The walk of shame

Greetings shipmates,

Sorry in advance for the long introductory post. Hopefully it should give you an idea of why I'm here.

I'm currently giving serious consideration to applying for a commission in the RNR. I originally joined the RN as a rating at the age of 16, I served for 6 years and thoroughly lived the dream in the process. It would be fair to say I was a full on mess deck hero, pissing it up most nights and caring little for my career or promotion prospects.

I was by no means a bad egg, I always received gleaming RORRS reports etc. I was just far too busy having fun to worry about task book training and getting myself on LRCC. Disciplinary wise, I was trooped once for turning up pissed to a duty watch muster and I'm very ashamed to admit that I have a spent conviction for drink driving. It's the biggest regret of my life and I was subject to a career check as a result.

Anyway after a few good and a few bad deployments, I eventually decided to go outside in order to live in the 'real world' and have matured extensively since my glory days down the mess. As a civvy I have carved a highly successful career as a senior manager within a world famous company, I've got a string of qualifications under my belt (cheers easy Enhanced Learning Credits) and I've been savvy with my ickies and have managed to purchase a couple of rental properties.

Lucky me.

The thing is, I always think about my days in the mob, I miss it immensely. I need some excitement in my life, something challenging, camaraderie, all the things I gave up when I left the RN. Above all, I want the opportunity to go on deployment again, unlike most matelots, I actually enjoyed being at sea.

It's got to the stage where I seriously considered jacking in civvy street and signing up again. I spoke to some mates who are still serving, they're all Chiefs now and quite rightly they advised me against doing the full walk of shame back to Raleigh. They're right of course, joining up as a full time rating again and starting from scratch would be entirely for nostalgic reasons and my bank manager would kill me. Likewise joining as a regular officer probably wouldn't be for me.

Now the RNR is something I had never seriously considered, save for seeing a few scruffy RNR types milling around the dockyard and being jiffed to show some of them round the ship on a duty weekend, I rarely encountered them. Typically I looked down upon them with distain and labelled them as grown up sea cadets who were 'really not required'.

Now I'm a bit wiser and more mature, I can see this probably isn't the case, I understand the RNR fulfil quite a few specialist shoreside and seagoing jobs and pull their weight as a part of the wider Naval community. Perhaps the RNR is what I'm looking for?

With this in mind, I've started putting some serious thought into signing up and having a bash. Considering how much I've developed myself since leaving the RN, I believe I would find the challenge of a commission more fulfilling than service as an RNR rating, so I've primarily been looking at officer roles within the RNR.

In particular I quite like the look of the Amphibious Warfare branch, I was a originally a dabber and I'd be particularly interested in managing Sea(RES) ratings, likewise the actual 'Ship to Objective' stuff looks like something I could do. I've been for a chat with the recruiting officer of my local unit and based on my qualifications, background and experience, he strongly advised me to give direct officer entry a try, but then again that's his job so he would wouldn't he?

So some questions if I may?

Is a spent drink driving driving conviction and/or a career check an automatic bar to entry as an officer?

What's the Amphibious Warfare branch like? I've read the bumf but would be interested in hearing from a serving RNR Amphibious Warfare Officer. There doesn't appear to be much on this site about it, likewise the RN website only has a couple of brief paragraphs.

What's the training pipeline like? Realistically how long could I be looking at from initial application to getting some sea time? Assuming of course I'm successful. I understand it's a lengthy process and obviously I realise I'll have to pass AIB etc.

And finally, is it worth it?

Cheers in advance.

:thumbup:

 

Ahoy.

From a recruiting perspective, with regard eligibility and initial entry:

A spent Drink Drive conviction is not a bar to entry unless there was loss of life involved.

The majority join the RNR as ratings then apply for a commission - not all, but most. For Officer, even if you have several degrees, you still need a minimum of 5 GCSE's (A*-C including maths & English) and 180 UCAS points at A Level (Passed at grade D or better) or a BTEC Level 3 certificate passed at Merit, Merit, Merit.

Good luck.

 

Many thanks for the swift reply.

No loss of life involved, just me being a dick.

I've got the qualifications weighed off. The first thing I did when I left the RN was get some college courses under my belt. I've got a BTEC and a C&G Diploma plus the required GCSEs.

In terms of joining as a rating to then go officer, do you think this would be the case for someone who has already spent 6 years as a regular rating?

