Citizen Army

[Psychedelicropcircle]

5 hours ago, JFK-1 said:

 

What makes you think that? I live in the US and feel the mood, I don't see it. 

Uk media hamming him up?

[Hansel]

I'm surprised he's not been bumped off yet. 😐 

 

That would be a real shame if that happened. 

 

 

[Negan]

4 hours ago, Shooter McGavin said:

I kind of agree that a lot of youngsters these days are jumped up gimps, but put yourself in their shoes.

 

You're unlikely to ever be able to afford your own home, you're constantly told you need to give up any wee nice things in your life, live off plain pasta 7 days-a-week and never go on any holidays if you want to own a home, the price of everything will go up but your wages will stay the same, suicide rates are through the roof because the government don't make any profit from funding mental health properly, you can't get a doctors appointment, you can barely afford to live, your employer is allowed to exploit you, when you complain about all of this you're told to shut up, you work but you can't afford a car, you can't afford public transport.

 

And now the government, and a king who wears a diamond and jewel encrusted crown whilst being transported around in a gold carriage, want you to serve them to teach you a bit of discipline?

 

 

I totally agree with the most part of what you are saying and I am one of those people unfortunately. However, I served many years in the Royal Navy. I didnt do it for "King and country" I done it because it was a way to learn new skills, travel the world and make some money and new friends.

[Negan]

4 hours ago, Nookie Bear said:

 

Can i ask if you are of a fighting age or have a son of fighting age?

I am of fighting age and have served in the Armed Forces for a number of years. 

[Dawnrazor]

The forces is an option my son is looking at when he's finished college/uni, thinking about them as a PT instructor. I think they offer the person a fantastic opportunity.

[il Duce McTarkin]

1 hour ago, JudyJudyJudy said:

Prefer Burger Queen 🫅 

 

Was a good night out, that.

 

1 minute ago, Dawnrazor said:

The forces is an option my son is looking at when he's finished college/uni, thinking about them as a PT instructor. I think they offer the person a fantastic opportunity.

 

No government will be getting my sons for their army if I can help it. I promised them both that on the day that they were born.

[Negan]

Just now, Dawnrazor said:

The forces is an option my son is looking at when he's finished college/uni, thinking about them as a PT instructor. I think they offer the person a fantastic opportunity.

You can go direct entry PTI in the RN but the intake is low or it was anyway. They usually like to take people who have cross branched within the service but dont let that stop him! It might have changed now! 

 

Id always recommend it to anyone even for just the minimum 4 years. What haven you got to lose?

[Dawnrazor]

Just now, il Duce McTarkin said:

 

Was a good night out, that.

 

 

No government will be getting my sons for their army if I can help it. I promised them both that on the day that they were born.

I'd be happy for him if that's what he wants, he could spend most of his time travelling the world playing rugby as an ambassador. Like I said, fantastic opportunity for the right person 

[Dawnrazor]

4 minutes ago, Negan said:

You can go direct entry PTI in the RN but the intake is low or it was anyway. They usually like to take people who have cross branched within the service but dont let that stop him! It might have changed now! 

 

Id always recommend it to anyone even for just the minimum 4 years. What haven you got to lose?

His plan is two years at college, then two years at Uni', Leeds Beckett is his first choice, then, depends on how far he can realistically go in rugby, try and get into coaching/teaching/instructing PT or Sports.

Edited January 25 by Dawnrazor

[Negan]

1 minute ago, Dawnrazor said:

His plan is two years at college, then two years at Uni', Leeds Beckett is his first choice, then, depends on how far he can realistically go in rugby, try and get into coaching/teaching/instructing PT or Sports.

Awesome! The RN take all sports very serious, my friend plays professionally and plays/works for the Navy too. Rugby League that is. It is a great way to focus on sport and get paid for it. It essentially become your job in the service if you play at the highest level.

[Taffin]

2 hours ago, 151 said:

 

But that's not what the job is though is it? It's the lowest ranking soldier in a particular cap-badge who has been trained to jump from a plane - static line.

 

I'm not saying it's great pay I was merely saying you can earn good money in the military if you really want to. Especially if you are decent at sport. You can essentially get the same salary for playing what is the equivalent of junior level football.

 

 

Wasn't being entirely serious with that comment...

