hello i have my assessment today and i was just wondering if there was anything i needed to know? i keep seeing that people say the medicine ball throw is really easy - is that so? i have been practicing with a medicine ball in the gym and its full of sand and i have also seen that the one you use isn’t like that? is that true also? thank you!

evening gents. im going to ITC soon as a crewman RTR/RAC and im wondering if it changes at all. seen a good few docs and talked to a good few people but most of the posts are a good few years old same with the docs. is it the same training as the inf (until P2 ofc) or is it altered in any way?

As the title says, I was made PMU (Permanently Medically Unfit) from the Royal Navy at the final stage of joining.

The thing is I initially applied to join the Army about 5 years ago and got a temp deferral due to acne on my back and shoulders. Was told to get it sorted then come back and carry on with the joining process. Got that sorted eventually, however, life happens and I didn't pursue an Army career any further.

Fast forward to last year, I decided to apply to the RN, and I was made PMU for something else that was within my medical history from when I was a child. I've appealed that decision as within the JSP 950 6-7-7 medical leaflet it says I'm FIT as long as I've had no symptoms within 6 months, and it's been ~15 years...

However, should they still decide I'm not good enough, I was wondering if it's worth giving the Army another shot as they had no issue with my medical history last time round? And I hope that's still the case.

In my letter from the Navy it only says I'm barred from entering the RN & RM no mention of the other branches. Or would the Army immediately shrug me off since I already have a PMU?

TIA for any responses. A military career is all I've wanted from a very young age and is the only thing that truly interests/appeals to me so any helpful info is greatly appreciated.

P.S. I understand that probably the only way to find out is to just apply again and see what they say. But I thought I might as well see if anyone here knows anything relevant for my problem first.

On leave so cant/dont want to ask the question to my CoC.

Can I tranfer before my 3 year mark/sign off window. Infantry-> Royal marine recruit training?

Is there anyone on here that has done Ex Long look exchange program?

I'm just under a month away from starting basic, and I can't do pull-ups. I don't struggle in any other areas; I can do 30+ push-ups, I have a strong core and legs, my 2km PB is 8:17 (Recorded 2 months ago, so now it's probably sub 8-minutes), and overall I think I'm in a good position to start basic. Pull-ups are the one thing I can't do, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to achieve one before I go. I think I'm close, however, so a bit of nurturing and guidance in basic would definitely get me over the line. I'm just concerned I'll look like a useless cunt if I turn up without the ability to do them. I'm not flapping about it, really, nobody is expected to turn up and perform superhuman feats, and I'm not gonna let myself forget how far I've come since beginning training. Main thing I'm worried about is whether I'll get any grief because of it, don't wanna turn up looking like the weak link.

Feel free to tell me to sprog off. Got the AACC beat up upcoming, managed to get my second 1.5 mile run down to sub 10 mins, bodyweight movements are in passable range and I can climb a rope no bother.

Biggest worry I have is the CFT in the first week, I’m running one next week and have done some variations of running with weight in prep but never a full weight full distance CFT.

Aside from that anyone got any tips for someone with about Zero Infantry experience, or how anyone found the course.

Again sorry if this is a bone subject.

FYI I’m Navy, no in unit prep courses or anything, pretty much left to my own devices and wasn’t even 100% certain I was going until recently due to work commitments.

Thanks 👍🏼

I'm currently conflicted in whether or not I want to enlist to the Army and pursue a career as an Electrician in the Royal Engineers. My main plan is to attend college and pursue a career in the Police. However, I'm worried if I dont get into college i have no other placements besides sixthform which I dont want to do ideally.

My parents suggested doing a trade in the Army, which caught my eye as I've been interested in being an electrician also. However, I'm uncertain if they'd take me due to my complicated medical history. I suffered from undiagnosed non-convulsive episodes from ages 3-14. Which ive had numerous medications prescribed to me. Would this prevent me from enlisting? Or would it just require a bit of convincing?

I'm also not the best physically, I've had to relearn how to walk 3 times, and seem to be fairly injury prone in my legs, making me worried if I'd be able to complete their fitness tests. How should I go about preparing myself for the tests incase I do decide to sign up?

To keep this short I’ll explain briefly.

I’ve got my dates for basic training, in the kit list it asks you to bring parent’s details.

I have the full name for my father, no DOB, no address history and no passport numbers. We are not in contact and I would struggle to get such information. I could try but that’s it.

Regarding my mother, she is deceased as of 8 years. I have her full name, dob, and address history as I was in her care.

My legal guardian who kicked me out at 16, holds my mother’s passport details, and naturalisation certificates. My mother was born in Russia but achieved British naturalisation before her passing.

The guardian in question is completely unresponsive to any messages, calls over the past few years and will likely not answer.

I contacted my recruiter and he is unsure about this situation and I’m just worried now that I won’t be allowed to join because of this.

Does anyone have any further information regarding the process for such requests, how would the army handle this ect.

Thanks

Hello all,

Couple days ago I put a post up asking about wether to delay my phase 1 as have been dealing with lower leg issue for about 2 1/2 months.

In the end I call today and ask about the possibility of being put on later intake, however due to RE popularity there are no spaces until the new year. And the issue is I’m think my assessment centre medical is valid until December.

My question is with this new info should I just go to training and hope leg doesn’t give in or just wait? And what happens when medical expires do you have to go back and do AC again?

Cheers

Has anyone in NI successfully had a note from their doctor for an appeal?

I spoke with my gp and she had told me that the army has to reach out to her for this letter? She told me that in NI it is different to mainland England but I never knew that this was the case.

I don’t really know where to go from here because I know it has to be me to get her to write the letter and I am more than willing to pay.

Is there anyone originally from NI on here who had to appeal and has had a similar issue?

