MOS was 71331 Posted December 15, 1999 Share Posted December 15, 1999 A few weeks ago, the Matt Drudge web site had a news item about the British Army having so few drop-in volunteers that they were now recruiting in Her Majesty's prisons. After reading the article, I followed some links around and eventually reached a web page with an application form for anyone who wants to be all he can be. (I didn't see the Royal Army recruiting slogan, but it's probably not the same as the US Army's.) Thinking they might enjoy an application from someone without an arrest record, I submitted one. A few weeks later, I received a reply from Brigadier Andy Craig, Commander Army Recruiting. On spiffy RA stationery, he thanked me for my enquiry but said I was above the age limit for entry. [Hey, I'm only 54! I'm pretty sure Haig was older than that when he commanded the BEF in WWI, and Gordon was probably older than 54 when he was killed in Khartoum. Even if he wasn't, I'm sure Charlton Heston was older when he played Gordon in the movie "Khartoum."] Anyway, if you'd like a personal rejection letter from the Brigadier, look around for the RA website and fill out your application. One word of caution: they may take some of their applicants. ------------------ Airborne Combat Engineer Troop Leader (1966-1968) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killmore Posted December 15, 1999 Share Posted December 15, 1999 I have seen the add for HMS Prisons in the underground in 1992. So it is an old problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rommel Posted December 15, 1999 Share Posted December 15, 1999 Ironic isn't it that the british army which was once the pride and joy of all of England is now recruiting from prisons. U.S. army is not quite at that point but they have started recruiting people without high school degrees, and also offering high incentives for people with HS degrees joining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumbo Posted December 15, 1999 Share Posted December 15, 1999 Actually the UK is NOT recruiting from prisons. There was a plan for non-violent offenders to get a reduced sentence by joining but it has been shot down pretty quickly and looks unlikely to become law (this info is 2 weeks old from Question Time a BBC current affairs show which is streamed once a week. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/question_time/newsid_176000/176461.stm FWIW I have heard of similar proposals for the US army as well which have been roundly rejected by most most servicemens groups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest John Maragoudakis Posted December 15, 1999 Share Posted December 15, 1999 I think less kids join the army now cause they have had thier fill of war with games by the time they hit 17 or 18. Playing wargames, strategy/action gives you a good idea about how easy it is to die. You don't feel so invincible. Also the simulations are so much fun, why join and see the miserable aspects when you can just have fun on your PC and sleep in a nice warm bed at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Beman Posted December 16, 1999 Share Posted December 16, 1999 The US Army is in pretty sorry shape, recruiting-wise. CNN ran a factoid last night that reported the Army would be 8,000 (or was it 80,000? I'm tired) shy of their 1999 new-recruit goal. They're offering whopping-big signing bonuses. I was seriously considering joining right out of high school, but some pretty major things happened in my life. I read, a while back, a very skillfully written examination of the military-related causes of Rome's downfall. The lesson the author drew (can't remember his name, blast it) was that the "enlightened civilizations" almost inevitably decrease in military capability to the point that even less-advanced outside threats can destroy them. DjB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aacooper Posted December 16, 1999 Share Posted December 16, 1999 I'm not sure the Rome corollary is valid. Rises and falls are not necessary due to military reasons. Remember, the sun never used set on the English flag, they never lost a war (or at least a big one that I know of), and now look at England. An important country, but no longer a world superpower. There are different ways for countries to slip. My opinion is the only way for that to happen to the US if our values (democracy, rule of law) are adopted by the rest of world, and living standards improve worldwide. At that point, there'd be no reason to be a superpower. Of course, there's other things that COULD happen, but that's just my opinion after 10 seconds of hard thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Beman Posted December 16, 1999 Share Posted December 16, 1999 I wasn't implying that military decline always leads to destruction (or even decline) of a civilization. Rather, the author surmised that, in societies that pride themselves on personal freedom, fewer and fewer people will be willing to give up their own personal freedom to protect the freedom of others. That leads to a decline in military power, and (at least before information became at least as important as guns) to a lowered world-standing. DjB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest John Maragoudakis Posted December 16, 1999 Share Posted December 16, 1999 I'll tell ya one thing, every day I see fraud and people breaking the law. Not a day goes by that I'm not impressed with the government here in Quebec Canada. At 17 I wanted to defend democracy against the evil empire and thus spent a couple of summers in the reserves. Today I don't feel society deserves such a selfless act of courage. Thank god I wasn't sent to a war and got maimed. I would have been so depressed. When WW3 starts let the hippies go and fight, I won't do it for them. Maybe kids today see all the junk attitudes on tv and rock videos and basically don't feel the need to defend that cr*p. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trooper Posted December 20, 1999 Share Posted December 20, 1999 On the BBC website, there was a 'mail in your thoughts' column a few weeks back, and popular opinion was fairly evenly split on the matter. As one person put it, 'Taking the Queen's shilling to reduce or avoid sentence' has a long tradition in the British forces. A large portion of the forces that built the empire were just these ones. Even those who admitted to being in the service were split. Personally, I'm relatively for it. The proposal was only to include minor infringements, so we're not talking about mass-murderers, rapists and armed thugs here. BTW, the British Army's recruiting slogan is 'Be the best.' They have some good TV ads for both the regulars and the TA. DWH Manic Moran Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest John Maragoudakis Posted December 20, 1999 Share Posted December 20, 1999 I'd have the criminals mop floors and dig trenches until they earn the right to be regular infantry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgra Posted December 20, 1999 Share Posted December 20, 1999 Reminds me of the best response to the 100's of letters of complaint to the BBC and newspapers after 'Tumbledown' showed squaddies behaving badly... "Who do you think we send to wars? Nigels???" (no offense meant to any Nigels). If it doesn't make sense then a 'Nigel' is a more 'refined' member of the British (or more likely English) public. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts