VIII
|
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2008
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
CAREERS IN DEFENCE TERRITORIAL ARMY ALAMY
The Daily Telegraph
COLOUR SERGEANT
DANIEL RADFORD, 37, PRINCE OF WALES’ ROYAL REGIMENT, LONDON “I joined the Territorial Army for the adventure in 1988, when I was 17. However, it was the camaraderie that made me stay. I went on to do nine years
EXTRA SPECIALS IF YOU’VE GOT DEDICATION, GUMPTION AND A SENSE OF CAMARADERIE, THEN THE RESERVE FORCES COULD BE FOR YOU, SAYS MARK BALLARD
in the Regular Army, then rejoined the TA. “People think that you join the TA just for the social aspect and to sit in a bar from Friday to Sunday. But it’s not like that at all. “The social side is fun — we go out for beers every now and again — but it is a professional part-time job. “I see it as my duty as well. I’m responsible for a bunch of guys and have to look after them. “You don’t really think about the dangers. It’s all part-and-parcel of the life. However, so is the camaraderie. “You get into situations during a weekend where you think: ‘I’m never going to get through this’. You push yourself and work together. And you get through it. There’s a close bond that forms between you and your fellow soldiers. “When you come home from service, the big dramas in people’s lives seem fairly trivial to you. It makes you think, ‘Oh, come on — get a grip. It’s hardly life or death.’ “Doing a job like this teaches you to appreciate your home life.â€
T NEW RECRUI
SHEREEN MAHMOOD,18, 96 SIGNAL SQUADRON, COVENTRY “I joined the TA when I went to university last year. I’ve always dreamt of being in the Army. But I was scared to join the Army and wanted to get a taster of it. “My sister, Corinne, has been in the TA for eight years. Every weekend she used to come home and tell us about all these things she’d done and how great it was. “I’ve just been on a two-week training course. It was challenging, but it was also the most enjoyable thing I’ve ever done. You meet people who you feel will be your friends for life. I met my partner through the TA. He got called up to go to war. I have more respect for the Army now. “You don’t realise just what the people in the Army do for you, what their families go through when they are away and how much work it is to become a soldier. I think you take it for granted.â€
LANCE CORPORAL RYAN ALDERMAN, 23, WELSH TRANSPORT REGIMENT, CARDIFF “I was inspired to join the TA for the social life. But when things kick off it hits home and you think: ‘Right, I have got to be a soldier’. “I went out to Iraq in 2004, a year after I joined. It felt as though I went from being an 18-year-old to a 20-year-old in the space of two months. I might end up getting called up again. I’m prepared and ready to go. “I’m now second in command of a section in the TA and I’m a second in command of the depot I work in. So I’m a second-in-line manager. The training turns you into a soldier. As soon as you step into those gates and put your green kit on, you start walking and talking and thinking like a soldier. You put your head down and just get on with it. “In the Army you expect things to be done in a certain way — straight away — no questions asked. Whereas in Civvy Street people are a bit more blasé. “I’m proud to say that I’m a member of the TA. It’s given me a sense of professionalism that I can transfer to my civilian job. “I believe the TA’s helped me to get were I am because of the way I think now. Its sort of moulded me that way. It’s given me that edge.â€
C
onsidering switching career to enter the Armed Forces, or just keen to sample Army life? Then joining the Territorial Army is a good place to start. The TA, which forms a major part of our overall defence capability, is a professional, part-time army of volunteers. It has worked alongside Britain’s Armed Forces in almost every conflict in which Britain has been involved since the Second World War and is celebrating its 100th birthday
this year. Anyone who decides to join agrees to a compulsory 27 training days per year —19 for a specialist soldier — and will be expected to remain on call for three years. TA soldiers also benefit from the fact that they will learn new skills and develop their fitness while they are at it. A TA soldier might be called up to take part in operational service overseas, for a maximum of 12 months. They will not be called upon to do a stint any longer than this within a five-year period. These terms of commitment could change, however, after the
results of the Government’s review of the reserve forces. The part-time status of TA soldiers means that they have the privilege of a quasicompulsory call-up, which means that when a TA soldier gets called up to service, he or she must comply. This helps to protect volunteers from losing their jobs because of their commitments to the British Army. The call-up is managed by a process called “intelligent selectionâ€. This ensures that only those most able and willing are asked to fight. About 12,000 of the 30,000 TA soldiers are
trained and ready for deployment and, throughout the past five years, about 1,500 TA soldiers a year have been called to overseas service, mostly in Iraq and Afghanistan. We asked three serving members to share their TA experiences: If you would like to find out more about joing the Reserve Forces, visit: www.army.mod.uk JOBS ONLINE: jobs.telegraph.co.uk/ careers-insider
@
A sense of community: Lance Corporal Ryan Alderman, of the Welsh Transport Regiment, chats with a local boy during on a tour of duty in Iraq in 2004
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH Royal flight CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF THE SEA KING’S REIGN page 2 World of adventure LEARN HOW TO SKYDIVE, KAYAK AND SKI WHILE ON THE JOB page 4 The night watchers TARGETING THE DARK SIDE WITH BRITAIN’S ARMED FORCES page 7 ROYAL NAVY/CROWN COPYRIGHT Defence CAREERS IN T
II | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2008 THE DAILY TELEGRAPH CAREERS IN DEFENCE FOCUS ALAMY; CROWN COPYRIGHT/MOD The Daily Telegraph A ROYAL light Lieutenant Fiona Bailey’s dream as a child was to fly helicopters for the Royal Air Force. Today, the 31-year-old is doing just that — as a Sea King cap
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2008 | III The Daily Telegraph QUALIFICATIONS CAREERS IN DEFENCE IN A CLASS OF ITS OWN BRITAIN’S DEFENCE ACADEMY — FOR MILITARY AND CIVILIAN STUDENTS — HAS AN ENVIABLE GLOBAL REPUTATION, WRITES NATASHA MANN are also networking, which can be a majo
IV | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2008 THE DAILY TELEGRAPH CAREERS IN DEFENCE PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT The Daily Telegraph C ON A MISSION KEEPING BRITAIN’S ARMY READY FOR ACTION REQUIRES A BEHIND-THE-SCENES FORCE OF 29,000 WORKERS, SUPPLYING CRUCIAL SUPPORT, EQUIPMENT — AND MARS BARS — AROUND THE
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2008 | V
VI | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2008 THE DAILY TELEGRAPH CAREERS IN DEFENCE INTERNATIONAL NATO PHOTOS The Daily Telegraph An attack on one Nato member will be regarded as an attack on them all HOW TO BECOME A NATO INTERN THERE’S no substitute for experience, which is why Nato offers a six-month
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2008 | VII The Daily Telegraph TECHNOLOGY CAREERS IN DEFENCE AS CONFLICT CONTINUES IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN, BRITISH FORCES ARE GAINING THE ADVANTAGE IN THE TECHNOLOGICAL STAKES THANKS TO THE LATEST IN NIGHT-VISION INNOVATIONS, REPORTS THEA JOURDAN W Ni
VIII | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2008 THE DAILY TELEGRAPH CAREERS IN DEFENCE TERRITORIAL ARMY ALAMY The Daily Telegraph COLOUR SERGEANT DANIEL RADFORD, 37, PRINCE OF WALES’ ROYAL REGIMENT, LONDON “I joined the Territorial Army for the adventure in 1988, when I was 17. However, it was the cama