Without wishing to sound arrogant, my days of painting vast expanses of grey metal are well and truly behind me and I'm not sure brushing up on my A4 ironing and marching skills at Raleigh would be the best use of my or the RNR's time.

My primary reason for joining is to be thoroughly challenged. I'm not sure I'd find this by going over old ground, on the off chance that I may one day get my papers raised.

Any ideas what the criteria are for those selected to join directly as an officer? I'd be interested to know if I stand a chance.

 

By the way, I saw your posts in the thread below while getting some info on the AIB, thoroughly useful stuff.

Admiralty Interview Board (AIB) advice for Officers. - PRMC - Potential Royal Marines Course forum

 

Best bet is to contact your local RNR unit direct and to attend a presentation evening to find out whether it suits you and whether you can apply directly as an Officer. Don't underestimate the recruiting test for Officer - many graduates fall foul.Best of luck.

 

Is it worth it?

Like you, I miss it too. But I have two problems with the RNR. Firstly, I'm too bloody old now and I just didn't think of it when I left the mob. And secondly, I now have a disability that would preclude me from joining anyway.

So look - if you're still young enough, fit enough and have the necessary quals etc, then do me a favour and go for it! Civvy street is just too flippin' boring, tedious, mundane and pointless for an ex-serviceman NOT to have some kind of excitement and meaning in their life. Don't get me wrong - I'm not perched on the railway bridge just yet :biggrin: but I wanted to give you and anyone else considering joining a bit of a wake-up call.

I made a mistake - I didn't join (Well, actually mistake number 1 was leaving the mob in the first place like you, to "live in the real world") and I regret not doing so. And if you can join as a commissioned officer then why not! If it was me I would aim for the highest rank/rate that I could.

Best of luck, mate.

 

Sorry to hear about the disability shippers, hope it's nothing too serious.

The middle part of your second paragraph is bang on, civvy street is OK but there is definitely something missing.

Whether I'll find that missing element as an RNR officer remains to be seen. It's definitely worth a shot though, worse case scenario is that I don't make the grade and I just go back to spending my weekends in the pub.

 

The walk of shame, shippers if you want PM me and I'll put you in contact with my neighbour who is the RNR leadership and RNR course coordinator here at BRNC. He's pretty sound even though he's a scouser...

 

Hmmm I'm not entirely sure I can stomach talking to a Scouser. Also the wheels on my current motor are really expensive to replace.

PM sent.

 

You are 2 Deck Dash and I claim the £5, plus just go for it, what harm can it do.

 

Is that pusser's rhyming slang for gash or am I missing something?

Or is part of the joining routine here to get naked and do a best effort lap around 2 Deck while wearing anti flash?

If it's the latter, I think I'm in the right place.

 

I do believe that is some sort of surface fleet hi-jinks.

 

Only in filthy 42s.

 

Only on T42s I believe due to the port and starboard passage ways. Didn't happen on T22s as they have/had only a single central main drag 2 deck Dash is the name of a poster who hasn't posted for a while.

Aim high and go for RNR occifer.

 

And on LPD's


Every turn of the shaft is a new adventure. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

The Rt Hon 2DD is busy working on his family seat oop north.

Gen dit.

 

That's a long crap

 

. It would be fair to say I was a full on mess deck hero, pissing it up most nights and caring little for my career or promotion prospects / I know **** all of the R.N.R. but the above sentence sums up my service to the last crossed t and dotted i

 

Walk of shame, go for it... AW Branch has not only STOM but recently SNO role is being (re) developed along with combat nav.....

Plenty of opportunities to get on Amphib platform (LPH, LPD, LSA, even the Strat Ro-Ro)

The end user is 3 Cmd Brigade.

 

I've taken the plunge. Went to my local unit, had a chat and it looks like we're on.

I've gone for commissioned direct entry with a view to specialising in Amphibious Warfare. Both the guys at my local unit and the AFCO seemed pretty happy with this decision and are happy for me to do this instead of going to Raleigh again.

Anyway, forms are with the AFCO now and the waiting game begins. Has the RT changed much in the past 10-15 years? I did pretty well last time round but time has taken it's toll. I've downloaded some pretty good psychometric testing apps for the iPhone and they seem to be helping. I've been running most days and I'm confident the PJFT isn't going to pose any snags.

I'll keep you updated.