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Ah I see... thanks for explaining that
Objectively I can see your logic, it would have made sense to do exactly that. My dad would have been chuffed about that having been with 41 at some point.
If I do get to serve in 1Rifles and work with RM I will be priviledged and happy to do so.

Out of curiousity, what 1.5 mile times were you getting prior to attending PRAC??

On an undulating route I was getting around 9m15s - 9m30s.
On the flat (athletic track, also on treadmill) was regularly getting sub 9 mins.

And they said that was too slow? That does not bode well for me... I'm rather consistantly getting 8:55 - 9:00

On the day I really psyched myself out. That's as close to an excuse as I'll give
If you're making times like that you should be fine buddy, don't let my failure worry you!

They wanted 9m30s on the run and I got a few seconds over.
Gutted but taken on the chin and moved on.

Good to know. I'm just trying to gauge where I'm at, you know?

And along the conversation more in line with the thread topic. I have a mate who has two brothers; one in the Paras and the other in the Coldstream Guards. The one in the Coldstream Guards originally wanted to go Para as well, but for some reason was disuaded. According to my mate his brother in the Coldstream Gaurds is very fit, has completed P-coy, and has served in aggressive operations in Afghan. So that may be an option for you. Although I'm not sure if he is some sort of special unit of the Coldstream Guards. I wanna say the word battle group or something....

Also I've been reading/watching things on the Royal Anglian and they seem to be fairly aggresive unit. According to a doc I watched, their tour (at the time) had the highest confirmed kill count of any other unit. I have also learned that it's Ross Kemp's favourite unit, sooo big plus there.

Yes I was encouraged to go for Guards by a Para NCO, he said don't do any other infantry because "they're all shit".
The selling point he used was the "Guards' para company", which is appealing.
However on doing a bit of research I found that it's quite a small body of men, and competition to get into it is spread over the whole of the guards' five regiments.

In the meantime I don't want to be doing ceremonial duties for long periods of time, it's just not what I'm interested in. So that would be a bad move for me on the off chance that I might one day get a chance to get into the guards' para company.

Someone else recommended the Blues and Royals because of their elite recce troop, again a very interesting and appealing idea - but again I'm just not keen on polishing horses' dicks at 0430 ...

hi ofens

i know of a very elite regiment more so than the Paras and they dont do any ceremonial duties. you may have heard of them, 22 SAS Regiment


Ares

Haha thanks Ares although don't they do a ceremonial dance of the fan...?

Well the SAS is comnprised of 68% of paratroopers, and the rest are there to make the tea

I make a cracking cup of tea, maybe they'll let me have a go one day

Tab wrote:Well the SAS is comnprised of 68% of paratroopers, and the rest are there to make the tea

Thats alot of tea

I like tea

Maybe i should join.



Ares

ofens wrote:Rifles looks like a really good option, it looks like lots of different things going on because it's a big regiment. 1 Rifles do AACC so perhaps get involved in that if I can.

1 Rifles are part of 3 Cdo Bde, but it is worth pointing out that the army isn't a democracy. You may well want to go 1 Rifles, but if 4 Rifles is undermanned or 3 Rifles are off on tour then you will go to them. Saying that after a few years under your belt you could well move around the battalions.

ofens wrote:I also spoke to someone from the Guards and he explained that once through basic training, guys who are fit enough can go straight to guards para company and get involved in that.
(Does anyone know more about this...?)

I've never heard of blokes going straight from Catterick to the Guards Parachute Platoon. The Guards Para Company was cut decades ago. Now 30 Guardsmen make up a platoon in B Company, 3 Para.

Obviously, competition is very fierce and so only the best blokes get sent to the para platoon.

ofens wrote:I've been offered the chance to go on a "Look at life" course with the guards, I think I'll go on that to learn more. That way I can make a better informed choice.

Definately give it a go. After all, you don't loose anything from it.

ofens wrote:Any lads from Rifles or Guards who are in / recently completed training reading this, I'd like to hear from you

Something about the guards is that all 5 regiments do lots of overseas travel and exercises. After all, everyone in the world has heard of the guards so there is plently of oppertunity to travel. Recently The Scots Guards have done exercises in places like France, Canada, Poland and Kenya.

At one time every one had to do the P Course to be attached to the the full parachute course and earn their wings

Tab wrote:At one time every one had to do the P Course to be attached to the the full parachute course and earn their wings

Not entirely sure what you mean here.

All Gdsm who want to be in the Guards Para Platoon do have to pass P-Coy.