Officer or Private?

[KUREIGU]

OK after i finish college next year im joining the army (this is in the UK by the way so college is 16-18 education not university)

i'm hoping to join the royal army medical corps, my question is which role to join up with?

if i join up as a private i will be a combat medical technitian, (a medic), if i join as an officer i will be a medical suppourt officer, basically a medic with authority, i meet the educational requirments for either, the officer option has oppertunities for higher education (degee) and better pay,...sounds good ... but i have one major problem

my Dad, his ex-army he joined as a private in the infantry and did the ranks all the way to sergant major, and he seriosly has a grudge against the people that join the army only to go straight to Lieutenant,

he believes that only spoilt rich boys join as an officer rather than going through the ranks.

and thats basically my problem, you might say why do you care what your dad thinks, but its weird, he has spent the last 18 years bitching about how easy everyone else has it compared to him, how officers don't know what its like to be a real soldier, if i join in the army as an officer its gonna be "you took the easy option you whimp" for the rest of my life, but i feel it gives me better opertunities than joining as a private, not to mention the pay is much better if you climb the officer ranks.

i mean joining the army as a private was ok for my dad, he was at the time living on the streets half the time and rest of the time in the garage where he worked as a plater and weilder, the day after he signed upto the army he was in jail for trashing a police station, he was given the option stay in the army (in which case he became a military matter) or stay civilian and risk prison... he went from underclass to middle class, however i leave school in a much better condition, i will have 2 A/S's (a 1 year qualification) and 3 A levels (these are 2 year qualifications usually started at 16), i see the officer route as a chance to become even more socially mobile, rise from middle class to upper middle for example £80,574 pa for Brigadier, £21k is an average uni leavers anual pay...obviously i may never reach brigadier, im just using that as an example,

all in all i want to join as an officer but my whole family will judge me, i have a few relatives in the army and all joined as privates, so as you can see i will be considered deviant for joining as an officer.


anyway there you go

[Jones]

be a medical officer. you get to lead other ppl around.

[Gaara_81]

officer.......only listen to ur dad when he doesn't have a grudge.....

[Nemesis]

i agree if you are qualified go for officer and prove to your dad its not just spoilt rich kids that can make it there.

[Gaara_81]

^^^ yeah.....listen to us.....whoa...i suddenly lost 2 posts....

[Mad FISH]

I would say become an Officer... not only do you start off with a better pay and better benefits but you also have a little more power letting you do good things in service of the military. Unless you want to be a field medic (which is good too because the field medics are probably one of the most important people in the military).

[monk3]

officer. you can prove to ur dad that u have the ability to have a high rank.

[MrGiggles]

If your dad will hate you because you chose a better option that will benefit yourself more than being a private. Take the choice you want and don't let your dad's judgements affect you.

[KUREIGU]

yea it sounds logical, but you guys don't know my dad, i get a hard time of him as it is,

i think officer would be the better option, but then i'd always be the one who didn't do the ranks, even my uncle, a current captian in the army, started as a private, but then his in logistics and before he was a commisioned officer he was in a role which meant he was promoted like twice a year

[Kineas]

Something true about what your dad says would be that you'll lose out on plenty of experience if you just went straight to officer rank. Thus when you take your first command, you'll be a greenhorn at it, and will very likely make mistakes more often than not. And when officers make mistakes, the soldiers under the officer's command pay for it. (Extra work, etc) That would explain why your family has such a strong, but logical dislike for officers that didn't rise up from private.

If you just wanna make a lot of money being in the army, then sign up to be an officer straightaway. The years spent toiling as a private and trying to rise up the ranks isn't worth it.

However, if you're idealistic enough to want to be an experienced and good career soldier, enlist as a private, and go through all the crap privates go through. With each promotion you get, you won't be screwing up on the (more and more) men you command since you have invaluable personal experience and hindsight of what they're doing and going through.

[komrade_smith]

I can see where your dad is coming from, and I sympathise with both of you, but really, if you have made a huge decision like joining the army, I think you should be making your own decisions about this issue yourself too. It's your life, not his.

[GhostOfT-G]

Become A Officer And Order The Shit Outta The Pvts Be Sooooooo Much Fun Or Be A Pvt And Give The Officers Shit And Lip All Day Long.....do Either Of Those And Promos Are On Their Way!!

[Mad FISH]

Become A Officer And Order The Shit Outta The Pvts Be Sooooooo Much Fun Or Be A Pvt And Give The Officers Shit And Lip All Day Long.....do Either Of Those And Promos Are On Their Way!!Uh... okay, obviously you are rather... um... stupid is a good word. As well as being very bad at typing. Becoming and officer just to order people around is possibly the lamest reason to become an officer. A good reason to become and officer is to be able to take responsiblities a private could not take, or the ability have better benefits and pay. But to order someone around, something like that is the very root of why the enlisted officers do not like commisioned officers. I surely hope if you join a military organization they don't put you in command of anything more then a few square miles of snow and maybe a couple of penguins.

[KUREIGU]

something like that is the very root of why the enlisted officers do not like commisioned officers. I surely hope if you join a military organization they don't put you in command of anything more then a few square miles of snow and maybe a couple of penguins.


lmao loving it, yea im aware of the responabilities i will be under, i mentioned it to my aunt and the first thing she said was "oh your gonna pull a prince harry", incase some of you don't know, price harry recently joined up as an officer, as the younger brother in a royal family does,

well, im going down the army careers office tommorow, speak to somone there, i must admit i am swaying towards joining as a private more now, i mean looking at the job descriptions, private seems more fun, its just im thinking about after i leave, in interviews, luitenent or major or somthing sounds much better than private or lace corpral

[nejix3reminisce]

do whats better for you

[batanga]

Do what YOU want, your dad has the "if it was hard for me it should be hard for you" mentality which is really stupid.

[Einstein]

I say join as private. You def. have more expeirience and working your way up in the rankings would personally give me more respect for you, seeing that you took the time to get where you ended up instead of just getting plopped there to begin with. It'll pay off in terms of respect, but if you're just in it for the quick cash, I guess you may as well go with being an officer. Personally, I'd start as private and work myself upwards, the more respectful way.

[KonohaWind]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, so how tall is your father? Might he be suffering from short man syndrome?:quite I say, screw it! Did your dad's dad want your dad to trash a police station, which by the way, remind me to send your dad some flowers later for that.:harley

Of course your dad's dad wanted him to trash that station. Do I hear retaliation in your voice? I guess gramps didn't wan't your pops to do that, but dad did it. Be an officer! Does your dad want you to trash a station and go into military as a low rank so officers can poke them with sticks at inspection. Do you wan't that? No siry. Do I......meh.:awesome Do what you want! But don't listen to me, I'm completely opposite of what my dad does. He's bald, I have hair, he's a boy, im a girl, he's a old man, let's all cross our finger here people for me.:LOS

[fabio]

private respectful way?

lolloerskates


i'm military i'll go ask you this

do you like to take orders or give orders

do you want to be treated like a shit
or be treated like dog shit? you pick

[colours]

Do whatever you want, this is you going into the army.

[Riku]

My dad went in as an officer....now he wants me to follow in his footsteps..

:cry
this sucks...........

I don't want his life..