Joining too late to fight?

[Gooner1988]

I've asked a couple of questions here and there before. Long story short, my plan has always been to travel and then join the army. As I type this I am in Australia, so going to a careers office is out of the question. Anyway, when David Cameron announced the British Army will pull out of Afghanistan in 2015, this ballsed my plans up a bit. I don't want to join and not go to Afghanistan. Because:

A- It would be boring as

and B- Everyone else in the army who is my age will be battle hardened vets and they will all think I am a c u next Tuesday who only joined because Britain's pulling out of Afghanistan.

So, if I was to cut my travelling short and go back to England in Feburary 2012 and start my application then. Would I still be able to go out there? It's a toss up between Engineers and Royal Anglians right now.

gave the title context Disco

 

[benjie22]

Depends on what regiment you join and whether or not they are due to go on tour? It will also depend on what in take you are taken into when you have applied and passed the tests.
Plus surely you will travel a hell of a lot with the army, this is one of the reason why I' am joining amoungst many other things.

PS its one thing saying he's going to pull them out in 2015, but another thing doing it..

 

[BillBailiwick]

International affairs aren't very predictable. You could join and see no action at all in a full career, and you could join up and the army's back could break and suffer Franco-Prussian War stylee losses against Iran/NK/China/whoeverelse, and nobody sitting here now could tell you it was going to happen.

Decide what you want to do, and do it. If you don't join the army, what're your other options looking like?

 

[Gooner1988]

I have set myself 3 options out:

A- Travel more and worry about my career later (I am 22 years old)
B- Take advantage of the VERY strong economic situation in Australia and seek sponsorship to settle down here
C- Go back to Blighty and join the Army

If I could fit in a couple more years of travelling and still get to see some action, then I would love to. I still have a long while to decide, but knowing if I can still see some action, or not, is a huge contributing factor to my decision.

p.s. Thanks Disco!

 

[TaffJ]

I have set myself 3 options out:

A- Travel more and worry about my career later (I am 22 years old)
B- Take advantage of the VERY strong economic situation in Australia and seek sponsorship to settle down here
C- Go back to Blighty and join the Army

If I could fit in a couple more years of travelling and still get to see some action, then I would love to. I still have a long while to decide, but knowing if I can still see some action, or not, is a huge contributing factor to my decision.

p.s. Thanks Disco!

Option B and join the Oz Army.

 

[Gooner1988]

No chance. I looked into that. Need to be a citizen.

 

[eodmatt]

I joined in .... well a long time ago heh heh heh. I signed up in the Corps of Royal Engineers as a driver electrician. After 22 years I retired from the army having been to:
France, Germany, Italy ... the whole of Europe, every country. Plus, Jugoslavia as it was then , Greece when it was in the grip of the Colonels, Greenland, Iceland, Canada, US, Belize, Guatamala (oops), El Salvador (or San Salvador - one is the capital and one is the country), Malta, Cyprus, some small place at the n, western tip of Africa where the people are so black they are purple (almost), Falklands, Ascension Islands, N Island, Bermuda. I did more ******* than fighting but it was still fun. I doubt that the world will be a peaceful place by the time you join

 

[X59]

There's no rush.

" Only the dead have seen the end of war " - Plato.

 

[spice2]

There will allways be somewhere where the British government will send its troops in the age old tradition of following the Americans like lost puppies..

All in the name of looking to be a major military force across the globe.

 

[django_strikes]

We will not extract 100% in 2015. FACT. Commencing withdrawals and scaling down of combat operations will be the wishy washy statement - then 10 years of extracting. If the Afghan Security forces aren't ready, or the US want us there, we wont be going that easily.

Plus, as pointed out, there will be other things to do.

If you wanted to fight so badly, you'd be doing it, not saying you might do in a couple of years, as long as there's a campaign ongoing that you know of. It sounds alot like you're not really committed to it.

 

[Gooner1988]

It's not the point that I want to join purely to fight and be a Rambo wannabe. I'm not naive enough to think "I well wanna join to blow up sum ragheads init". It's more that I don't want to join and not do a tour, because I will just feel like a cnut when everyone else my age has already done their bit. The reason I am not serving now is because I am pursuing my dream of travelling the world first. I wouldn't die happy if I didn't do what I'm doing now.

The replies in this thread have helped a lot though. Thanks. I mainly started getting concerned because of the announcement of the withdrawal and the cuts to the forces. I can see how you think I'm not committed. Only way I can put it back to you is, I am in a hostel packed to the brim with foreign lovelies who get moist over an English accent. Yet I am sitting here typing away to you lot. It is definitely something I want to do. You haven't wasted your time in your replies. They have helped me out a lot. Thanks again.

 

[django_strikes]

Gotcha - understandable, but unfortunately situations change. you could join up in 2 years with the govt saying we'll be in Afghanistan forever and then the General Election may see in a different view point and pull us out overnight. Or maybe Terry Taliban will give up on Al Jezeera.

If joining up is what you want to do, then do it. Yes, get the other things done (like travelling and avoiding STDs in foreign flop houses - like your work), but come back to your aspirational profession. You could do one tour and then nothing for the rest of your career (Op tour wise). You could get thrashed on back to back deployments. You wont know until your you're in the green machine.

Good luck.

 

[brave-coward]

The reason I am not serving now is because I am pursuing my dream of travelling the world first. I wouldn't die happy if I didn't do what I'm doing now.

Only way I can put it back to you is, I am in a hostel packed to the brim with foreign lovelies who get moist over an English accent. Yet I am sitting here typing away to you lot.

Sounds entirely sensible. Don't worry, there'll still be something for you to do, either in Afghanistan or elsewhere (take your pick of current and future crises).

Now stop worrying, get off the computer and get stuck into the local wildlife! As mentioned above, just avoid catching anything that can't be cleared up by antibiotics (including CSA payments).

 

[silvestermk2]

If your attitude is: - the army is boring except when in Afghan - I suggest you have a rethink about your motives for joining. That being said, even if we do pull out in 2015 (unlikely) something else will come along, it always does. The entire middle east is going through a phase of demonstrations and revolutions and is generally a very unstable region. I predict British troops will be topping up their tans for some time to come.