Sumone tell me the pro's and con's of joining the

I'm 17 and im in college studying my A-levels atm, but i dont wanna settle for a office job thats gonna bore me to tears. So im thinking of joining the royal marines. At then end of the day, a green beret as got to be a better achievement than a degree.

Can you please just try to advise me on what to do, because the royal navy website aint gonna wanna let me know the bad points of enroling now are they?

get back to me ASAP, cheers.........[email protected] (if ya wanna e-mail me ur reply)

 

Re: Sumone tell me the pro's and con's of joining

Visit your local Armed Forces Careers Office where a serving Marine will talk it over with you, answer your questions etc. He'll tell you any bad points to it as well, after all he wouldn't want you joining up and then going on to want out immediately.

 

Re: Sumone tell me the pro's and con's of joining

You need to ask yourself just What you want to get from joining up.Then ask yourself "are you prepared to go into a combat zone?"If the answer to the last is no,then try tescos.

 

Re: Sumone tell me the pro's and con's of joining

Get a degree first. Then consider your options. 17 is very young to join the booties, the training will put a lot of strain on your body, and really, you are still growing. Get yourself educated then try in your early 20's, you will be more mature, stronger and therefore more likely to obtain the green beret you aspire too.

 

Re: Sumone tell me the pro's and con's of joining

Good point there, a lot of people say you should be 21 at least to join the RM as your body is still growing up until then, so the training will place a lot of strain on you.

 

Re: Sumone tell me the pro's and con's of joining

I'm with the others...get a degree first, get really really fit and if you still feel the need to kill people join the marines...otherwise, join as something more useful !

 

Re: Sumone tell me the pro's and con's of joining

I have a mate and all he has ever wanted to do is become a marine officer. He is a reservist in the RN but is thinking about transfering to the RMR. He worked like horse at the grand national to get to the best physical standards. Is he going to be a good marine? Yeah sure. He will give his heart and left leg for the green beret. But will he be a good officer? Only time will tell.

He is now 18 and about to go through the system. I wander though if it would be better for him if he went to uni to gain a degree in a subjet he likes, as uni gives you so much that the forces can not. You have to be really self motivated to turn up to lectures when the pub opens half way through. you have to learn how to budget your loan. You make friends from different walks of life which improves your social skills.

In my PERSONAL oppinion someone who has life skills outside the Full Time Forces would make a better officer than someone wet behind the ears who only knows one thing.

There is the other side too, when it comes to leave the marines. You would already have to have fended for yourself which makes it easier to slip back into civvy street. There are concerns from organisations such as the Royal British Legion that servise personel do not know what to do once they no longer wear the unifom that they have worn for 5,10,15 or 22 years.

Hope this has aided in your knowledge in making your cuture career chioces.

 

Re: Sumone tell me the pro's and con's of joining

If your not sure what do do still you could try the RMR. they are like the TA but the marine version. You still get the full green beret but you could have it by the time you finish uni or college.

Have a look at this page

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3010

Or go onto the RMR section of these forums. Those guys would be able to assist in your questions.

Hope that helps.

 

Re: Sumone tell me the pro's and con's of joining

After doing my 5yrs from 17yrs old and coming out, I found that the thing holding me back from a decent job with equal pay to the RN (it's alot of money i fyou were in civvy street), was a good qualification and experience in a civvy job. Ok the experience is something that will come in time.

Go to Uni, earn yourself a degree then join the RM. 1) Your be better off, maturity wise 2) you still have something to fall back on when you come out or if.

 

Re: Sumone tell me the pro's and con's of joining

have you thought about sponsorship, that way you get to go to uni get paid to do so and have a play in the mud during your vacs. rmr may well be difficult as i believe (although things may have changed) that they only do certain parts of the training at certain times of the year, eg arctic warfare in jan was the example i was given, now that most unis use the semester model it means go training and miss exams or vice versa. definitely go to uni first, you need to look past ctcrm, a degree will open more doors, and you get a pretty uniform with

 

Re: Sumone tell me the pro's and con's of joining

Why do you want to be a Marine? If its because you don't want an office job I think you need to think again.

Your careers advisor hasn't really done a good job with you have they!

There are more Jobs in Civvy street that don't require a desk than you could shake a hairy stick at.

If joining up was a life long ambition then do it, if it isn't then don't just because you don't want to ride a desk.

 

Re: Sumone tell me the pro's and con's of joining

I totally understand where your coming from London. I was set to join Royal at 21 when my girlfriend (now wife) told me she was expecting. I didn’t join (big mistake) and although had a few great jobs (Security Operations Manager, Professional Investigator) Im now stuck behind a desk working for a Bank. Great money, career prospects, pension blah de fekin blah, but Im still stuck behind a desk!!!