 

That said, the money in the military when compared to anything requiring remotely the same skills (non-combat obviously) and responsibility is shockingly poor.

[Dawnrazor]

1 minute ago, Negan said:

Awesome! The RN take all sports very serious, my friend plays professionally and plays/works for the Navy too. Rugby League that is. It is a great way to focus on sport and get paid for it. It essentially become your job in the service if you play at the highest level.

He played League along side Union for about four years, he's also a Jnr Black Belt in Jui Juitsu, he's got three gradings to go to get his full Black Belt. He's done plenty of coaching in both Rugby and Jui Juitsu for his D of E medals and really enjoys it and is very good at it. A friend of a friend was in the Army for years and played Rugby for just about all that time, my son thought he could handle that!

[il Duce McTarkin]

19 minutes ago, Dawnrazor said:

I'd be happy for him if that's what he wants, he could spend most of his time travelling the world playing rugby as an ambassador. Like I said, fantastic opportunity for the right person 

 

I suppose so, unless a war gets in the way and he's blown limb-from-limb by some gormless ^^^* sitting in a shipping container a thousand miles away fiddling with a joystick and big red 'fire' button.

 

In another time I'd have been all for it. I've seen the positive difference it can make to people's lives if they're smart about it. If you're both comfortable with it though then why not. The army can sure do with good, smart people.

 

 

Edited January 25 by il Duce McTarkin

[Dawnrazor]

3 minutes ago, il Duce McTarkin said:

 

I suppose so, unless a war gets in the way and he's blown limb-from-limb by some gormless ^^^* sitting in a shipping container a thousand miles away fiddling with a joystick and big red 'fire' button.

 

In another time I'd have been all for it. I've seen the positive difference it can make to people's lives if they're smart about it. If you're both comfortable with it though then why not. The army can sure do with good, smart people.

 

 

I'm not sure what role a PT Instructor would take in a conflict? But, no, I'd not want that either, but if we looked at every negative of every job we'd never leave the house.

[il Duce McTarkin]

2 minutes ago, Dawnrazor said:

I'm not sure what role a PT Instructor would take in a conflict? 

 

I suppose it would depend how much of a hammering front-line numbers were taking.

 

3 minutes ago, Dawnrazor said:

if we looked at every negative of every job we'd never leave the house.

 

The potential for death in armed conflict is a fairly big negative tbf.

 

Does he not fancy putting his athletic prowess to use as a gigolo pumping all those lonely houswives whose other halfs are off being blown to smithereens? The biggest drawback there will be his foreskin.

[Dawnrazor]

My mates lad joined up out of the yellow, he was was a decent lad really but could be a bit of a torag and in a town with a bit of a reputation he could've ended up in bother. He did his basic training in an infantry unit, I'm completely sure what one, and then went to the Lifeguards, he's now a fully trained farrier, qualified horse riding instructor, he does all the ceremonial stuff, Earls Court and the like, he went in at seventeen so had been in about twelve years now, he's been around the world umpteen times and the world is pretty much his oyster when he leaves, that's the kind of story I like about the forces.

[JudyJudyJudy]

27 minutes ago, Dawnrazor said:

I'm not sure what role a PT Instructor would take in a conflict? But, no, I'd not want that either, but if we looked at every negative of every job we'd never leave the house.

So true . Loads of jobs have an element of risk . Hell it’s a risk walking outside really as a nutter could do you In . 

[JudyJudyJudy]

21 minutes ago, Dawnrazor said:

My mates lad joined up out of the yellow, he was was a decent lad really but could be a bit of a torag and in a town with a bit of a reputation he could've ended up in bother. He did his basic training in an infantry unit, I'm completely sure what one, and then went to the Lifeguards, he's now a fully trained farrier, qualified horse riding instructor, he does all the ceremonial stuff, Earls Court and the like, he went in at seventeen so had been in about twelve years now, he's been around the world umpteen times and the world is pretty much his oyster when he leaves, that's the kind of story I like about the forces.

Brilliant 👍

[Dawnrazor]

25 minutes ago, il Duce McTarkin said:

 

I suppose it would depend how much of a hammering front-line numbers were taking.

 

 

The potential for death in armed conflict is a fairly big negative tbf.

 

Does he not fancy putting his athletic prowess to use as a gigolo pumping all those lonely houswives whose other halfs are off being blown to smithereens? The biggest drawback there will be his foreskin.

