advice needed please

[greatest0778]

hi there

I'm 30 years old my highest qualification is Masters degree, and i want to join the Royal Marines is it possible to join as an officer or my age will stop me? physically i have trained to the level needed i hope( i know its very hard but im doing my best) as i usualy train 9 hours a week doing kung fu 3hours on three different days... then i do my running, weights and other things

i love the challange, the determination and the will power needed to be a Royal Marine....

can anyone give me an advice on what is available for me in the Royal Marines ..

your advice will be much appreciated ...

 

[pain is glory]

hi there mate, yes im pretty sure your age is fine but best advice would be just to get yourself down to your carers office and find out everything there but it is very tough even to get selected for the poc is rigorous enough but good luck with it and aslong as you have the determination you will succeed.

pain is glory.

 

[greatest0778]

cheers mate

cheers mate (pain is glory) i will do my best , its just i got a bit confused reading on the RM official site taht you have to be 26 or under to apply for an officer, so thats why i was not sure ?

 

[ALEXG]

Hi
Unfortunatley you have to be under this age (26) to attend POC...you could go through as a recruit and later get a commission..If you meet the mark and are put forward...I had the same idea but was several months to old.

 

[Ninja_Stoker]

cheers mate (pain is glory) i will do my best , its just i got a bit confused reading on the RM official site taht you have to be 26 or under to apply for an officer, so thats why i was not sure ?

Welcome to the site.

As correctly stated, you are indeed currently unable to join as an officer, however rest assured there are normally a couple of graduates in each Other Rank recruit troop- the highest I'm aware of was 19 grads out of 50 recruits.

Statistically those over 30 years old on entry do not have a dazzlingly successful percentage rate of successfully passing Recruit Training for a plethora of reasons, not least that they will earn only £13,013 upon entry.

The RMR is a possible route of entry for officer if you cannot afford to work on the recruit's wage, however you can normally expect to complete Other Rank RMR Recruit Training in 18-24 months before applying to become an officer. (Some do apply after phase 1B RMR training, but not many pass)

Hi
Unfortunatley you have to be under this age (26) to attend POC...you could go through as a recruit and later get a commission..If you meet the mark and are put forward...I had the same idea but was several months to old.

Spot on.


Good luck.

 

[greatest0778]

Thanks for your replies.... much appreciated

Well I think maybe as recruit then work your way up, if you meet the mark, is better than keeping it as a dream and just saying I wish I did try...

Statistically those over 30 years old on entry do not have a dazzlingly successful percentage rate of successfully passing Recruit Training for a plethora of reasons,

Thanks! but I think that is not a good way of encouraging people ... I mean ok not dazzlingly success, but maybe good or normal success is ok, and people are different from each other, I just turned 30 already had a good career in teaching and it’s time to change and do something I have passion for.. don't see anything wrong with that...

Anyways thanks for your advice.

 

[PaddyTheManc]

Thanks! but I think that is not a good way of encouraging people ... I mean ok not dazzlingly success, but maybe good or normal success is ok, and people are different from each other, I just turned 30 already had a good career in teaching and it’s time to change and do something I have passion for.. don't see anything wrong with that...

Anyways thanks for your advice.

Sometimes the best encouragement is being told you dont have a chance. If I were you mate and I really wanted to do it id go and prove the statisics wrong. Good luck.

 

[Death-Oar-Glory]

Sometimes the best encouragement is being told you dont have a chance. If I were you mate and I really wanted to do it id go and prove the statisics wrong. Good luck.

Spot on. I use this quote FAR too often, and I don't even know who said it!

'The greatest feeling is allowing some experts to tell you why something is impossible, and then proving them wrong.'

I find this helps when someone who knows nothing about Royal tries to tell me I won't get in!

Best of luck to you, pop down to your AFCO, get all the information you can, and give yourself time to think about whether you can make the change, and, no disrespect intended, at your age, is the drop down in salary going to be something you can cope with?

