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Forces sweethearts

If you have a family member in the Royal Navy, RAF or army, find support from other Mumsnetters here.

Which branch of services is best?

44 replies

dancerandprancer · 13/02/2008 19:38

DH is thinking of joining up. He has been keener on the Army but I was wondering if either Navy or RAF have any benefits or positives over the Navy/RAF.

OP posts:
Cam · 14/02/2008 20:53

Guy Gibson

No contest

Iota · 14/02/2008 20:54

and planes go much faster than boats

littlelapin · 14/02/2008 21:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

scotlass · 14/02/2008 21:01

Sidge I was in Haslar same time as you, well 1996-1998! However i have to disagree the army throw by far the best parties!!

prancer I reckon it depends on your DH. Although the job is a big part of it the services still have different ways of doing things and it's best he talks to all three services then asks us to sort the truth from the stretchedtruths

VanillaPumpkin · 14/02/2008 21:09

Mumdebump - I accept I was being simplistic. I totally agree with you that things are not what they were, and Germany will be shutting down soon enough. However I still maintain that Army go away more regularly than RAF. Promotion for RAF is def tougher though. My friend whose husband does the job I spoke of earlier has had enough of the dead mans shoes syndrome and is emigrating.
From a family point of view I think the majority of the RAF families have it easier than the Army or Navy, however I say that as a RAF wife with my only Army/Navy experience being through my friends.

Sidge · 14/02/2008 21:09

Ooh Scotlass where did you work?? Maybe I can guess who you are!

scotlass · 14/02/2008 21:31

I was in orthopaedics then day surgery

tori32 · 14/02/2008 22:09

scotlas and sidge where were you between 2000 and 2005? I'd like to join in on the guessing game

kerryk · 14/02/2008 22:23

rofl at you all thinking the navy and raf are better than the army

jcscot · 14/02/2008 23:20

mumdebump - I didn't think you meant to offend at all. I thought you were simply giving an overview of things (exactly as you said you meant) and I just wanted to give a little more specific info on the Corps side of life - perhaps to balance out all the RAF info given!

I completely understand about the joining to do one job and doing another thing. My husband was sponsored RE at RMAS and wanted to go into Mil Survey (his postgrad is in Remote Sensing). He got poached because of that degree and has never worked in that side of life at all!

(I'm not a huminter - I'm an Army wife with a bit of experience of Corps life.)

scaryteacher · 14/02/2008 23:44

The Navy is the best, and the Submariners are the best of the best. There he will be able to both gather and use intelligence, and do loads of tactical stuff. DH started out as a Weapon Engineer officer in submarines, has done int jobs, taught at RNEC (before it's new incarnation as a housing estate), his charge job, PJHQ (and JFHQ) and deployed with both (tri service job), 2 shore jobs in base port, directing staff on the Advanced Staff course, helped with his MA there, and then 2 in a row in Brussels.

The great thing about submarines is that they either run from Devonport or Fas Lane, so you'll hopefully be near one or the other. If he chooses the warfare branch for instance there will be more sea time than if he was a WE like my DH. If he chooses say an engineer route, then my DH had stopped going to sea by the time he was 35, apart from riding a boat on the odd occasion when he was SWEO.

As you can't go to sea with them, lots of RN people buy their own houses, and weekend when they have a shore job if necessary. It helps with your own career, and is considered quite normal not to move. I stayed in the same area for 20 years, until he got a second job out here.

The officers do loads of hands on stuff, on the basis that you can't ask your team to do something you can't do yourself; but they do also acquire other skills as well. These are important, as they go outside from 50 -55 depending on rank, and will need employment to top up the pension until they're 65. To have transferable skills, and to be able to demonstrate these is crucial, especially when competing for jobs in their 50s.

Submariners also get specialist pay to reflect the knowledge that they need that those in general service don't. This pay is also to compensate for the less than ideal conditions that they serve in. It pays for the extra washing powder needed at the end of the patrol to get the smell out of everything, even after you've hosed them down in the garden for an hour. The best way to get rid of the smell from the money is to spend it!

Good luck to you and your DH whichever service he decides to go into.

sunnylabsmum · 15/02/2008 08:31

Yup overseas postings with RAF are rare..HB in engineer branch and we waited 20 yrs for one...now enjoying Cyprus but for years we joked that the only overseas posting we'd got was to Wales...well at least it was a change from the A1 airforce!!!

kerryk · 15/02/2008 10:01

bet you wish you had never even asked now dancerandprancer

i have been a army wife for nearly 7 years and even i dont understand most of what is written on this thread.

McDreamylove · 15/02/2008 11:17

Sidge and Scotlass I was at Haslar too in the PMRAFNS on E6! 1999-2000 Small world eh?

Regarding the OP.....depends on the trade he wants to go into.

Sidge · 15/02/2008 12:18

Scotlass - when were you in day surgery? I was there in 1998.

Tori32 - I'd left the mob by 2000 but was working locally as a practice nurse.

tori32 · 15/02/2008 13:35

Ahh, its taken me back I started at MDHUP on orthopaedics in 2000, TPMH Akrotiri in 2002-2004 then back to MDHUP in operating theatres 2004-2005.

McDreamylove · 15/02/2008 14:10

hi Tori I left Haslar in summer 2000 to start at MDHUP, that's where I met my DH!!!!! Was there until 2002

scotlass · 15/02/2008 14:23

sidge Emm....trawls through brain, I left day surgery/Haslar July I think it was 1998. Got a posting the same place as my DH (for once!) to sunny Catterick. Had my DD June 1999 (wasn't much else to do in Catterick then got out Jan 2000. Moved back to our own house in Scotland 2003 for DD starting school. DH still in and is based down south, home tonight, haven't seen him for 2wks, best go and shave my legs!!

So go on dancerandprancer what's he decided???????????

crapmomonMN · 17/02/2008 20:15

tori32 like your style - RAF all the way - I also left to become an army wife!

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