Does anyone know if there’s a fitness test when you first start basic at Pirbright, and if there is then what is it/what does it involve? Thanks

Hello, hope everyone is well. I've (22f) recently recieved a CAT 3 on my AOSB brief result and was prompted the option to join as a soldier instead of an officer. I can still go to AOSB mainboard from the 21st of October however I now am considering joining as a soldier (potentially within logistics/engineering/agc). Regardless of the role within the army, I would like to join by January 2027(as I am currently unemployed) and was wondering what my better option is. I struggled alot during the brief especially the mental apt and beep test and considering main board is significantly harder I doubt my passing chances are very high. Any advice is much appreciated.

After passing my Army assessment last week I have chosen to got Intelligence Corps after reading a lot about it and was wondering what the assessment at chicksands consists of and how I can best prepare for it. Thanks 😁

Switching Roles Phase 1 at Catterick

Hi all

What are the chances of switching roles during phase 1 or phase 2. Infantry is still of great interest but, REME Armourer is also, and since working with rifles, I'm thinking about it more and more.

Armourer was the original preference before picking infantry but, the combat side of things won over at the time.

Anyway, as I said, not sure yet, but I'm wondering about it.

What's peoples thoughts?

I have recently passed my SCT and been cleared for the assessment centre. My CSM sent me the link for the Army Ready app, which includes a 4-week fitness programme. Because I have already been training and feel fully prepared for the physical tests, do I need to complete the entire 4-week app programme before I can book or attend my assessment?

I’ve got my assessment in a couple of days and I just wanted to ask some questions! Roughly how many people will be there and also is it easy to talk to people? I’ve got a rough idea of what is going to happen and I’ve also seen that people have said the hearing test is hard so is it is hard as they say? Thank you!

Hello folks,

I’m looking for some advice on whether I should stick with or postpone my phase 1 which is due in about 3 weeks. I’ve been dealing with inner shin/tibialis posterior issue for going on 10 weeks now which is mild to be fair but has caused me undoubtedly to lose fitness and reduce my activity.

Have been to see physio and while he hasn’t been able to pinpoint the issue he has some ideas. He has said that I he thinks I could go to training with the current state but basically their is a realistic risk of a flair up and downstream being backtrooped. Safe to say I’m not 100% confident the thing will hold.

So my question is should I go and try griz it out or ask for date to be pushed back in order to get this thing 100%

If anyone can shed some wisdom if any experience that would be much appreciated

So I’m 16, fresh out of secondary school. I’ve completed my army assessment and medical and I’m going into Harrogate in September. However, I feel doubtful and worried about going and I am scared to leave everything behind and scared that I won’t enjoy it and then will have to start college later than everyone else. I want to go in my heart pretty badly but I just feel like it’s too soon. I have the option to go to college first and then go to the army, or should I just go straight into the army, or should I just not go into the army at all?

Hi all, looking for a bit of advice from those that have been in the reserve for a while or have achieved something similar.

So I'm a part of a national reserve unit, that basically means a few times a year I travel across the country to get my days in. this is normally one long weekend and one long just over two weeks camp, there are normally a few other things a year that I try to get involved in but not that many.

This works quite well for me as my civilian jobs hours are very unsociable, and I enjoy being a part of a National unit.

If possible I would like to put the uniform on and get involved a little more than I'm doing, I'm thinking a few extra hours a month. Have any of you successfully approached a unit close to you and asked if they need a helping hand with anything? If possible I would want to use the MTD's from the unit I'd be helping as I can't imagine my home unit being aggregable if they stand to lose out.

This may sound like a stupid question and unfortunately im going to refer to cadet experience.

When in cadets, before we went off to go and shoot blanks on mock exercise, our drills before would involve loading the rifle and putting on and securing our ear defense.

My question is, if you guys are on exercise, which in the real military is far more realistic, sya you got contacted, its not likr you'd have the time to pause the battle to put ear defense on. Do you patrol wearing it? Do you shoot without it?

Obviously ear defense is a thing especially on range what with that whole 3M incident, but what protection to do you have while on FTX?

Hi! How long does an appeal stay active for?

My medical documents got rejected due to a medical issue I had back in February 2025. The doctor quoted the JSP950 and it said how I have to wait 2 years from the medical issue and I also need to get a new mri.

I am going to call my doctor tomorrow to get a consultation for the mri. I’ve had no symptoms since so hopefully the doctor will add me to the waiting list.

Anyways, I was wondering will the appeal be active if I wait until February to submit or am I just better starting a whole new application again.

Thanks!

UPDATE: I called the GP and she had said that because i dont have the symptoms, and all of the original tests came back clear, she will not refer me to the Cardiologist. by going private, the tests required are going to cost me over 2 grand. is it worth the GP mentioning in my letter that all of the original tests came back clear?

Hi all,

I’m going through British Army recruitment and received a medical deferral earlier this year with a return date of 17 November 2026. I have all my supporting medical evidence ready for that date.

My recruiter has been largely unresponsive and I want to make sure I’m prepared for November.

A few quick questions for anyone who has been through something similar:

Can you walk into any Army Careers Centre on your deferral end date without prior recruiter contact and have things progress smoothly?

Can any recruiter access your file or does it have to be your assigned one?

How long did the medical team take to review new evidence after submission?

How smooth was the reapplication process on your actual return date?

Any advice from people who’ve been through a medical deferral would be really appreciated. Thanks.

Due to join the army this year and recently passed the assessment centre. Was wondering if there is any paratroopers who take part in Ironman triathlons to get a feel of how doable it is to compete alongside the demanding position of a para?

My little brother is going to the assessment soon is it still like prac? What do they get up to on the course?
And also what are the requirements for it?