Army or not? Ex-Service help please.

What is he rejoining as???
Plus
What are your chances of finding similar employment in Townsville??

Kev

Which corps was he in, and which corps is he going back into? Same?

Get him into transport,that way when he comes home from IRAQ he will know enough about sand driving he can start up a buisness as a tour guide in our deserts

Only 2 roles in life where the end of that life is counted down. The proverbial question was always:- "How long have you got to go"
One life was in the forces and the other was in Prison LOL
I have only had experiance with one of them.

Well if you are happy with the move to Townsville and obviously doesnt mind being away from home he should seriously consider working out at one of the many mines in the region. Big $$, plenty of vacancies and will still probably be home more than if in the Army.

If he is a tradesman there is so much work up here it's ridiculous - it's a boom town.

Hi,

I have recently pulled the plug after being with the QLD Ambulance for 30 years and in my experience there are a lot of ex service folk employed by ambulance, fire and police services around the country and they generally seem to fit in quite well into these occupations.

I think some of the reasons are because they are part of organisations that are out there trying to do a good job and help others and that they have a very structured promotional system with incentives to seek out advancement if you wish. All have their own culture and once you join you become a part of that and most of the time that is a good thing. Lots of other things I could ramble on about but IMO these are jobs that seem to be very popular with ex service men and women.

Hope it all works out for you.

Agree with jobs such as ambulance paramedic, fire and rescue, police etc. I work as a nurse in an ICU department and when things happen the adrenaline rushes and it's very exciting.

I haven't been in the army but people working in these areas involving the essential services I think tend to have greater job satisfaction than others in the private sector or in 9-5 jobs. Salaries may be lower but from what i gather he doesn't care too much about that. You have to work as a team.

If you have to rely on your partner (or other team mates) to help you save someones life after a car accident, a child drowning in a swimming pool or someone after a heart attack, you develop comraderie with your workmates that may be similar to the comraderie that soldiers share. You have to know your job, think fast and act faster.

Barnesy

One question am I talking to a man or a woman?

REGARDS

Richard

I just got out after 23 years of Service with the Army and now work for the WA Govt. I don't regret getting out as it was the right time (plus they wanted to post me to Sydney again and there was noway I was going back there).

The things I miss:

1. My mates,

2. Variety of the job - every day was different, one day working in the office, next day out in the bush or interstate or overseas etc,

3. The pride of wearing the uniform - even I sort of looked good in it.

If he is not happy happy in his current job then there will be problems in the future. It is a decision you both have to make but if he is going to be happy and you don't mind it then I think you have answered your question.

Townsville is a great place to live - spent nearly eight years there in total and after Perth it is the next place that I would live.

The one thing that I really enjoy now that I am out is that this is the first time in 23 years when I finish at the end of the day and I go home - I have finished. No weekend work, all long weekends off, holidays when I want etc and no more being on call and not being compensated for it :-))

On the partners bit, maybe I too am getting old (only 42 this year) but I still see this as a term used to refer to same sex relationships (politically correct term I believe!).

OK, I am in the blue suit (RAAF) but will add my bit anyway. Yes, I know we don't go bush a lot, nor do we deploy as much and, yeh, we can look like bus conductors at times BUT it is a life I (and my family) enjoy and I will continue with it provided it doesn't impact my relationship (with my wife!) nor affect my kids' educations. I left the force after just over 13 1/2 years and did some biomedical etch type work and was bored out of my brain. Same thing and place everyday. I think I had just officially discharged when I told my wife about wanting to get back in. I too missed my mates, the cameraderie, structure, etc. Anyway, in all I am now in my 21st year, am doing ajob that I like (and, for the forces, is reasonably well paid) and intend to stay the last 13 years until retirement - at this stage. The pension projections are good and my wife and I can then do whatever we want at 55 with a good pension coming in every week.

The unfortunate side of things, for the RAAF, I am in a job that moves me every 3 years. Not so good for stability but we are gypsy like anyway and a change of location is like a new job anyway. There are some upsides to the life. I had 10 weeks off last year due to knee operations and was fully paid. There aren't too many jobs that do that unless you are female and are having a baby.

