure about navy but I’d imagine you could.

Not strictly accurate – there is the potential to transfer between Services, hence regular “Internal Transfer Fairs” (even considered transferring from the Infantry to the RAF Regt myself at one point, as the wife’s a blue suiter and I spent 2 years attached to them, but then saw sense and decided I didn’t want to become a glorified airport security guard…). Although it’s generally pinchpoint trades they’re looking to transfer poeple in to, which is why DM (A) got such a slagging for his fatuous remarks about soldiers selected for redundancy thinking about transferring to the RN (or RAF) instead, when it was pointed out most selected for redundancy wouldn’t have the requisite skills to transfer over the the RN as a Nuclear Propulsion Technician…

OK.
Firstly, the paras pride themselves as being the most aggressive troops around, bar none. It is their USP; their role is to drop behind enemy lines and cause mayhem. This mentality is demonstrated in the training (P-coy) where milling is still practiced to this day. If you want everything thoroughly brassed up; they’re your men.
There is some truth in the fact that RM are more measured. I believe that this is due to the officers, they are not products of the sandhurst factory and are chosen quite carefully (some even have regional accents!) and I believe that the Corps is all the stronger for it. I’ll also say that Commando forces are exceptional field soldiers (I don’t believe that there are any finer). Loads of time is spent on fieldcraft and field admin (yes, I’ve been on the flank!!!) far more so than drill. Lots of time spend cold, wet, tired and hungry. As a training NCO once told me, we go where nobody else wants to play.
This is based on first hand experience, all of my peer group (still serving) are either senior NCO’s, commissioned or SF (some both).

IME you will also find that most, if not all, in the Army who are not Paras but have completed both P Company and the All Arms Commando Course are more proud of having got the dagger…
Probably true a lot of the time but depends on the person doesn’t it.

and herein is the crux of it, you join the para’s as you do the marines for the Ethos of that regiment, to be long to part of something special that sets you apart from the dross. Doing P-Coy or AACC is nothing more than the physical ability to be able to get through the rest of the training and show commitment. Non para’s who are both winged up and have the dagger will ultimately go down the dagger route as they have no bond or tie to the [para] regiment. P-Coy – designed around quick hard and fast battle drills, AACC is endurance /pioneer based roles.

oh and before anyone chips in with Raf Reg having an “arduous” selection course – they can f— off..

I love the smell of slipstream 8)

small edit – doing P-coy or AACC does not necessarily entitle you to do BPC (basic parachute course) – tis reserved for Airborne roles as the RAF are so shiite at providing airframes, and then choosing the worst part of the day to drop so it doesn’t happen, then needing a tea brake and missing the window, then the airframe brakes down, then it’s tea time again…. not bitter me.

Can we take the military todger-waving to AARSE please, ladies?

Non para’s who are both winged up and have the dagger will ultimately go down the dagger route as they have no bond or tie to the [para] regiment.

9 Sqn don’t want to be or aspire to be para regt, they have their very own ethos, as strong as any and an impressive airbourne history of their own. Same with 59, 29, 7RHA etc etc.
Not sure where you got the “pioneer” role from though.