RMR or Regular Officer?

[davidemmerson]

Ok, I know this section is a bit dead but I'm going to post this here.

I applied for an RM Commission back in Sep 07, but messed up on the RT, where I passed for Rating entry but just missed out on Officer entry. To be fair though, my mechanical comprehension and non-verbal reasoning score were quite low because I just didn't put the revision in before hand. So I decided to leave it for a while and concentrated on my A-Levels.

Got 260 UCAS points from Eng Lang, Eng Lit and History and had my eye on the 2009 or 2010 Batch. But during the summer I decided that I wanted to go to Uni so applied and got an unconditional offer to study English and English Language (Joint Honours) and the University of the West of England. Dead chuffed with that but here's my real problem: I'm so bored and unmotivated. I work full time at Morrisons, which is fine before I go to Uni but a killer when you think Uni is about 9 months away!

I thought about joining the RMR whilst at Uni (Plymouth is in Bristol RMR so should be ok with Uni) but seem unsure if this is the right path. If I was to go RMR, I doubt I would go reg officer, doing training again would be a nightmare! But I also seems unsure whether this is the right move because of commitment required over Uni. But I think the over-riding problem is that I don't think I have this 'innate ability' to be an Officer, I'm just not sure if I'm the right kind of person. I was wondering if any other people had similar issues ( )? Should I just brave this gap year out and see what happens? Is there anybody at Uni who is in the RMR, does it work? Can you manage both lives?

I want to be an RM Officer but I just don't know if I can do it.

None of this actually makes sense, I'm just trying to convey what I'm thinking into text. Don't think it's working!!!!

Arrrrrrggggghhhh!

Any advice?

I'm a mong- never underestimate the RT! It doesn't do much for your confidence or self esteem!

David.

[dwarfy]

David,

I personally think you should really think long and hard about going to Uni and joining the RMR whilst doing so. I was with the RMR in the latter part of my second year at uni and then the early part of my final year. Personally with the commitment at that stage of uni, for me, it was too much.I left and recently returned having now finished uni.However many can juggle the two even in the latter stages of uni, depending on your course and the amount of work required from it. Regardless, i think if you were set up and ready to begin RMR during your first year, this would be the perfect scenario for anyone in the RMR. At this stage the Uni effort and workload would not have picked up too much plus you will have plenty of time to get in your own training which is a must for the RMR.

With regards to the RMR and the officer route, be aware that this years YO batch from what i have heard is made up of close to 50% RMR lads who got their Green lids or were in the process of doing so whilst they were at Uni. This speaks volumes for the amount of good this option will do for you when your going for a regular commision. If you have doubts about your ability to lead or in your confidence to become an Officer at present, the combination of Uni and RMR over the next 3 years will almost certainly help you build yourself, or at the very least show you one way or another whether you think you are cut out for RM Officer or not. You will learn alot and mature alot at University if you concentrate on gaining the 'right' things from it, and not just on having a laugh ALL the time. You may feel far more 'ready' and confident in yourself to go for RM Officer at the end of it, plus you will have had that perfect insight from the RMR. Plus of course you get paid for all your weekends and drill nights, plus a bounty if you complete the requirements for attendance, all a nice bonus when your at Uni.

After xmas leave, RMR Bristol will be having their 'presentation' evenings again for prospective Recruits, get along to one and ask the questions you want to, they will answer them. If you want any more info PM me and i'll do my best to give you the answers.

dwarfy,

[davidemmerson]

Cheers mate.

I didn't write a good thread, I was trying to explain how much of a rut I felt I was in at the moment and how I needed something to boost my confidence. I may well go to the presentation evening anyway, just to see what it's like. I think Uni should have preference like you said, it's just that 9 months seems like such a long time away that I wanted to inspire towards something. Hopefully the OTC will develop my leadership skills whilst at Uni and working is giving me some life experience.

David.

[Oz-Man]

Mate, I am in totally the same situation as you. Instead of entering the marines right after school I've chosen to go to uni. I'm on my gapyear at the moment (my work is the pitsby the way) and I am certainly going to join RMR whilst at uni. (even if its not right at the start of 1st year)

And I do know what you mean about the being unsure of whether you have the outright qualities of being a good officer in the Corps. I don't know whether I have enough of the solid confidence, self belief and proof of leadership that they want in type of person that they are looking for. I know deep down I could get there though through lots of hard work, but I feel I need to prove to myself just how much I can achieve first... And joining the RMR and being at uni is something I see as having the power to give me that.

Don't get me wrong there is OTC at uni too. And if the shi* hits the fan in any way, which it won't, (here's hoping) I will consider it. But I want to prove to myself I can go a step further than that and earn a green beret - and this would be the ultimate proof to myself of my ability.

[davidemmerson]

Hi Oz-Man.

I've also looked at the University Royal Navy Unit, which is like the OTC but for the RN. I think I'm now not going to go down the RMR route, although if I get to Uni and things change, I'll definatly give it a shot. I can't wait to crack on!

Good luck mate!

David

[Ali3]

Hello mate,

I graduated from uni last June. I did OTC in my first year, quit this and did RMR through my 2nd year completing the phase 1 course.

I had to do the RT for the RMR back in March 2006, I passed for recruit, however, when I started my application for YO 09 in the summer of 2008 I was told I had to re-do the test as I didn’t score high enough in the one I did in 2006. I was quite miffed because in 2006 I had no idea that it would count towards my YO application. Plus I was told that a candidate only has 2 attempts. So in September 08 I turned up quite nervous to sit my RT for the second and final time knowing that failure in a 1 hour written test would end my life long dream. However, I practised psychometric tests until my eyes bled and actually found the test ok and passed for officer entry.

It can be done, just do your homework and practice under pressure.

RMR and uni is not too bad. I wouldn’t do it during the first term of your first year as it’s a manic time, there is so much going on. 2nd term or 3rd term will be fine. Second year is a more relaxed year so I found it fine balancing it all. I only had 8 hours lectures a week and I didn’t do too much work so a large part of my time was devoted to RMR. Third year was a different story I had to put RMR on hold and focus on my studies.

My advice would be you must at least try and become an RM officer to see if you’re good enough. By not even attempting it you may regret it for the rest of your life. That’s my philosophy, im going to train and prep as hard as I can, if I’m successful then hooorah! If not, then at least I gave it my all.

If you want to know anymore, feel free to ask.

[davidemmerson]

Thanks for the post mate, think I've got it sorted now, when I go to Uni I'm going to try and join he URNU and then hopefully regular Officer. Work is picking up now, plus I don't want to jepodise a good degree over the RMR when that is still there after Uni, especially if I go for another career as well. Thanks for the help!

[letsrole]

Can I just ask a question, why URNU and not OTC? OTC is far more relevant to a RM officer. Just because URNU is part of the Navy dont think it will be the most helpful. As I said im just curious

[Ali3]

I agree, you may get frustrated with URNU as it will probably focus around the RN. The OTC is quite green and is quite good fun, so you will learn about soldiering albeit in a basic form and will enable yourself to make a more informed decision regarding a career in the RM. In the OTC you will meet other like minded people who may be considering the RM or similar units, so you will appreciate the bond that exists between people who hope to live the same dream.

I don't know what the URNU is like, enquire about it- it may have a good association with the RM. However, you may get bored/frustrated with doing seamanship all the time.

Don't worry if you don't feel like your up to the RM standard, you have time in the bank. By the time you have finished uni you will have matured and developed well and everything will seem less daunting. Just take things one step at a time, get to uni, join a unit, get your degree under your belt, get into YO.