Would You Join the Army again?

On wheels......

I bet Annual Classification was a riot !

Re-joning the Army if you were young again. What about if the EU (aka Eurine Land) had an Army of its own, and you were a young lad nowadays. Would you care to join an Army which was peopled by Brits, with Frenchmen (& women) as Senior NCOs, and all the Hofficers Germans....???

Could have been just that if the Germans had won the war...

We've already got that, it's called The French Foreign Legion.

NO!

Never mind that. . . . would you go back to the job you had when you retired ?

I was a paramedic, go back to all that crap ? NO, NON, NEIN, NIET, NADA, NIENTE, not on your 'kin life pal !

Embedded in my latest posting, Armchair General, Rose Tinted Spectacles firmly in place !

Yes most definitely

I enjoyed every minute, learned an awful lot and met many great guys (not so many girls in my day) but we did have some good times

Bring it on

Les

brum wrote:

Never mind that. . . . would you go back to the job you had when you retired ?

I was a paramedic, go back to all that crap ? NO, NON, NEIN, NIET, NADA, NIENTE, not on your 'kin life pal !

Embedded in my latest posting, Armchair General, Rose Tinted Spectacles firmly in place !

No, nor me. Being a Barracky Bill part of my uniform was a Tin Hat and a Flak Jacket.

It's just occurred to me that if we did join the Army again they would have to publish Regimental/Battery/Company/Squadron Orders in large print!

Do they do meals on wheels deliveries nooadays?

Probably Tam, but you would have to put you name down with the Dining Room Orderly.

The way I'm feeling Brian they would have to wheel me in for meals.

The big question is,,,,Would they have us back??

Looking at the news lately,the TA will be called Reservists and the TA dropped.Now I am sceptical as to where this government are coming from on this change.Firstly,employers letting their workforce go off as part of their commitment as a reservist for nine months to a year.Do you honestly think that they will hold the job open to that reservist on his/her return will walk straight back into their jobs and continue where they left off.

I can never work out why anyone would want to be a reservist in the first place.I know in the past conflicts Borneo/Aden/Cyprus/and Northern Ireland some TA guys were used to some good to boost the number of those units that were undermanned.Now that they have made it possible for one unit to top other units for ops. In effect when you join up, you are not joining a particular regiment or battalion as in Scotland, you join the Royal Regiment of Scotland and will be posted to individual battalions that are undermanned. You do not get a choice.Similar to units in England,Wales, and NI.Reservists will be used to support the regular units as and when necessary.

Those weekend soldiers who do the job as a hobby similar to special constables known a hobby bobbies, will now be used in places like Afghanistan in the future but at a reduced cost to the MOD in that no pensions will be paid as they are not full timers. plus wages will be reduced.And I am sorry to say that penny pinching by the MOD,the days of getting a war pension for injuries etc sustained in service will be a couple of hundred quid in compo and that's it.

Defence on the cheap is the order of the day.They can call on the reservists of the day from their own civvy jobs again they will get paid for turning up and take those people from jobs with absolutely no protection or likelihood of getting their civvy jobs back.Just my opinion folks as I simply do not trust what politicians say with regards to job protection.Employers will just make the job redundant and get rid of that employee.Here endeth the lesson.

Amen

Jock I think you will find that large numbers of TA have been used for a considerable time in Iraq and Afghanistan. The medical services in particular would be non operational without them, my own Corps, REME, has used a large number of them to make up gaps in deployed strength. As to their jobs, they are protected and yes they can walk straight back into them, I also believe they are paid at full regular rates when deployed.

BobG

Jock you got it spot on there. The pensions and compo for injuries or death will be zeroed. Had you been an Ossifer such a suggestion would have earned you promotion and ,possibly, a Bauble.

Please don't get me wrong folks.I am not attacking the TA/Reservists one bit.But if they want to do their wee bit, then sign up to the regular army/navy/air force and not pander to the government and MOD by offering your services on a part time basis.By doing what you are doing you giving the MOD an answer to their prayers in that they get the blokes etc to do the job but not committed to a term of say 3,6,9/22 years with the colours.Defence on the cheap without the large costs in maintaining personnel for years and years.Yes they are paid the same as the regular guys but only for a short time as they go home and hopefully go back to their previous jobs if they are still there.Paid only when they turn up to fight their dirty wars for them.

A lot of them (me) did sign up, did their (my) term and joined the TA after time expired and like them (me) did not want to drag (their) my wife and family around married pads for 'x' number of years, too many marriages came to grief that way.

Len (Ciphers)

Yes Len.Moving families around the world tends to break up marriages.I believe that they are posting the units for longer these days in one place in order to help families.

The government have had this in mind for years. A part time army is a lot cheaper than a professional army, which is good for politicians and bad for the army. We exercised with the German, Dutch and Danish armies and they had some good kit but unfortunately what they lacked was enthusiasm for the job. Some with long hair preferred a hairnet to the barber! and come friday it was weapons down and home for the weekend, they didn't have to soldier at weekends. They were perpetually scruffy and quite obviously didn't want to be there, and to be honest who can blame them? they were conscripts who were forced into it. Any government can force young men to join the army, no government can force young men to be good soldiers. I know the TA are not conscripts and there are some good TA soldiers but as ex CGS General Sir Mike Jackson (who in my opinion usually tended to agree with politicians) said, relying so heavily on the TA is 'optomistic'.

Found this among my collection .. was in vogue in the early '60's .. seems apropos to the current thread

Len (Ciphers)

THE "BARMY" ARMY

by Sgt R.J. Watts 43 (Wessex) Signals Regt (T.A.)

There is a voluntary band of men who, some may think, are Barmy,
Playing soldiers, people say -- The Territorial Army.
There's Gunners, Drivers, Signalmen, Clerks and Storemen too,
Just plain ordinary working chaps, the same as me and you.
But should the balloon go up one day, and should the "call" be heard
How many people then would think, of giving them the bird.
It's happened once before you see, in nineteen thirty nine,
And then the "laughing stock" that was, became the "thin red line".
From Dunkirk on to Alamein and once more, back to France
You'd see the T.A. member whichever way you'd glance.
And now, in peace, it still goes on
Their daughters and their sons
All prepared to do a job, (But also having fun).
So should you see a chap (or chick) in ancient uniform,
Don't sneer or scoff or take the mick
The don't deserve your scorn.
But rather, just remember, what they are trying to do,
'Cos they're prepared to do their bit, I wonder now! Are you ??.

really looking at the subject , i dont think i could stand the orrible muck that was put in front of us in the acc cookhouses ever again , i only ever had one good meal in my time and that was at a raf base eindhoven , real cooking that was put our acc bods to shame , ginger

I remember in Plymouth Seaton Bks cookhouse when one of the Jocks called one of the ACC cooks "a c**t".He went off and reported it to his cook sgt who duly came out and shouted out to all and sundry, who called this cook "a c**t".A quick reply came from one of the quick witted Jocks, who called this "c**t" a cook! the roars of laughter was deafening.