Agreed but that would be a given when joining any of the armed forces.

The gigolo would suit him I recon!

[doctor jambo]

Nah, the days of cannon fodder are over.

id actually rather we dropped a nuke than sent our youth overseas to be blown to bits.

we spend all this cash on drones and jets so we don’t have to do that.

modern warfare - Israel could have ended Gaza without the loss of a single soldier if it wished, and that would be without nukes

[highlandjambo3]

1 hour ago, Dawnrazor said:

The forces is an option my son is looking at when he's finished college/uni, thinking about them as a PT instructor. I think they offer the person a fantastic opportunity.

Things may have changed since I left but, back in the day you couldn’t go directly into the army physical training corps (APTC) You would join the army (insert regiment)…finish your training then join your unit.  You could then express an interest in becoming a physical training instructor (PTI), if selected you’d be like an apprentice in your unit under the supervision of a APTC PTI, after extensive instruction and training you would be sent to the APTC training school…….there are now a number of options for you:

 

1.  You return to your regiment as a fully qualified PTI.

2.  You rebadge to the APTC and go from post to post (unit to unit) as a APTC instructor.  Later these guys and girls usually carve a way into civilian coaching at all types of sports after receiving their coaching badges.

 

ps may be different now.

 

This guy was our PTI in Fort George before he left the forces.

 

https://www.thefa.com/news/2018/jun/20/referee-andrew-halliday-mbe-award-200618

 

Edited January 25 by highlandjambo3

[Fraggle]

7 hours ago, Mikey1874 said:

 

Better for Army commanders to put together an assassination squad for Trump than mess about with untrained home guard.

The story I heard about Trump, when he went into hiding in the bunker under the White House a few years back, was not because he felt threatened by protesters just down the road, but because he was worried he was about to be removed from office by the US Army, or the Secret Service had turned against him. This was from an American friend who has family serving through out the US military. Now, I took it with a large pinch of salt, but my friend reminded me that part of the military oath was to protect the country against threats, both foreign and domestic, and at the time, Trump had peed off/thrown under the bus, loads of Army top brass and Secret Service. 

 

[151]

1 hour ago, Taffin said:

 

Wasn't being entirely serious with that comment...

 

That said, the money in the military when compared to anything requiring remotely the same skills (non-combat obviously) and responsibility is shockingly poor.

 

Agreed. I did 8 years and it was in large a waste of time tbh. Especially compared to what you can learn and achieve outside the Army in the same time.

 

Ironically saved a large chunk of money in that time that I probably wouldn't have but still.

[Cade]

If being the armed forces is so good for your moral character how come so many ex-servicepeople are on the streets, have serious mental health problems or end up as hardened criminals?

 

 

[Taffin]

58 minutes ago, 151 said:

 

Agreed. I did 8 years and it was in large a waste of time tbh. Especially compared to what you can learn and achieve outside the Army in the same time.

 

Ironically saved a large chunk of money in that time that I probably wouldn't have but still.

 

There's a lot of brilliant stuff to be had from it though imo. Just not cash in your pocket, which is all some care about. Cashing in by sitting making PowerPoint presentations may buy you nice things but it's soul destroying 😂

[Taffin]

4 minutes ago, Cade said:

If being the armed forces is so good for your moral character how come so many ex-servicepeople are on the streets, have serious mental health problems or end up as hardened criminals?

 

 

 

Personally (outside of PTSD etc) - I think a big part because there's not much camaraderie in civilian life and employers have a tendency to value really vacuous things meaning ex-forces people often end up with menial jobs.

[Mikey1874]

13 minutes ago, Taffin said:

 

Personally (outside of PTSD etc) - I think a big part because there's not much camaraderie in civilian life and employers have a tendency to value really vacuous things meaning ex-forces people often end up with menial jobs.

 

I have a lot of time for the armed forces. But they train their people to think in certain ways that just aren't suited to civilian life. The armed forces should be responsible for conditioning their people to be ready to leave. 

