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Why did you join the Army? Do you feel it was worth it? Where did it take you blah blah blah...

It's a common question in my mind that we all may feel one day in our lives "is this job really worth it? was it ever worth it? should I have tried something else?", now in my early 30's although not having been regular I look at textbook examples of people I know whom have been regular and is the salary and constant sh*t you have to go through really worth it.

Let's take Soldier "A", one fellow I know whom I grew up, same age as me now, a platoon sergeant, "approximately £34,606, which is 32% above the national average", he has lets say over 10 years in or I would say 15 at a max I know he enlisted at the earliest age... he tends to flaunt it a bit along with the 2 gongs, impressing a bird with your military service is one thing but money is a different matter altogether, now I look at my sisters boyfriend whom is also the same age and is a director of finance in a company, I don't know his exact salary but the fact as a couple they are taking regular holidays to the US and Europe on first class seats and live in an expensive apartment in London says it all, my other half punts it at a 6 figure salary.

"Soldier B" is a former PSI of mine whom I'm still in contact with, had a varied career and has a nice rack of gongs and his forte was Infantry, now he's a private fitness instructor in Manchester in a gym, I can't imagine its anything to scream about but he put his 22 years in and he's content.

Soldiering isn't an easy lifestyle by any stretch of the imagination and the money put in considering the hours certainly proves studying the right things would have paid well.

Out of all the examples I've looked at for Officers, having that service on their CV can give a good bonus along with the good standard of education demanded for RMAS, say retiring at the rank of Captain and obviously all holding a high standard of education go on to take roles in the managing sector as directors or self-employed, their statement's I've looked at on Linkedin are certainly imposing and sell themselves well.

So, why did you feel the Army? was it for you? Do you feel it was worth it for all the effort? Do you feel knowing what you know now would you have gone into something else?

I'd say in the short term considering the pros vs the cons if your joining the Army for the money its a no and the family life as far I know having seen a few friends remarried twice and having children can be a nightmare to balance personal with work... but obviously if your all for the "friends for life, travel the world free, serving your country laadeedah pride" than by all means service life wins on that occasion.
 
I have still not got to the salary as a civvy as I was on as a crew commander based in Germany. I was 25 and taking home £2500 a month after tax. I bloody loved it. I did from 16 to 27 and loved it, I would still recommended it to the kids even if they do the minimal service.
 
Because it was brilliant. As a subbie in the early '70's I was paid shit in the UK. But having persevered I had a great time in various locations, got qualifications that continue to stand me in good stead and developed a Jupiter sized ego that lets tell high and low to eff off if they are talking nonsense.

Oh and I get paid a shed load of tax free cash every month. And I have an Army pension.

And the Army paid for my MSc as a full time student.

Worth it? Hell yes!
 
Something missing from your post is education and opportunity. As a schoolkid did you do well at school, did you have the education required for 'management' posts? Were you nurtured and encouraged to succeed, to strike out on your own? I would humbly suggest that many people who join have not had many opportunities to show what they can do and have never been encouraged. The Forces give you the opportunity and you're often 'encouraged' whether you like it or not :)
It's not all about money (not forgetting that Forces pension is pretty good) but you can come away with experience and skills which enable you to grasp opportunities and give the self confidence to make the 'big money' if thats what drives you. Personally I have been very fortunate and starting as a lowly erk I worked my way up, eventually leaving at an age where I could start a second career which, in turn, led me on to being a consultant with my own company.
 
Young 15 year old living on a council estate in 1985, started getting in trouble with the police, made the rather surprisingly mature decision to sort my life out and join the forces as I didn't want to be like other jobless wasters on the estate.
Went to the RAF first and they told me to come back in a year, same with the Navy. The army got me doing my tests pretty quick and off to Glencourse before I knew it. Couple of months later, 9 days after my 16th birthday I was in the Engineers and on the train to Chepstow.
Looking back it's without a doubt the best thing I ever did. Only regret I have is that I stupidly left after 11 years. I should have stayed in. However I joined the MPGS after 6 years in civvy street as I had just moved back from Germany and saw it as a quick stop gap until I found something better. Years later I'm still doing it, as the work hours and pay are way better than anything I'd find in civvy street.
It's got me my full pension and pays for my degree, so all in all I'm pretty happy with where I am.
 
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Something missing from your post is education and opportunity. As a schoolkid did you do well at school, did you have the education required for 'management' posts? Were you nurtured and encouraged to succeed, to strike out on your own? I would humbly suggest that many people who join have not had many opportunities to show what they can do and have never been encouraged. The Forces give you the opportunity and you're often 'encouraged' whether you like it or not :)
It's not all about money (not forgetting that Forces pension is pretty good) but you can come away with experience and skills which enable you to grasp opportunities and give the self confidence to make the 'big money' if thats what drives you. Personally I have been very fortunate and starting as a lowly erk I worked my way up, eventually leaving at an age where I could start a second career which, in turn, led me on to being a consultant with my own company.

This is very true. One room-mate of mine was quite clear that without the structure of the apprentice college system he wouldn't have had the self-discipline to study and get the trade he wanted.

Flippancy aside, I got a lot of life skills out of it. Some of that may have been inculcated - such as respect for others (I hope) and I still train like a beast and do so far in excess of what I would have thought myself capable of had I not joined up. Some it may have been aversion therapy - I have a better idea of what matters and what doesn't, having been f**ked around by experts, and that shapes a lot of my attitudes and behaviour.

Am I better for it? Yes. Whether I'd encourage others to do it, at least in the form that the system was in when I joined, is another matter...
 
Aged 16 in 175. Did not want office job or work at Rolls royce or British Rail. very poor O'levels so went in the Army (much easier then than now). Loved every minute, only regret is i was not more ambitious and ended up as only full screw, hey ho

ETA - learned so much about self and others - plus tons of other stuff i would otherwise never have dropped across
 
I joined because it was basically a case or that or being homeless. So it was a no brainer, plus I was 20 when I joined so trying to get a trade from civvy street in those days was nearly impossible where I lived, unless your dad or dad's friend knew someone who could pull some strings for you. The Army gave me a trade and somewhere to live. Also I joined when the cold war was still a thing, and the Army was quite good - adventure training in the summer, skiing in the winter, piss ups on exercise.

Then after a couple of years of being in, everything went pear shaped, IRA trying to bomb us, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iraq v2.0 ......... cuts/cuts/cuts/cuts. Redundancy/Forced Redundancy, lack of promotion due to women being allowed in my trade (and them being given higher priority for promotion - due to the PC retards).

Now when I look at PM TM, and the way the country is being run into the ground - I fear democracy is pretty much just an illusion and has been for quite a long time. I hear of how Britain is one of the richest countries, and yet so child poverty everywhere, people going to food banks, jobs/pensions being shit, people on zero hour contracts, people losing their rights every other week - and I do wonder if it was all worth it in the end?

If I could go back in time, I would have Joined up just to get a trade (and not be homeless), then I would have left as soon as any trade bar ran out - then went back into civvy street and worked offshore so I could save as much money as possible, then I most likely would emigrate to either Australia/New Zealand or USA.
 
If I’m totally honest with myself, I joined because I needed to escape being one of a pair of twins. I knew my twin brother wouldn’t hack it; lo and behold he tried and failed. And the ******* still bitter 30 years on.

One thing that gives me great pleasures now is the number of soldiers I worked with who early in my career who are now LinkedIn connections in serious jobs. Barristers, company directors, running big projects, chief instructor of a national sports association etc etc. I’m in touch with about half of my troop from 1986 and they’ve all done well.
 
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