If you want locational stability, may I suggest joining the RAAF as an aircraft tradesman. You are alloted to an airframe type and they are generally in one location only. Or, if you want to stay in one spot and don't mind your other half being away a lot, join the Navy. Two locations - Sydney or Freemantle - but ..........

Anyway, what have you got to lose. If he doesn't like it, there are numerous options and whilst you are working those out, you are getting a regular income, subsidised housing, more quals, etc. It is not, however, everybody's cup of tea.

Cheers

Hi, I am ex-army {3RAR} and am now in the NSW ambulance service, I know plenty of guys who got back in and they all regret getting back in, reason? the reason they got out in the first place had not changed. It took me a very rough 18months to settle down in civi street but I am now glad I stuck it out. Best of luck in what ever you decide.

I got out after 10 years RAEME with a trade. I am so glad that I am no longer in the Army! I have been out of the service for 7 years now and my younger brother is still in, he is in transport in Townsville and from what he tells me there is no longer the "Diggers pride" of being in the Army like what there use to. Today they spend more time trying to blend in so no-one knows what they do for a living. Being in Townsville was what made me get out, after fixing tanks for a living in Darwin I was posted to Townsville and was disapointed with the whole miltary (Army) and their attitude there.
Thats my 2c worth.

If your partner wants to do a trade , maybe you should check out the wages for mature age apprentices , you may get more money than being in the services and if things arent working out you wouldnt be locked in . Not sure if this is available Australia wide or just in NSW , doesnt hurt to check.

Glenn.

I personally have discharged from the army and then after 2 years re-enlisted. Even after only 2 years away the Army has changed drastically. I am an electronics tradesman in RAEME and to cope with the shortfalls the training has been drastically slashed and the quality of tradesman we have is low. Also the general soldier skills have declined too due to changes in recruit training. There seems to be less gratitude from the heirachy for hard work and excellent acheivments. To be completely honest being a civvy or in the army is much of a muchness both have advantages and disadvantages.

Thank you to all for your replies. To answer some questions - I used the term partner because defacto is such a horrible sounding word, it seems that the word does not do the relationship justice.
Yes, I am the female half of this partnership and other half is looking for the adrenaline, structure, camraderie etc that has all been mentioned. I think once you've been 'in' it's hard to find something that compares. Skiing (ie. throwing yourself of the side of a mountain) seems to be the only thing that compares for the 'rush' and quick decision making.
All your replies have been though provoking and much appreciated. I am more than happy to go but have my reservations as this will be my first exposure to service life - I only know what I have seen on tv and we all know how accurate that can be.
Emergency services sound like something to check out.
Another thing, I think the army reserves offer apprentiships in conjuntion with working in the reserves. Anybody know anything about this?
Thanks again.

There is another option which can provide substantial financial rewards and less of the male cow manure that one finds in the Army.

I served in the Army for about 15 years but now work as a private security contractor in Afghanistan.

I work for a British firm and we defend the US Embassy in Kabul.

My job is actually quite boring 97% of the time but we get paid over AUD$500 per day for being here.

A search on the web will locate companies operating here and in Iraq. The industry appears to be going through a change at the moment and salaries have been reduced across the board but like most things it will probably be cyclic and they should rise again eventually.

Cheers ... Taz

There are things to miss about it, but I wouldn't ever go back.

It isn't the Army that I joined, as many here would agree, the standards have dropped so low that many aspects of it have become a joke.

A couple of us on this forum are ex-MP and the things we saw with crime & drugs would make the public cringe if they knew how bad it is.

I have had a few mates re-enlist, none stayed A mate has just re-enlisted for the 3rd time, and this time it took him less than 6 months to realise that he made a big mistake. Now he is stuck in Timor trying to find a job back here so he can get out again.

With the current deployments, count on him being away overseas, there is a policy that if you are away for a 6 month stint, you have to get cleared by a doctor before being deployed again within 12 months, but some units are so under-manned and desperate that they are getting around this by only sending their soldiers away for 4 months, then they can bring them home and the day after they get home they are eligible to be deployed away again.