[Dawnrazor]

1 hour ago, highlandjambo3 said:

Things may have changed since I left but, back in the day you couldn’t go directly into the army physical training corps (APTC) You would join the army (insert regiment)…finish your training then join your unit.  You could then express an interest in becoming a physical training instructor (PTI), if selected you’d be like an apprentice in your unit under the supervision of a APTC PTI, after extensive instruction and training you would be sent to the APTC training school…….there are now a number of options for you:

 

1.  You return to your regiment as a fully qualified PTI.

2.  You rebadge to the APTC and go from post to post (unit to unit) as a APTC instructor.  Later these guys and girls usually carve a way into civilian coaching at all types of sports after receiving their coaching badges.

 

ps may be different now.

 

This guy was our PTI in Fort George before he left the forces.

 

https://www.thefa.com/news/2018/jun/20/referee-andrew-halliday-mbe-award-200618

 

Thanks for that, I'll let him read it tomorrow.

Like I said, it's something he's mentioned and been thinking about but hopefully he'll have other options, but if he feels it's right for him in another nearly four years, I'll support him in his decision.

[highlandjambo3]

22 minutes ago, Cade said:

If being the armed forces is so good for your moral character how come so many ex-servicepeople are on the streets, have serious mental health problems or end up as hardened criminals?

 

 

It does not fail everyone when they leave, nor does it make everyone a success.

[Taffin]

25 minutes ago, Cade said:

If being the armed forces is so good for your moral character how come so many ex-servicepeople are on the streets, have serious mental health problems or end up as hardened criminals?

 

 

 

Also, what like are you drawing between moral character and being on the streets/having a mental illness?

[highlandjambo3]

2 minutes ago, Mikey1874 said:

 

I have a lot of time for the armed forces. But they train their people to think in certain ways that just aren't suited to civilian life. The armed forces should be responsible for conditioning their people to be ready to leave. 

They are…..they provide pre release courses, personal development opportunities etc…….Before I left the forces, I had attended courses at Birmingham university, Darlington college, I had gained an NVQ 4 in management, SQA qualifications in communication (english) and numeracy (maths), ECDL, a qualification (city in guilds) as an NVQ assessor, NEBOSH part 1 at Aberdeen university (distance learning) all absolutely free whilst serving.  There is even an annual personal development fund each soldier can access………..you know the only thing they don’t do……. they don’t take you by the hand, the tools are in the tool box, you need to reach in and pick the tools you need.

[Tazio]

My old man was totally against national service and people being forced into it. And he was for 15 years joining the Seaforth Highlanders as soon as he was old enough to join. That was in 1947 through to 1962 when national service was in full swing. His reasoning being that you either had an army mindset or you didn’t. The compassionate part of him said it was because he saw a lot of guys broken by it, the soldier side of him reasoned if he was in a shit show he’d rather people with him that would be up for it and chose to be there. And he was in a lot of shit shows in his time as it was when countries were fighting for independence through armed insurrection. Starting with Malaya and Borneo as a teenager which wasn’t a lot of laughs. 

[Cade]

6 minutes ago, Taffin said:

 

Also, what like are you drawing between moral character and being on the streets/having a mental illness?

 

I had perhaps worded that post poorly.

It was meant as a rebuttal to the people that think National Service will fix all of society's ills and make bams into nice people.

It really, really doesn't. It's just as likely to turn nice people into bams.

 

Also, for context, I have first hand experience as a volunteer with mental health and homeless charities and have provided a spare room for those in need a few times over the years. 

[John Findlay]

2 hours ago, Dawnrazor said:

I'm not sure what role a PT Instructor would take in a conflict? But, no, I'd not want that either, but if we looked at every negative of every job we'd never leave the house.

In the Navy, they generally take over the steering of the ship in times of conflict.

When not at action stations then you revert to defence watches, which in my day were 6hrs on and 6hrs off.

The watches were long Forenoon 08.00-14.00

Long Afternoon 14.00-20.00

Long First 20.00-02.00

Long Morning 02.00-08.00.

[Taffin]

6 minutes ago, Cade said:

 

I had perhaps worded that post poorly.

It was meant as a rebuttal to the people that think National Service will fix all of society's ills and make bams into nice people.

It really, really doesn't. It's just as likely to turn nice people into bams.

 

Also, for context, I have first hand experience as a volunteer with mental health and homeless charities and have provided a spare room for those in need a few times over the years. 

 

 Thought it was probably just poor wording.

 

As for your second paragraph, I'm less surprised to read that. Kudos to you 👍

[KG1874]

A few comments about the youngsters these days already mentioned so I’ll post here.