 

[RM Recruiting Officer]

I think that you may misunderstand the purpose of the site. We are not here to encourage people to join, Commando training is extremely tough and requires individuals with high levels of personal motivation. You cannot be encouraged to pass it, you need to have the ability within yourself.
The purpose of this site is to develop an individual's personal knowledge of the Corps and ask questions about Life in the RM as an Officer or a Marine. Thanks largely to the input from Ninja Stoker, I think that the site is effectively an Armed Forces Careers Office which doesn't close!
You are too old to join as a Young Officer so would have to join as a Recruit and then look at a 'Late Entry Commission'. This is on the condition that you meet the grade and get selected. From what you have said you will probably want to try for this early on but remember you are in competition with people who have been in the Corps for many years and have a lot of experience to bring to the role. The jobs open to a late entry commissioned officer require a working knowledge of the wider Corps. They are more heavily involved with administrative work and the running of the logistical chain.
I understand that you think that having teaching experience and a good degree probably helps but it is not as instantly transferable to a career in the RM as you might think.
The reason that statistically older recruits don't fare so well in training is nothing to do with motivation or fitness. Commando training damages the body and at 30, it does not recover as quickly as that of an 18yr old.
I am only here to give you the best advice possible, I do not want to put you off but starting a career in the RM at your age is no easy thing to do. You need to understand that having all the will in the world is not enough. If your body can't fix itself or you simply do not have the ability to be a Royal Marines Commando, you will not get through training.
I hope this was helpful. I am not here to be negative, just realistic.
RMRO

 

[greatest0778]

thanks for the advice, really appreciated, from the point of money, actually money is not an issue when it comes to do something i have passion for(Death-Oar-Glory.. thanks mate), my motivation always been that I want to be the best at whatever I do, or at least one of the best, one thing I know about myself, is not to give up until naturally carrying on is impossible (body or mind damage) otherwise I never say that is too hard for me, before I give it my best shot.

Rationally, I’m good ( not being bigheaded but self belief) as I have a place to do my PhD but lecturing at uni is on hold for a while...

physically, well 150 push ups a day , 150 seat ups, five days a week + 7 miles run weekly + 10 hours of kung fu training on 3 different days.. Coming second in the British kungfu nationals at least should give me some self belief, that I can challenge myself, even if I just turned 30.

having the will of the world is not enough if the body cannot fix itself, perfectly said.... but a person would never know until firstly his body breaks then it’s not possible to fix itself, and a person can only try ..... And never come the point were you will say I WISH I DID... I WANT TO SAY i wished and I DID...
Transferring teaching skills or a good degree to the RM surely is not easy, but having a critical analytical mind can be applied anywhere the mind is needed to be applied... and having masters in philosophy does help.

Thank you again for *text deleted* advice, it much appreciated and thank you again ...the least that can be said.

NINJA STOKER , RM recruitment officer: thank you both for your advice.
and the other guys thank you for your encourgment and advice as well.

If a person gets injured during the RM training, will they withdraw him? Or give him time to recover, surely if the injury is not a lifelong thing but an injury of few days?

 

[random08]

Ye go for it then! If you have that attitude/mind set go for it! If it doesn't work out, then it doesn't work out at least the pride will be there! And You'll be able too say you tried it! Goood Luckk!

 

[RM Recruiting Officer]

If you are injured severely you will go and do remedial phys with Hunter Company and re-join another Troop that is coming through the 'factory'. If it is nothing serious, you will miss a couple of phys sessions and carry on with the Troop as an 'original'. It is very much dependent upon the injury, but they won't bin you unless you are totally ruined and won't pass Commando training (A Dr's decision).

 

[greatest0778]

thats good to hear .. that the person wont be binned if he is injured through the factory process /..... thats such a good way of explaining it ... factory process.. and get binned *text deleted*

do RM get treated by their superiors as individuals with minds hearts as one family? or objects trained to obey orders ? is that a language only to describe the process or its the way treatment is?

 

[RM Recruiting Officer]

Of course they get treated as individuals, we are the 'thinking man's' soldier, it distinguishes us from the Army. However, they are to a certain extent treated as a Troop and to that end they are taught to obey orders, whether they think they are the right ones or not. The military is not a democracy, it is an autocracy and makes no apologies for that. Everything you are taught at Lympstone is designed so that you can function in combat. Furthermore, you are only part of the family once you are Commando trained and have earnt that right.
My choice of the words 'factory' and getting 'binned' are slang words that you will hear from time to time. They are not meant to depersonalise the experience, that's just my personal take on things having come through it all.

 

[Ninja_Stoker]

Whilst at CTC this last week, there was a cracking brief given by a fairly high ranking RM Officer about what makes an RM Officer & the fact that they are the only military Officers trained at the same place as other ranks. Because of this, they have to excel at everything in training-( faster, longer, harder etc.,) in order to earn the respect from the Other Ranks.

