Officer training after university

[Aslockton]

DD has just announced that she has applied to the Royal Navy and is thinking about the Army too. She has finished a very academic degree and has decided she does not want a desk job in the city, she wants to do a job that is physical as well as using her brain. She is heavily into sport and trains 3 times a day. However she has never shown any interest in cadet forces at school, but did go on a smallpeice trust course at RAF Wittering in Y9!

She has applied for Royal Navy logistics officer. Has anyone else's DC gone down this route? How long was the process? Did they end up in the forces? How has military life panned out?

I know two young people who went down this route with very different outcomes.

One did cadet corps at uni. Left uni without a degree but was accepted on to another degree course elsewhere. Got some funding for this course from the Army. After graduating went to Sandhurst. Still happily in the Army three years in.

Second one wanted to be a pilot. He applied to both the Navy and the RAF at the same time, which is permitted. He went all through the process and passed everything but Covid meant there were long delays between steps. This meant he was good to go but he was now too old for the next intake as a pilot. He has gone into the Navy in another role. Mixed reports but only six months in.

Thank you @EwwSprouts. Things seem to be moving pretty quickly, all academic tests passed, medical questionnaire done, Admiralty interview this week. 4 weeks ago the military was not even a thought!

@Aslockton Maybe she looked into careers as she didn’t have anything lined up? Just knew what she didn’t want!

I know two young people who went into the army post degree. Both happy. It suits them. (A bit bossy). Neither were high flying grads but good at sport and leadership. So they are thriving. One is a captain in the mod. Not sure where the other one is based but his mum says he’s loving it!

Wow! Fantastic update. Good luck for the interview.

I assume she's watched Britain's Biggest Warship series? Was very interesting to an outsider.

@EwwSprouts She hasn't watched that series but I think we might binge watch it tonight!

@TizerorFizz Thank you for your reply. DD is very bossy, but also a high flying grad with a first in every module and exam over the last 3 years. This is from a top 4 uni where most of her peers are going into very lucrative city careers, so the Royal Navy was a complete curved ball.

@Aslockton So a great career will await her!

I don't know about Navy Logistics but know a few Army Logistics officers/administration officers recruited directly to high flying firms on "retirement" (funny word for people in 30s/40s!) As they are particularly suited for certain roles.

Good luck to your daughter.

I know one with a good degree from a very good university (also very sporty and no previous membership of cadet/university forces) who is in officer training with the RAF and enjoying it. Very slow application process - about 20 months from initial application to starting.

Have heard from a few that the Army officer acceptance process is odd, in that they are looking for a generic officer type, rather than selecting for specific roles at admission stage, as do the RAF and RN. So (a) there are some unexpected "fails" at Main Board, (b) you could go to Sandhurst wanting a particular type of role/cap badge and end up being selected for something which is quite the opposite, and (c) it's much easier to be collaborative in officer training in the RAF and RN because of roles being allocated at the start, whereas for the first two or three terms at least everyone is competing with each other at Sandhurst for spots in their preferred regiment/corps.

Update: DD now has a date to start officer training. Everything moved quickly at first and then came to a grinding halt at the medical stage and trying to get records from the GP to the Royal Navy. It will be nearly a year from application to start date. If any other young person is thinking of officer training post-uni, get the application started early is my advice.

Met a few military logistics personnel that did MBAs in top B-schools that had great careers in top consulting and finance firms with amazing sign on bonuses. So career options are viable in other industries.

@Aslockton congrats to your DD. All officer applications to all three services seem to take a long time…..

My eldest applied for Navy last September, same experience as your Dd in speed of application until medical records requested but he finally has his CPC 4 day course end of this month. He didn’t want to apply as officer even though he’s got a first class honours degree so he will go to Raleigh for training. I will be glad once he officially starts as the waiting has been stressful. Good luck to your Dd on her journey to an amazing career.

Warship- Life at Sea is on Channel 5 at 7pm tonight. It might be of interest to your DD, OP.

@52soon pure nosiness? But why not as an officer?

@Revengeofthepangolins I know a lad with a history degree from Sheffield who has joined the Marines. Didn't want to go in for officer training as wanted to start 'with the lads' and also a certain us vs them perhaps?

I served as an officer in the RAF for 8 years- joined a couple of years after graduating. DH still serving officer. It isn’t an easy option, but I don’t regret a moment and it gave me a massive boost in resilience, leadership experience and planning/strategy. I did a semi funded MBA whilst serving and left into a senior corporate role. The life experiences are still ones you simply will not get anywhere else, and the sense of being part of a team/humour/friendship are unrivalled. I agree the process can take a while so good to start early.

Not really sure the reason why, we encouraged him to but he said he wants to start as a rating and work his way through the ranks. His recruiter said if he impresses at Raleigh he could still get put forward for Office Training, we’ll soon see he goes next month.