Welcome to ARRSE, howsit in LM these days?

Originally Posted by DLQ

but please remember I am a brit so there will be a dress code. Yes, I will be wearing a dress.Thanks for the feedback DLQ

You're not by any chance a Lord's Resistance Army Walt -Mozambique Lodge- by any chance?
Joseph Kony was known to knock around the bush in Alice Lakwena's dresses, after he ditched the bitch.
I know some rooineks go native, but this may have been a little de trop dontcha kno?
BTW don't worry about posting the same post twice - it is OK for bi-Polar ARRSErs.

It's nothing that sinister, I just enjoy dressing as a girl.
I don't think it makes me a bad person and it seemed to work so well for my grandfather

It's also cooler when fishing for prawns

Originally Posted by Schaden

One could then sign on as a regular Permanent Force member - however this sounds unlikely in the SAAF unless you were specifically qualified as aircrew or a qualified aircraft engineer that would be highly unlikely.

Weren't all aircrew PFs?

Does he have an English or Afrikaans backround? Very very few English speaking Saffers joined the SADF as Permanent Force except oddly enough as aircrew.

The SA Navy was probably the most English of the services. This is an interesting extract from a book called A Military History of South Africa by Timothy Stapleton, p.153.

During the late 1940s and 1950s the National Party administration,
through Minister of Defence F. C. Erasmus, embarked on a campaign to
Republicanize and Afrikanerize the Union Defence Force. The Defence Act
was amended so that from November 1949 all correspondence would be in
both official languages: English and Afrikaans. As a result, unilingual
English-speakers, including the many migrating to South Africa in the
1950s because of economic problems in Britain, were discouraged from
enlistment. At the same time, existing English-speaking personnel were pressured
to take early retirement and many resigned during the early 1950s. The
number of South African service personnel sent to Britain for training was
reduced and a local military academy was established to train future officers.
Although Afrikaners had made up the majority of the security forces before
the Second World War, the eventual result of these policies was that by the
early 1970s Afrikaans-speakers constituted 85 percent of the army, 75 percent
of the air force, and 50 percent of the navy. Those who had been promoted
by Smuts’s United Party government were moved out of key positions, and
National Party supporters came to dominate the security forces. General
Poole, an English-speaking veteran of the Second World War, had been
scheduled to take over as chief of general staff in 1949 but Erasmus connived
to block him.

I wouldn't let it bother you though - it could be worse he could be a 32 Bttn/Koevoet/Parabat who originally was in the RLI which is what one person I met claimed to be.

Came across some clown the other day who claimed to have been a dog-handler, a PTI and also attached to the Parabats, Recces and 32 Battalion- and then "led a stick to just outside Luanda", whatever that means. All as a national serviceman! I didn't bother questioning him.

Just ask him for his forces number and post it here - including the "post script". If his service was as varied as he says, there SHOULD be at least two sets of letters after the numbers. Fire away, boet...

As Lardbeast says, no 5-year medal. Short Service was 4 years' "PF", otherwise 10 years. Most front-line mates of mine didn't even get the three medals wither.

Originally Posted by baboon6

Weren't all aircrew PFs?

Came across some clown the other day who claimed to have been a dog-handler, a PTI and also attached to the Parabats, Recces and 32 Battalion- and then "led a stick to just outside Luanda", whatever that means. All as a national serviceman! I didn't bother questioning him.

Some aircrews were short-service (NOT pilots or navs). The clown MAY have got away with it if he had dropped either the PTI or Doggie. SPES had specialists assigned to Recces and the Bats, but 32 weren't interested unless you had 3 stripes or Commission and were short-term or PF. Feggenwally.

Originally Posted by Tool

Some aircrews were short-service (NOT pilots or navs).

Thanks I didn't know that. No purely national service aircrew though?

The clown MAY have got away with it if he had dropped either the PTI or Doggie. SPES had specialists assigned to Recces and the Bats, but 32 weren't interested unless you had 3 stripes or Commission and were short-term or PF. Feggenwally.

And if he had left out the part about leading a patrol of 8 men to just outside Luanda! I suspect he was a PTI and attached to some unit in the operational area- there were national service PTIs weren't there?

The guy is a serious walt though even in civvy life, which is odd seeing that he has achieved quite a bit that I know of for a fact.

I'm not sure we should be surprised. All White SA, Namibian and Zim males between the ages of 4 and 90 'feed the chucks' like it's a National trait.

The Namibian's take the prize for the aforementioned lilly gilding however.

I'm not one to generalize, mind.

Originally Posted by baboon6

And if he had left out the part about leading a patrol of 8 men to just outside Luanda! I suspect he was a PTI and attached to some unit in the operational area- there were national service PTIs weren't there?

Not entirely "waltish". Some paras and Recce were within 10km of Luanda from the NORTH. Again, though, they more likely would have been specialists.

There were DP PTI's. I was not aware of PTI's going on (as in leading) patrols, although nominally they would have been lance-jack or Corporal in rank, and theoretically could lead patrols

I still call either walt or gilding somewhat - ie. veryfuggenmuch.

Originally Posted by Tool

As Lardbeast says, no 5-year medal. Short Service was 4 years' "PF", otherwise 10 years. Most front-line mates of mine didn't even get the three medals wither.

Eh? Don't recall posting on this thread before. No worries. There are a couple of regimental associations you could tap for more info I think. As for the Pro Nutro medal, they were pretty common. Most folks who went to the operational area got them. The SAAF NSM troops and the non flying lot were regarded as a bunch of jam stealers by the army in any case.