Essentially what he was saying was that RM Officers really are selected from the top of the crop both academically and by ability. Frequently these individuals have represented their county or country at athletics or team sports, are within the top few percent of top academic achievers, have extensive management experience, bucketfulls of leadership potential, have done world-wide independent backpacking jaunts, completed DoE Gold awards, won Chief Scouts awards in their youth & suchlike. They are generally highly regarded by their friends and family.

The wake-up call comes when the potential officers arrive at CTC and they are often rather taken aback to be told: "In actual fact, you're a bit sh1t mate" by a SNCO instructor on a post-exercise debrief. Some can't deal with it, others learn by it, but arrogant they are not, if they manage to complete Officer training.

 

[a flying dodo]

but arrogant they are not, if they manage to complete Officer training.

Hehe, yes master Yoda.

 

[Ninja_Stoker]

Hehe, yes master Yoda.

Off bog, why not?

 

[Blue Man]

Essentially what he was saying was that RM Officers really are selected from the top of the crop both academically and by ability. Frequently these individuals have represented their county or country at athletics, are within the top few percent of top academic achievers, have extensive management experience, have done world-wide backpacking jaunts, completed DoE Gold awards, won chief Scouts awards in their youth & suchlike. They are generally highly regarded by their friends and family.

The wake-up call comes when the potential officers arrive at CTC and they are often rather taken aback to be told: "In actual fact, you're a bit sh1t mate" by a SNCO instructor. Some can't deal with it, others learn by it, but arrogant they are not, if they manage to complete Officer training.

I'm a bit worried by that, I mean, I've not represented my county at Cricket, or attended Scouts or Cadets when I was younger. Had I known I wanted to be an RM Officer, I would have done so! Apart from the cricket, I'm not that good!

Only got BCC at A2 Level, in English Language, English Literature and History. Not really top qualified! Nor do I have much management experiance, you can't really count coaching U12's cricket as extensive!

Looks like I've got some work to do at Uni!!

I know everyone says you have to be 100% confident of succeeding but sometimes I think I'm punching a bit above my weight!! Anyone else feel like that?!?

David.

 

[greatest0778]

I know everyone says you have to be 100% confident of succeeding but sometimes I think I'm punching a bit above my weight!! Anyone else feel like that?!?

davidemmerson.

well mate i think the first thing is believe in yourself or failure is the option, its good to know your ability and draw a line but its amazing when you cross that line and prove to yourself that you have an ability that you never thought you did ..... we are all the same but what separate us if we are given an equal opportunity, is the self determination and belief. do u agree?


RM recruitment officer and Ninja Stoker: thanks for a great insight into the RM and on what an individual should except and go through.

I was reading on the RM official site, that a person can serve up to 18 years or to the age of 40 whichever comes first.. what happens next if that individual wanted to carry on after that ? if they don't die *text deleted*

Ninja Edit: Other Ranks have a contract of 18 years or to the age of 40, whichever is longer. Contracts are extended by merit on an individual basis, but the current retirement age for all ranks is 55.

 

[Sotiris]

I'm a bit worried by that, I mean, I've not represented my county at Cricket, or attended Scouts or Cadets when I was younger. Had I known I wanted to be an RM Officer, I would have done so! Apart from the cricket, I'm not that good!

Only got BCC at A2 Level, in English Language, English Literature and History. Not really top qualified! Nor do I have much management experiance, you can't really count coaching U12's cricket as extensive!

Looks like I've got some work to do at Uni!!

I know everyone says you have to be 100% confident of succeeding but sometimes I think I'm punching a bit above my weight!! Anyone else feel like that?!?

David.

You've got the time at uni to build up, what I call, an "application profile". Get out there and make the most of the time you have.

Join BMF and the OTC for a start.

BMF will give you an idea of the kind of phys levels you need for POC, and the instructors will help you to achieve them.

OTC...well, if you stay the course there will be ample leadership opportunities for you. The pay you get from OTC will cover BMF easily.

Within social circles there are many circumstances when a natural leader steps up. Be that person. Even if it's something as small as getting your friends together for a run (which can be a huge task when dealing with students, which requires massive motivational efforts on your part haha). Exercising your leadership skills takes time if the confidence or experience isn't there at first. Find as many venues for extra curricular activities as possible, then, try and establish a managerial foothold in them.