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HermanTheGerman

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Hello everyone.

I am planning on joining the British Army as a regular ( soldier ). I have not really decided what role I am going to apply for, but it most likely will be a combat role. I also had in mind to maybe apply for the Royal Military Police, however... Not decided yet.

Since I am not the " common applicant " I would like to tell you guys a little bit about me, and then ask a few questions, you might find them easy to answer, or not. We will see.

Please take the time to read all of it thoroughly, I know it's a pain in the ar*e, but I am only to explain myself with such a wall of a text.

First aval I would like to let you know that I am not eligible of joining the British Army at this moment, since I am not a British citizen YET! I am a German citizen and I am going to apply for British citizenship very soon. If everything works out fine, I will be a British citizen in in 4-8 months. I live in the UK since about 3 years, at the time I will apply, I have to have lived in the UK for at least 5 years, this is what the Army told me. By then, I will be a dual citizen ( German citizenship & British citizenship ), the army also confirmed that it will be not problem for me to join the British army, having two citizenships. Now I am 23 years old, I will be around 25 at the time of my application.
A long time ago, I have served in the German Army, I had a 4 years contract running, however, due to private problems I decided to leave the German army voluntarily withing the first 14 days, this is absolutely legal in Germany and not really much of an issue, I could also easily rejoin the German Army again, if I would want to. I left the German Army because I was madly in love with a girl back then, I believe this decision was made by my head, but not the head on my shoulders :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:, I believe I was just too immature back then:confused:.

At the moment, I am working as an IT-Security consultant ( self-employed ). I earn a very nice sum of money, and my job isn't physically challenging at all as you can imagine, usual office work, occassionally I fly to Germany to take part in operations of a cooperating company. But it usually is easy going.
My education is O.K. I have something what I would believe, is something like an equivalent to the British GCSE ( Qualifizerter Hauptschulabschluss ), however, this is not confirmed by any organisation or government, this is just what I believe from what I have seen students have to learn for GCSE and what we had to learn for our degree in Germany. It pretty much was the same.

I am married, my wife is British and also the reason I am in the UK. However, I felt in love with this wonderful country and I quickly got the idea in my mind, that I don't have to live in Germany to go back in to the Army, I would just do it in the UK, with some patience, money and paperwork, I would get my citizenship and apply for the Army. I don't want to join because of the money, I am paid way more right now, than I would get paid in the army as a regular soldier. I join because I want a challenge and I simply can't see myself still working in an office in the next 5-10 years. I join for the comradeship, challenge and because it is a very rewarding job, I have always been interested in modern warfare, military technology and simply the job of a soldier.
So I am sure, I want to join, I thought about it very well, and even if I have only been in the Germany Army for around 14 days, I felt that this is the right thing to do back then, and I regret that I have left the German Army a lot.

I hope the British Army gives me a chance, a second chance to fulfill my dream.

But enough, let's get to my questions. Be aware, some of the question I have already asked the recruiter myself, but 1. Every member of the British Army seems to give me a different answer, and 2. I maybe want it confirmed by people who have had similar experiences or simply are 100% about what they say, or just as a second opinion.

1. I have read that many applicants fail the British Army selection because of heart rumours, I have had my heart checked before I came to the Uk, in Germany, and nobody ever found anything wrong with my heart, so I was wondering how 70% of young man can have problems with their heart and fail the selection because of that, is this some type of tactic to fail people that are not suitable or is this a mistake by the doctors? It would be a shame if I would apply, put effort and energy in to it, but the Army fails me for something I haven't even got. So what is your opinion about that? Is this just panic made by the British Army to make applicants prepare more than they normally would?

2. I am physically extremely active, I wake up every morning at 4:45 a.m, go for a run and workout, I have a diary about my weight and pulse / blood pressure on a daily base, to see if there are any changes in my diet or physically fitness. My BP always is around 114/75 and 125/80 or less. I have a very good blood pressure, but when I am at the doctors or someone else measures my BP, I get very nervous and my BP raises up to 140 or 145 or even 150. I know that this is due nervousity, not because I have hypertension or something, I think it is called white coat syndrom? It's when you get nervous as soon as you are with the doc ( and this is not because the doc is a good looking female blonde with big boobs:mrgreen::mrgreen: ).So, would this be a problem? Or can doctors understand/see if this is due you being nervous. When I had my medical examination with the German Army, they asked my why my BP was high, I told them that I am just very nervous, everything was fine and I finally ended up being part of an elite unit 'Gebirgsjaeger' which you need to be very physically fit for to get in to, comparable to the Royal Marines, just that it is mountain infantry. So, would this be a problem?

3. I am wearing very weak glasses, something like -0.75 left -1.0 dip, is this a problem when planning on joining a combat role?

4. I live like 30 mins away from Pirbright, could I also be dropped off by car at the ADSC? Or do I HAVE TO meet them at the train station coming by train? ( Silly question, but I want to know everything ).

