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| Something I have always wondered... | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: 2 Oct 2009, 02:52 AM (353 Views) | |
| Marshal2Crusaders | 2 Oct 2009, 02:52 AM Post #1 |
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Warrant Officer First Class
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For my fellow bunkerites from other countries in the world and serve said countries as officers, how do you get commisioned? Random, I know, but we were discussing it in military science today and none of us had any clue, so I figured I would ask here were the brightest minds congregate and discuss the tactics and heraldry of plastic men. For some brief info on the US way, for comparisson, we have several ways. -West Point: the national military academy- only for the high speed -ROTC: this is the program that I am in. It's for college students, they pay your way, you go to class and drill, and attend a summer basic course for being a LT, basically LT boot camp, and after commissioning you learn how to be a real soldier, at basic officer leadership course, or BOLC. Then if your high speed you go to schools(airborne, ranger, etc). This is the biggest source of officers. Within this there are six senior military school, basically west point-lite, one of which I attend. OCS- a commisioning program from the NCOs, also high speed Battlefeild Commision-self explanitory, you lived your In charge |
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| Burnie | 2 Oct 2009, 03:07 AM Post #2 |
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Lieutenant
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Here in Australia we have 3 main streams for officer recruitment Direct Entry - The fastest way in, takes anywhere from 5-18 months depending on the service you sign up for and which specialty (eg. army pilots do less time than an infantry officer). Officers joining through the Army have a choice of SSO (Specialist Service Officer) or GSO (General Service Officer). SSOs receive a shorter course so they can immediately go on to specialist training while GSOs do the whole course and then choose their specialty. Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) - A tri-service academy where candidates undertake officer training mixed with an academic degree over the course of approximately 3 years depending on their degree choice. This is usually for young recruits so they have more time to develop and mature as leaders. This is the way I've been selected for because of my age. Defence Undergraduate Scheme - This is mainly for specialist jobs. A candidate does the first year of their chosen degree under their own payment and then applies for the Undergraduate Scheme. If successful, the Defence Force will pay for the rest of their degree (to be conducted at their civilian university with a few periods of military work experience thrown in), and upon completion the candidate undergoes officer training equivalent to Direct Entry for their service and serves a specified minimum period as a specialist in the field of their degree. This is usually for engineers, doctors etc. NCOs who elect to transfer to officer training undergo an abbreviated version of Direct Entry training for their service. For instance, a Warrant Officer in his late 30s who has been an electronics analyst in Orions for 20-odd years only has to do 2 weeks of officer training before he starts his pilot training. True story, I know the guy ![]() Hope that's informative for you |
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| Marshal2Crusaders | 2 Oct 2009, 03:12 AM Post #3 |
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Warrant Officer First Class
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Yeah thanks, so Sheep did DE then? Also are you guarenteed the specialty you want? Here you have to compete with every cadet in the nation for the slots. For instance aviation is cut throat, but academics> PT, infantry is pt > academics but you still need good grades because of the high amount of cadets applying for it. The middle-best get assigned where they are needed, so combat arms and MI doesn't suck up the best LTs. I feel bad for those guys, my cadet platoon leader wanted infantry and did really well but was still branched chemical because he wasn't the best, but he was good. Edited by Marshal2Crusaders, 2 Oct 2009, 03:16 AM.