 

Credit when it’s due some young lad shouted me back over after 30 quid got stuck in the bank machine after I’d taken money out 😂 

Edited January 25 by KG1874

[JudyJudyJudy]

3 hours ago, Negan said:

I totally agree with the most part of what you are saying and I am one of those people unfortunately. However, I served many years in the Royal Navy. I didnt do it for "King and country" I done it because it was a way to learn new skills, travel the world and make some money and new friends.

👍👍

1 hour ago, Cade said:

If being the armed forces is so good for your moral character how come so many ex-servicepeople are on the streets, have serious mental health problems or end up as hardened criminals?

 

 

Very harsh comment , there are a variety of reasons for the above . Sounds kinda like victim blaming to me . 

[By The Light..]

11 hours ago, JFK-1 said:

they may be thinking ahead to the very near future. Everybody should understand that if Trump were to win the US election he would most definitely remove the US from NATO, and that would be disastrous for Britain, Europe, and the world. The US is NATO, if they weren't involved Ukraine would have fallen long ago for just one thing.

If they weren't in NATO Putin would have a free hand in Europe and he would grasp it. It's no exaggeration to say that the entire international order would collapse if Trump were elected then handed out do what you like cards to every dictator who said nice things about him. They all know that's all you need to do to get anything you want from the simpleton.

 

I don't think Trump will win a US election but if he did the world order as we know it will quickly end. Such sudden shifts in the balance of power never end well. There's a  reason Putin wants the US out of NATO, and it's not because he's dumb like Trump.

 

Good post and we better hope Putin gets taken out in the next few months or Trump gets convicted as he is currently odds on favourite even though he incited the Capitol Hill riots

 

US Presidential Election 2024 Winner Betting Odds | Politics | Oddschecker

 

Israel will be permanently at war (until the US stop financing them) and China will probably invade Taiwan.

 

Holiday in Cambodia - Dead Kennedy's anyone!

 

Edited January 25 by By The Light..

[Shanks]

We’ve evolved a bit further now that we wont all collectively die on behalf of our rich overlords now.  
 

Hilarious to think people these days would ‘defend’ the UK from an invasion

[151]

4 hours ago, highlandjambo3 said:

Things may have changed since I left but, back in the day you couldn’t go directly into the army physical training corps (APTC) You would join the army (insert regiment)…finish your training then join your unit.  You could then express an interest in becoming a physical training instructor (PTI), if selected you’d be like an apprentice in your unit under the supervision of a APTC PTI, after extensive instruction and training you would be sent to the APTC training school…….there are now a number of options for you:

 

1.  You return to your regiment as a fully qualified PTI.

2.  You rebadge to the APTC and go from post to post (unit to unit) as a APTC instructor.  Later these guys and girls usually carve a way into civilian coaching at all types of sports after receiving their coaching badges.

 

ps may be different now.

 

This guy was our PTI in Fort George before he left the forces.

 

https://www.thefa.com/news/2018/jun/20/referee-andrew-halliday-mbe-award-200618

 

 

I was a PTI for about 4 years in the Army and can confirm this is exactly how it works. 

 

It will be the same because on successful completion of the AAPTC course you are promoted to SGT. Therefore you need to have certain milestones before you can apply. You need to be a LCPL for a start.

[clerrieyabass]

Good luck trying to get the youth of today to fight - they were petrified of a cold and volunteered to be under house arrest cos they were too scared to leave their house as they wore absolute useless masks indoors.

 

Least tik tok would have direct access of the front line 

[JFK-1]

10 hours ago, Lone Striker said:

I admire your optimism regarding the likelihood of Trump winning another term.   But from afar it looks as if the choice will be between a benign geriatric with diminishing mental capabilities and a dangerous & arrogant nutjob geriatric with diminishing mental capabilities.

 

Again from afar,  Trump's nutjob MAGA base don't appear to care that their hero admires other nutjob leaders  (Putin, Orban etc) around the world who are hell-bent on weakening institutions like NATO, the EU, the UN etc.   Nor do they seem to care that their hero is facing various criminal charges, emanating from his reckless behaviour & greed.

 

Thats just my impression of things.... from afar.     As the song says, there may be trouble ahead ............

