How hard is it to commission into the Guards Division?

[T2000]

Hello everyone, I have just begun my Officer application for the British army. It’s obviously still very early stages at the moment, but I have always had my sights firmly set on the guards division; particularly the Grenadier Guards or the Coldstream Guards. I have been doing some research into the roles and also came across a particular statistic that each year there are only about 5-10 cadets each year that commission into each guards division. Does this sound right to anyone and if so would it be setting my sights too high at trying to apply for this particular branch of the military? I personally have very little family connection with the Military, only my grandfather being in the army. I was in the cadets at a younger age but, I don’t know if I would be ‘worthy’ enough to commission into such a prestigious regiment and whether I should set my sights on a different career within the military.
Thank You

 

[br9mp812]

Whats your private income and do you ride with hounds

 

[QRK2]

I knew one of the current Guards battalion Commanding Officers when he was a trooper in the TA. I am not aware of him having any particular family connections with the Foots Guards in general nor his regiment in particular, nor did he appear to have any funding beyond his pay. He was however a very good soldier and indeed has spent much of is career in UKSF.

If possible get yourself on familiarisation visits and do well at RMAS, you are certainly not being unrealistic.

Whats your private income and do you ride with hounds

Comment more appropriate to some of the more up their own arrses Line Cavalry regiments.

 

[RangdoOfArg]

I would echo @QRK2 . Aim high, if it’s what you want. Contact the regiments you want. Hopefully they will like the cut of your jib, and vice versa. Learn from them.
And then apply yourself. Of course this is within your reach. Go for it!

 

[Danny_Dravot]

Hello everyone, I have just begun my Officer application for the British army. It’s obviously still very early stages at the moment, but I have always had my sights firmly set on the guards division; particularly the Grenadier Guards or the Coldstream Guards. I have been doing some research into the roles and also came across a particular statistic that each year there are only about 5-10 cadets each year that commission into each guards division. Does this sound right to anyone and if so would it be setting my sights too high at trying to apply for this particular branch of the military? I personally have very little family connection with the Military, only my grandfather being in the army. I was in the cadets at a younger age but, I don’t know if I would be ‘worthy’ enough to commission into such a prestigious regiment and whether I should set my sights on a different career within the military.
Thank You

Parachute Regt, Gurkas, Int Corps and AAC were the most competitive from my intake. HCav each seemed to have a connection. Those that went Foot Guards were all very ordinary in every regard, including performance.

 

[Effendi]

Do they still do that voluntold membership of the Guards Polo Club? I used to get along to Pirbright to scrounge gear regularly and got to know some of the bodies there; one was doing a stint as a basic training platoon Cpl to get his third stripe when he moved on. One of his recruits at one time was the son of the Chief Executive of a very well known insurance company in the UK. He was on the potential officer stream and had to complete soldier basic before moving on to the next part. He twaddled on about having to join the polo club and pay annual fee's.

I also used to see some very nice cars parked outside their officers mess in Pirbright: Lotus Esprit (the Adj's), Renault 5 Turbo 2, Porker 911, and loadsa Golf GTI's.

 

[velcrostripes]

None of us on here know anything about your background , but assuming you are not out of the usual mould , ie an upper , upper middle or middle class family and a public school education , there are things you can do improve your chances .
These include ;
Do not get any tattoos .
Become well read
Get yourself a proper suit for Regimental interviews , not one of these modern skin tight , Retro Teddy Boy things with trousers that end four inches above the ankle along with the right sort of shoes , ties and shirts .
Carry yourself with confidence and learn the proper way of greeting people
Ditto table manners , put " table manners etiquette " into you tube and there are various videos on the subject . I am staggered by the number of people who can afford restaurants like the Ivy but eat like chimps .
Covid has limited travel opportunities but try to stick out by having done or achieved something out of the usual by the time you go to a Regimental interview , something interesting enough that the panel think " OK , he's clearly not one of us , but he's confident , well presented , interesting and based on what he has done so far will make a useful contribution to the Battalion "
Don't try to change your accent , they'll see right through that.
Class barriers are coming down , the Army accepts this , plus they were not getting the number of applications they require ( this may have changed now unemployment is on the up ) so even Guards div have to spread their net a bit wider in the name of diversity .
Good luck with your application
PS Has anyone told you about Brigade Squad ?

 

[T2000]

None of us on here know anything about your background , but assuming you are not out of the usual mould , ie an upper , upper middle or middle class family and a public school education , there are things you can do improve your chances .
These include ;
Do not get any tattoos .
Become well read
Get yourself a proper suit for Regimental interviews , not one of these modern skin tight , Retro Teddy Boy things with trousers that end four inches above the ankle along with the right sort of shoes , ties and shirts .
Carry yourself with confidence and learn the proper way of greeting people
Ditto table manners , put " table manners etiquette " into you tube and there are various videos on the subject . I am staggered by the number of people who can afford restaurants like the Ivy but eat like chimps .
Covid has limited travel opportunities but try to stick out by having done or achieved something out of the usual by the time you go to a Regimental interview , something interesting enough that the panel think " OK , he's clearly not one of us , but he's confident , well presented , interesting and based on what he has done so far will make a useful contribution to the Battalion "
Don't try to change your accent , they'll see right through that.
Class barriers are coming down , the Army accepts this , plus they were not getting the number of applications they require ( this may have changed now unemployment is on the up ) so even Guards div have to spread their net a bit wider in the name of diversity .
Good luck with your application
PS Has anyone told you about Brigade Squad ?

Thank you very much for your reply @velcrostripes,! I have certainly tried to have many different experiences to develop me as a person be it, farming sailing rowing and a few other sports; nothing particularly military related but just to educate myself and gaas many experiences as I can. By reading everyones messages on here I certainly feel that I should give applying for the guards division a go. I’m very exited about giving my all to the officer training, provided all of my medical and officer selections go well. With regards to the Brigade Squad; this is something I have done a bit of reading about it and unfortunately as far as I understand it was something that finished in the 1990’s, does this sound correct to you? It certainly sounded like a perfect thing to do.

 

[T2000]

I just wanted to thank you all for your very useful responses in regards to my question. You have all made me realise that I should definitely give it a go and apply for a regiment within the Guards Division. I‘m very exited to hopefully begin training at Sandhurst so long as I pass all of the assessments before hand. I will definitely keep you all updated. Thank you all once again.

 

[Ian525]

I just wanted to thank you all for your very useful responses in regards to my question. You have all made me realise that I should definitely give it a go and apply for a regiment within the Guards Division. I‘m very exited to hopefully begin training at Sandhurst so long as I pass all of the assessments before hand. I will definitely keep you all updated. Thank you all once again.

That's a good start. Manners maketh the man. Courtesy and respect for all, no matter what rank or station in life. It goes a long way, it will be noted and doesn't mean you are a simpering fool.

 

[QRK2]

PS Has anyone told you about Brigade Squad ?

Brigade Squad is but an ancient memory, it must have finished 15 or so years back.

One of my old SSMs did it when he left Eton, he had no intention of becoming a Guards Officer but had worked out that it would pay for the Land Rover he wanted. Daft as a brush, even now he can be found out jogging towing a car tyre for fun.