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| # KayvaanShrike | 2 Oct 2009, 09:28 AM Post #4 |
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Marine Biologist
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In the UK there are 3 "academy" type places, one for each Service. So Sandhurst for the Army, Cranwell for the RAF and Dartmouth for the Navy (I think). You usually have to have a University degree to become an officer if you are applying direct to these places. Although you can join, then get your degree while there. Or if your like Prince Harry, you just go anyway. NCOs can apply for a commission once they are at a certain rank, and have held it for a certain period (I think). But yeah, usually to be an officer in the British Forces, you go through one of the school places. |
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| Burnie | 2 Oct 2009, 09:46 AM Post #5 |
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Lieutenant
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Yeah Sheep's done DE, I think he went in as a GSO but you'd have to ask the man himself. I'm not that well-informed on the Army side of things. As I understand it, they do a balance between what you want, what they need, and what they think you're best suited to. For example pilots get chosen for a specific aircraft upon completion of advanced flight, with their personalities and ability to perform taken into account and weighed against their own preferences. |
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| chromedog | 2 Oct 2009, 11:02 AM Post #6 |
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Warrant Officer Second Class
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Only got as far as Corporal, m'self, and spent a fair whack of my time in "support" roles (blew out my left ACL on exercises) in the Qies. Never underestimate the guys who can resupply you with toilet paper (or beer). ![]() There's a young'un in my games club who's just joined the reserves, but he'll be doing psych at uni in the New year and going officer (he's a private atm). |
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| Marshal2Crusaders | 2 Oct 2009, 05:35 PM Post #7 |
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Warrant Officer First Class
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I remember when they had to pull Harry out because the Taliban/Al Qaeda was massing to do human wave attacks against his unit, Staligrad style. That would be the fastest way to mess up the coalition. So does all royalty get into academies automatically? I am also painfully ignorant of how monarchies work .Ok, well so the UK and Aus. do things similar to the US, or we do things similar to the UK and Aus. Next time I shall be duly armed with the appropriate information
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| fiorehellheart | 2 Oct 2009, 06:02 PM Post #8 |
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Warrant Officer First Class
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I think that a large amount of the british are also ignorant of what the monarchy does, i ashamedly am
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| ☺charlie_c67 | 3 Oct 2009, 03:02 PM Post #9 |
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Lieutenant
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Depends what form of Monarchy you look at. The Monarchies in Europe for the most part are constitutional (not sure about Monaco). Whereas those in the middle and far east tend to be more ruling class (except Japan). |
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| ☺Sheep | 5 Oct 2009, 06:16 AM Post #10 |
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Captain
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G'day, definitely a an interesting subject, and one close to my heart ![]() I went the GSO option, its an all corps based training regime, with a heavy focus on infantry war fighting, we do it for 18 months and at the end of that the corps are issued based on ability firstly and preference secondly. Australia is unusual in the western world in that you don't need a uni degree to be an officer, i like to think this due a practical ideology in the ADF that you don't need to be a graduate to know how to lead men/women effectively. Any more questions, ask here or send me a PM mate, I only just started my training, but i'll try and help if i can ![]() Cheers Aaron |
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| Marshal2Crusaders | 5 Oct 2009, 08:51 AM Post #11 |
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Warrant Officer First Class
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Cool, thanks Sheep! You are trying for Arm. Inf., right? Personally, my dad said he'd disown me if I wasn't airborne, so its off to the Airborne for me. I know the ROTC cadets in the US are allowed to pick their branch and/or first post/unit for contract extensions. 2 years each, I believe. So if I want Airborne Infantry, I sign a contract for eight years, which is cool with me. Is there a system similar for you guys in the ADF(?), like if you wanted Arm. Inf. bad enough you could extend your contract by say 3 years, and then you would get it? |
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| ☺Sheep | 5 Oct 2009, 08:19 PM Post #12 |
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Captain
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I am trying for Inf definitely, but what form, I don't know yet, Cav sounds cool, but so does airborne lol. There isn't a system like that here unfortunately, I think i would lead to alot of 30 yr contracts as everyone tried to outbid each other lol. Infantry is the main focus of the Australian army and the majority of cadets here have inf as their first or second preference of corps. |
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| ☺highmarshaldave | 5 Oct 2009, 08:39 PM Post #13 |
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Urban Leg-End
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In the UK, more or less every member of the immediate royal family is a honourary member of the forces, being the figurehead colonel of one or more regiments. For the most part, they tend to take that a step further with the younger males. Harry and Wills being the more recent ones, but Prince Andrew also flew during the Falklands campaign as a Fleet Air Arm pilot. That said, I think they also have degrees, but I'm not wholly sure they'd need them as they fulfil the requirements of being a gentleman mostly by default. Dave out. |
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| Burnie | 5 Oct 2009, 11:32 PM Post #14 |
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Lieutenant
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As Sheep said, there's no system through which you can "bargain" for a better position by extending your service, although there are plenty of ways in which the service can extend it for you, such as paying for a degree or giving you new specialist training etc. And Sheep, I might very soon be just across the road from you. My OSB decided I was a bit too young for DE so it looks like I'll be an ADFA brat next year
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Next time I shall be duly armed with the appropriate information


8:31 AM Jul 11