joining the parachute reg at upper side of age limit

[aaronlee]

Hi i am 32 yrs old and am waiting on a test date from army with regards joining. At the momoent my 1.5 run time is 0mins 04 secs best and 3 at 19mins 34 , 7 heaves 51 press ups in 2 mins and 50 sit ups in 2 mins, i train 4 times a week 2 runs one gym session doing 2k on row 15 mins on cross t and 10 mins on cycle plus various wieghts and one swim a week, was just wondering how people thought i would get on ? a my level of fitness plus well the age ...... what my chances are of getting in and secondly if i get in how the training team are gonna react being older than most recruits ??? Aaron

[Greenronnie]

At the momoent my 1.5 run time is 0mins 04 secs best

Hey, that's not bad!! Speedy Gonzales eat your heart out!!

In all seriousness mate, go for it, you sound like a fit guy, so you'll never know unless you try. As for the instructors, I'm sure they will look to you to keep the younger lads in order a bit, but otherwise will treat you the same.

[aaronlee]

lol that meant to be 9 mis 04 secs but thanks for reply, i did join the royal marines in 03 but opted out after 8 weks mistake if ever was one, took long to re join as went to uni in mean time grad last lune but the itch wont go away so here goes .... another worry is the training team seeing marine service record and well you can imagine lol 'marine eh ... think paras gonna be any easier' which i know is not case but guess just gotta crack on, just gotta keep taining best i can eh, if that chris tirrel who did commando on the front line can pass all arms at 50 there is hope for all us old guys lol

[Airborne Legend]

Yeah you're pretty likely to get hammered for your previous cabbage head mistake! Don't let it worry you though, it's all part of the fun of the depot As for you age, Ronnie is right you'll just have to try not to let the 18 year olds piss you off too much and show an example to them. Age is just a number

[aaronlee]

cheers mate, it was one of them no soner was i home i was kicking myself .... but as is with every opt out its an 18 month cooling off or it was then. Yeah kids gonna be issue, was 27 when joined marines and man the amount of extra phys we got due to younger ones being switched off but hey i was 17 i knew it was just the shock of it all...... am ready this now its head down and crack on, cheers for posts its cool to get other points of veiw aaron

[Greenronnie]

Mate, there are plenty of ex Marines that have gone Para, and I dare say the same may be true vice versa. Your maturity will bear you in good stead, as long as your body is up to the job!

There are quite a few older guys re enlisting these days by the way, as 10 years ago all we ever did was NI or the Balkans, so some of the guys are chomping at the bit to get out to Afghan. Speaking to a mate of mine in 2 Para yesterday, there's a 40 year old lance jack out there at the moment!

PS You know that you'll get some kind of cracking nickname, Grandad or whatever!

[aaronlee]

lol yeah kinda expecting that but all be part of the game eh... besides i get that no from all my civi mates lol, plus still in contatc with a few of mates made in recruit training and they are loving the fact that i wanna become a pongo as they so fondly refer to me as lol

[BIG Hal]

there was a lad on my selection who was in the marines about 6 years ago, he passed for para and I think that he's on the same intake as me next month. He told me that there were a few lads that went to CTCRM from the paras as they got injured in depot, came out and fancied a change. He said that the instructers look to those to square the other lads away and they do get banter off the corporals, but not a bullying type of banter. So from that note I wouldnt worry too much, unless the corporals are different in depot to those at CTCRM.

[SandyTheGuvnor]

.Speking to a mate of mine in 2 Para yesterday, there's a 40 year old lance jack out there at the moment!

Hes a very good mate of mine


And as too the original question the instructors will treat you exactly the same as the rest of the joes, the other joes might look at you a bit funny as you could be older than there mums and dads.

[aaronlee]

yeah probs be twice some of there ages lol, just looking forward to going now am chomping at the bits the process takea ages, been best part of 8 months now, what with med docs etc wittington got all they need now just waiting game for my afco to send me a test date now, am i right in thinking i do basic army entrance test to get in to phase one then have to do a pre para course before phase 2?

[SandyTheGuvnor]

am i right in thinking i do basic army entrance test to get in to phase one then have to do a pre para course before phase 2?

No you're not right, and for about the 100th time there is NO phase1/2 training here its a single cic(para)

[Tab]

If you are fit and think yo can do it then why not, the thing is you have very little time to build a career in the parachute regiment. Most of the people that you will be with will be about 18 years old, and many people in the Regiment that you will be with would already have ten years plus of service in. In about ten years time will start tell and your body will have a harder time carrying those loads while you march all day.
Now I am not saying don't do it, but you need to think very carefully what the future might hold for you.

[aaronlee]

ok first time have asked that but guess not first time you heard it, so my bad on that one, as regards to last post cheers for advice not really sure how long i would do 10 yrs dont sound to bad then take it from there, to me getting in is the main thing

[martymcfly]

@ aaronlee
hey bud just came across this tab i'm in the same situation as u when i.e old recruit i've just turned 30 and waiting for adsc - lookin to join para ? did u stick it through in the end would love to get feedback from u on this one mate cheers

[HoucHman]

good luck mate, im going for paras also and im 25, will hopfully c u in there lol