5. Obviously I speak English and German, both fluently, is this an advantage or benefit me somehow when applying?

6. Is it correct that the TST has only be passed by technical roles like royal engineers etc? If yes, how difficult would you rate it ?

7. I fear that I fail the selection because of my German accent, or that I won't understand some examiner having a very strong dialect or talking very fast. I do understand English very well, but there are some individuals I need to ask twice to be able to understand them and evaluate what they have asked.

I am very sorry for all these question and this wall of a text, but I want to have things cleared up I am keep thinking about. Yes, I could go to a recruiter, but it is very hard to get information out of them. Most refuse to give me information because I am not a British citizen, but they won't get that I will be a British citizen at some point sooner or later, and simply want to start preparing now, so I am well prepared and have got enough time! The British Army website has a chat, which I used, everyone there seems to give different information and some of them just leave the chat as soon as they can't answer a question. Quite inappropriate if you ask, but I won't moan, I just try to gather my information somewhere else, like on this site.
When I joined the German Army, I also had so many thoughts in my had about what could be and what could fail or not, but at the end I stressed myself about it more than necessary, the selection was as smooth as a cold ale.

Many thanks for reading this and taking the time to help me about my 'issues'. Sorry again, for this wall of a text.

;)
 
Sounds to me like you will be fine.

However, you can expect 22 years of your colleagues mercilessly taking the piss. Two world wars and one world cup etc. Just tell them to shut up or you will have them gassed (i.e. give as good as you get).

Best of luck!
 
I can answer a couple of your questions:

  1. I've had "white coat syndrome" for most of my adult life. The first time my BP is taken, it's somewhere up in the stratosphere, 2 minutes later it's spot on.
  2. When I joined up, I was -2.75 in both eyes and managed to complete an "arduous" course. You shouldn't have a drama.
  3. As to accents I shouldn't worry half the Gurkhas I've met don't appear to speak English, whilst many commonwealth troops have accents that strong that it leaves you scratching your head.
 
I won't understand some examiner having a very strong dialect or talking very fast. I do understand English very well, but there are some individuals I need to ask twice to be able to understand them and evaluate what they have asked.
You and 3/4 of the British population these days. Best of luck, good to see you've worked out your probable knickname already.
 
Don't worry about the white coat syndrome. If you give a high blood pressure reading and you are otherwise fit and healthy they will defer you and ask that you see a doctor to get an ambulatory cuff which you wear for 24 hours. This will give a BP reading over the whole period.

I imagine they will get you to come to the station so you can get on the coach with everyone else. The army is like that.
 
As for the pirbright question, you can travel by car and by dropped outside brookwood station where they pick up everyone to take to pirbright on a bus.
 
As for hear murmurs - often people aren't checked by their GP for them or anything else much really, most young people don't see GP's much.
 
Sounds to me like you will be fine.

However, you can expect 22 years of your colleagues mercilessly taking the piss. Two world wars and one world cup etc. Just tell them to shut up or you will have them gassed (i.e. give as good as you get).

Best of luck!

I'd say that with his self appointed moniker, our new friend 'HermanTheGerman' will be OK.

Of course, it should have been 'Herman ZE German' but you can't have everything.
 
I reckon he will be an asset to the British Forces, being bi lingual is a postive advantage in this day and age
Good Luck
 
Dont forget to watch all the episodes of fawlty towers before you join !!!

the ARRC are local to me and most of the troops that I meet have at least two languages, I would Hazard a Guess that you can speak another two moderately well
 
Hehe, Will do, will do ;)

I speak German, English. I can read and write Russian but barely have a conversation in Russian, I would only understand a few very basic things. I can speak and understand some very basic French and Turkish.

But I would not mention that as language skills, since it's too basic. I am fluent in German and English only, but I am always keen to learn new languages, at the moment I am working on my Russian skills ( just learning, not a course or school, just what the world has to offer).

May I ask what " ARRC " means? Sorry, but I am not too confident with short-forms yet :) I hope time will change that.

ARRC | Imjin Barracks

it nice on Rememberance Sunday to see so many different nationalities attending the parade, in fact its nice to see young people , it makes it a better day
 
Everybody in junior ranks in the Army has a nickname. First names are never used.

You will just have to get used to for how ever many years you spend in the Army being called Fritz or Herman or Adolph or something else Germanic. :)

Good luck!
 
I don't know what juniour ranks are. But I haven't got a problem with nicknames, no worries. I am used to it.

AT LEAST, I know what direction my nickname will go in to :)) Kind of an advantage I believe. My first name actually is Franz. So there probably will be no need for a typical german nickname :bounce::bounce::bounce:
join the Cavalry and you will likely be called Rommel !!!
although thats a compliment as he was a fine man as was his son Manfred
 
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Just out of interest, which side are you going to pick when round three rolls around? I mean, it's 2-0 now but third time's a charm?
 

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