Royal Marine's Chef

[werner]

Hi

I was just wondering what service was like for specialising in the role "Chef"

Are I mean do you spend most time in a canteen making dinner or do you go out on actual operation's ?

Sorry if this is a silly question but im quite eager to find a role i like

Werner

[Artist]

Turkey and Ham rolls are nice!

Bootneck Chefs go where ever the unit they are in go. They are first and foremost Royal Marines and are expected to drop their skillet, pick up a weapon and join in when the shit hits the fan.

Yonks ago Chefs didnt do the full Commando Course but left training at week 14 to go and learn cheffing with the Navy. Same for Clerks. Now, as far as I am aware they do the whole course.

And this is a good move as far as I am concerned.

Artist

[werner]

Thanks for the info

Yes ive always been interested in cooking for some reason even though i set tonights dinner on fire

werner

[Mike]

werner..... The culinary delights as produced by Booty chefs.

Car smash, Shit on a raft, Spithead Pheasant, Baby's heads not forgetting Royals Fave..... Bean and Egg banjo...
Oh and stand well back when lighting a Hydro Cooker...an Item that was far more dangerous than any enemy

Artist.... All chefs and Writers wore green lids in my day?

Aye
Mike

[Artist]

Mike same with them in my day. But they joined as "Special Entry" blokes.

As I said they left Training at week 14. In them days we were awarded our Green Lid at week 14. And our flashes on completion of all the Commando tests and Kings Squad pass out.

A couple of our Troop left to do the Chefs Course and one did his Clerks course at Signals and Clerks training wing at CTCRM. The bloke who did the clerks course was an A1 tosser! One Nods hop he got a bit silly as in tried to get one of our lads to behave as he was a "Trained Soldier"! The twat got Rembranted bigtime!

Artist

[Rotary Booty]

Coincidentally, I was chatting to one of my recruit squad, (joined 1955), at a recent reunion, who left us after Infantry Training at ITCRM to become a Cook. Therefore, he didn't do the Commando Course and wasn't awarded the Green Beret. I asked him what happened if he was then posted to a Commando Unit.

He told me they had to do the Commando Course as a pre-draft requirement, and he ended up doing 4 of them! He admits he became a Cook to avoid doing the Commando Course!

Rotary

[Shrek The Royal]

Belive it or not combat chef is a popular choice at the moment simply because the corps was so short of volunteers for chef, it came up with the idea that if you can go combat chef, and at the end of two years you can choose any branch you want and you are guarenteed to get it (combat chef is not the chefs branch it's treated as an adqual.)

We are all infantry men fist regardless of SQ everybody does the full course and as a rule everyone serves 18 months as a GD Marine (you dont have to do that if you dont want to, you can go through the direct specialisation scheme and go straight into an SQ)

Just a quick one refrence the Chefs branch when units are on Ops chefs become redundant and get put in the companies they are currentley playing with the idea of making them Viking Drivers when deployed.

[harry hackedoff]

I`d heard that the branch was so short that they started pressing men, which went down like a lead balloon.
The Combat Chef adqual was a way round that because as you say, two years and you can pick yer nose
We had a recent visit from two lads from the fortieth down here on the exchange. One over east with Oz Para and one even further east with the Kiwis. Judging by the waist sizes, these two weren`t adquals

[Shrek The Royal]

Was that exercise Long Look talked to a few lads that were on that.

[sneaky beaky]

Do any of you remember the saying - "Who called the chef a "c**t!. The reply being -"Who called that c**t a chef!!
Having sai that. I do believe that RM chef's are very good.

You only have to go to a Sgts mess Dinner/Ball to see just how good they are!
Anybody remember C/Sgt. Frank Jones? Based at Poole back in the 70's.
He was actually a bit of a legend.
Don't ask him about the time he asked Poole hospital, if they would like to send some Nurses to an "Inliers" dinner. The lady on the end of the phone at Poole hospital thought he had said, "This is Coloured Sgt. Jones."!!

You can imagine the response!!

Priceless!!
Sneaky

[Mike]

Well there you go, I have just learnt something new. Education is a good thing

Aye
Mike

[sneaky beaky]

Mike,
We got nine, very black - but very beautiful young ladies!!
It so happenned that, at the time, we had a squad of Iranian/Persian squaddies doing an "SBS course". They walzted them all away!! We white guys did not have a chance!!

This was before the Iranian revolution. I think that all of the guys that did our course, eventually paid the penalty for being in the Shah's forces.
i.e. Thy are not around any more.
Sneaky

[Rogue Chef]

Ahoy there Werner!
I joined in Nov 79, completed full training as a Diamond and was awarded the Commando Medal. I joined A Coy as a 'grav' before I was 'caught'. Imagine my dismay!
Ended up serving five and a half years as a chef. Although it was not my chosen profession I had some great times (Falklands 82, NI 83, Ex Display Determination 83, Cyprus 84, Belize 85 and all the other small exercise and trips in between) often joining in with the GD lads and had some great mates. There were also, believe it or not some, great chefs, characters and sportsmen.
I eventually 'escaped' in 86 and remained GD for the rest of my 22, but always look back on my time as a chef with fondness.
Like evertything else the Chefs branch is moving to adapt to the prevailing conditions so I am out of touch with how things are now, other than I am absolutely certain that the much feared and much maligned 'hydro' is no longer in common use.

However I can state with some confidence that any man joining the chefs branch will be rewarded with qualifications that he will find useful for the rest of his life. People are frequently amazed by my dexterity with a whisk!

Whatever you choose 'Good Luck'.

[JR]

Hell I was a wizard with a ten man rat pack? fag ash as well
My culinary jungle skills with the 'Hydro' known throughout the brigade

Aye jr tea brewer to the Brigadier

[John_D]

As stated in earlier Threads, when I was drafted to 40Cdo in 57
I was volunteered as the unit butcher, most of the cooks at that time
were N/S lads, and they all wore green barets, I dont know if the
chefs branch are still Marines or if they are RN.

Aye

John_D