Personally I think the Royal Marines is a fantastic career. I would say this however:

A. Don’t do this just because you don’t want to work behind a desk. You need more reason than that to push yourself enough to become a Royal Marine
B. 17 is very young. Its been done before and will be done again, but why rush? Go and get your degree first, then join the Royal Marines - you have time on your side!! That way you have your degree to fall back on when you leave the Corps or if you opt out of training.
C. Remember, joining doesn’t mean your going to pass. Its one of the longest and toughest courses any Military Force can throw at you. The drop out rate is high (volunteers, hopeless and injury) and it would be shame to be back on civvy street with no Corps and no degree!!
D. As advised, go and speak to your local Royal Marines Reserve Unit. You will learn the same trade with the same Commando Tests and the same prize at the end of it all. You get the best of both worlds as you can do this at the same time as your degree and you get a feel for what Royal is all about.

There are some good lads from the Regs and Reserve that frequent this site (Old Sea Dog & Nutty-Bag are ex-Regular Bootnecks and Scottish Kiwi has recently passed the Reserve Forces Commando Course). They are good blokes, so speak to them and see what they think. Also book an appointment with AFCO (Armed Forces Careers Office) and speak to the Marine there for advice.

Good luck mate - let us know what you decide.

Spenny

 

Re: Sumone tell me the pro's and con's of joining

Well put across Spenny, hope Londonboym takes your advice.

 

Re: Sumone tell me the pro's and con's of joining

The general consensus seems that it would be better to study and get a degree before joining. I wholeheartedly agree but with the reservation that the degree is is one which will be recognised and not one of the Micky Mouse types (media studies etc.) which seem to be a complete waste of 4 years of someones life.
So Good degree then go for it, Crap degree join the RM

 

Re: Sumone tell me the pro's and con's of joining

You need to talk seriously to a Forces Careers Advisor about joining the RM. Get as much info as you can from them. See if you can get some trial experiences of some kind. Are you or can you be fit enough? I agree with the other posts; you still have a lot of physical growing to do yet. How emotionally mature are you? Do you know enough about yourself as a person yet to make such a decision? What sort of team player are you? These may already be things that you have thought long and hard about, but someone whose job it is to spot raw potential would be your best starting point. To join any of the services you have to want to passionately; it cannot be just an alternative to driving a desk or going to uni.

You also need to speak to an objective careers advisor. Don't just rely on someone from school. Go to Connexions, get advice from someone who is not just advising from a 'How many students did we get to uni this year' point of view, which can be some schools' agenda driven advice

Degrees can be obtained at any time of life. Going to uni is regarded as a rite of passage; but be wary of making a decision based on what everyone else does after finishing A levels. A degree will cost you more than £30,000 if you live away from home. Yes, you will have a great time at uni, yes you will get a significant tertiary qualification that potentially will give you better career and salary prospects. However, it may not be right for YOU at the present time. It takes courage to do something different. If you are lucky enough to find something that you truly want to do then you have to do it and blow everyone else. Good luck.

 

Re: Sumone tell me the pro's and con's of joining

Re box_of_frogs "trial experiences of some kind" - that would be the PRMC (Potential Royal Marines Course).

It is (or was) a 3 day course held at CTCRM (Commando Training Centre Royal Marines) in Lympstone, Devon. Most Units run an equivalent nowadays and they are designed to:

a. See if The Royal Marines is a career path you want to follow.
B. More importantly - To see if your the kinda bloke Royal want and to find out if you have what it takes.

 

Re: Sumone tell me the pro's and con's of joining

Londonboym

Whats the rush mate?? If i was 17 again i would be seriously concentrating on my education and waiting until i was a bit older before taking the plunge. I too was 17 when i joined the Corps but my advice to you is to think about what happens if A. You dont complete training B. What will happen to you when you eventually decide to leave the Corps. Will you have the educational background to get a decent job or will you go and work for Group 4 doing desk work (back to square 1) GET AN EDUCATION first, degree, A-levels, whatever and then when you are ready take the plunge. Another option is to do a public services course (HND) which will give you an insight into the armed forces and the emergency services which you might decide to go for. Check out connexions in your local area for careers advice or the AFCO!! The long and short of it is that your 17, ******* hell i'd be like a dog with 2 cocks at that age and wouldn't be pressurising myself too much!! Good luck with whatever you do youngun!!