 

 

People are just tired if it and know it will never stop until he's stopped. The MAGA grunts are simply that, grunts who just like Trump couldn't form a coherent sentence far less an argument. Ask them about Trumps policies and they can say nothing, though to be fair Trump has no policies. All he ever talks about is Trump.

But even then it's witless stuff parroted from Fox and we know how dimwitted their rambling is, simply designed to feed the grunts.

 

But outside these base grunts even average Republican voters are beginning to abandon tribalism in this case because they can see how chronically unfit he is. You don't need to be a genius to see how woefully inadequate Trump is as just a normally functioning human being far less a leader of anything but grunts. All you have to be is a tad above grunt level.

 

I see nothing to suggest anything but a Biden landslide which will become ever more evident as this year progresses and Trump goes into court on felony charged then is convicted. Plus I would still contend Trump will completely break down as the pressure builds, he's always been a thin skinned mental weakling and is now a mental weakling cognitively declining almost daily.

 

Don't be fooled by the mania of grunts who are so gruntish they go to his dumb rallies and cheer every witless blurt. They're not the wider electorate.

 

 

[clerrieyabass]

3 minutes ago, JFK-1 said:

 

People are just tired if it and know it will never stop until he's stopped. The MAGA grunts are simply that, grunts who just like Trump couldn't form a coherent sentence far less an argument. Ask them about Trumps policies and they can say nothing, though to be fair Trump has no policies. All he ever talks about is Trump.

But even then it's witless stuff parroted from Fox and we know how dimwitted their rambling is, simply designed to feed the grunts.

 

But outside these base grunts even average Republican voters are beginning to abandon tribalism in this case because they can see how chronically unfit he is. You don't need to be a genius to see how woefully inadequate Trump is as just a normally functioning human being far less a leader of anything but grunts. All you have to be is a tad above grunt level.

 

I see nothing to suggest anything but a Biden landslide which will become ever more evident as this year progresses and Trump goes into court on felony charged then is convicted. Plus I would still contend Trump will completely break down as the pressure builds, he's always been a thin skinned mental weakling and is now a mental weakling cognitively declining almost daily.

 

Don't be fooled by the mania of grunts who are so gruntish they go to his dumb rallies and cheer every witless blurt. They're not the wider electorate.

 

 

The resident TDS patient at it again - if it wasn't so pathetic it would be funny, poor kid

Edited January 26 by clerrieyabass

[Negan]

Mind boggling the views on the armed forces from some people on here. Clearly have absolutely no clue what they are talking about as they haven't served themselves. 

[JudyJudyJudy]

5 hours ago, clerrieyabass said:

The resident TDS patient at it again - if it wasn't so pathetic it would be funny, poor kid

Yes he’s another one of those fascists who want to deprive others of being allowed to vote , even for a so called 

“ fascist “ . Ironically all very fascist . 

[OBE]

8 hours ago, Shanks said:

We’ve evolved a bit further now that we wont all collectively die on behalf of our rich overlords now.  
 

Hilarious to think people these days would ‘defend’ the UK from an invasion

 

Someone else's overlords then?

 

Defend the UK, folk have volunteered to do exactly that, difficult to understand you extracting humour from their commitments.

[JudyJudyJudy]

16 minutes ago, OBE said:

 

Someone else's overlords then?

 

Defend the UK, folk have volunteered to do exactly that, difficult to understand you extracting humour from their commitments.

True . The contempt for the military by some of this is pretty disgusting. They really seem to hate all things British . Why don’t they feck off and move to somewhere more in line with their values ? 

[Shooter McGavin]

8 hours ago, clerrieyabass said:

Good luck trying to get the youth of today to fight - they were petrified of a cold and volunteered to be under house arrest cos they were too scared to leave their house as they wore absolute useless masks indoors.

 

Least tik tok would have direct access of the front line 

You do know that it wasn't just the youth who complied with the lockdowns and the rules during covid, right?

[JFK-1]

9 hours ago, Shanks said:

We’ve evolved a bit further now that we wont all collectively die on behalf of our rich overlords now.  
 

Hilarious to think people these days would ‘defend’ the UK from an invasion

 

Oh I think a great many people would defend the island from a Russian invasion. If you wouldn't after seeing the rape/murder rampage in Ukraine that's extremely peculiar. 

[The Real Maroonblood]

This thread is getting interesting.