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Posted: Fri 03 Apr, 2009 2:11 pm
by paraprep1
ok then lads, iv got my letter through on my next selection (or as they call it an assessment) the course is 3 days long at catterick.
physically the course looks pretty easy (on paper
) there is one run to do on day two which oddly consists of 3.5 miles squadded (9 min/mile) followed by 1.5 mile best effort, plus the usual 2mins situps and pressups, later on day two is an intro to the trainasium.
day three the only physical stuff is an assualt course. then the interviews to see if you passed.
looking at the schedule the course has a huge emphasis on discipline with lots of room and kit inspections thourought the 3 days, also theres a written test similiar to the grenade test but on reloading an sa80, also theres something about writting your life story down in an essay
sounds like gcse english all over again
Posted: Fri 03 Apr, 2009 11:26 pm
by druadan
You mean you have to be able to write to join the Paras now?
They're going up in the world ain't they?
Posted: Sat 04 Apr, 2009 10:41 am
by gpw2009
That doesn't sound too bad.... sure they will come down hard on inspections and stuff, give you a taste of whats to come!
Posted: Sat 04 Apr, 2009 2:39 pm
by gunner75
druadan
when i had to write my life story it was a mere 500,000 pages...... one big child like scrawl of a capital letter per page naturally of course....
Posted: Sat 04 Apr, 2009 3:56 pm
by EagleEyes
God knows what my recruitment officer was on about when he said it was 2 weeks then
As you say sounds fairly straight forward, just the life story essay type thing that I'll struggle with, I hated English at school and still do.
Hence my bad grammar.
Posted: Sat 04 Apr, 2009 5:01 pm
by paraprep1
im sure the life story thing is nothing to worry about really, iv had experience doing something similiar writting about my life... although that was in one of my A level exams that i couldnt be bothered to complete so i randomly wrote everything about myself then finished it off by drawing round my hand
somehow i got 10 marks for this
Posted: Sat 04 Apr, 2009 8:16 pm
by _Mark_
any info if re-inlisters have to do this, not bothered if it's the case, just means another thing in the way.
Posted: Tue 07 Apr, 2009 3:09 pm
by _Mark_
I spoke to a mate who's in Falklands platoon at catterick, He seems to think it's similar to the insight course but with more of
the Joe factor
in other words might be a good idea to get a sense of humour if you dont have already have one
Posted: Tue 07 Apr, 2009 6:41 pm
by gpw2009
_Mark_ wrote:I spoke to a mate who's in Falklands platoon at catterick, He seems to think it's similar to the insight course but with more of
the Joe factor
in other words might be a good idea to get a sense of humour if you dont have already have one
In other words, they are just going to thrash you for 3 days!
The only thing I have been told by my recruiting office is that it's not like a selection, once you have passed ADSC you will still go into training, it's just to take a look at what training will be like (i.e trashings)
Posted: Tue 07 Apr, 2009 7:50 pm
by EagleEyes
gpw2009 wrote:_Mark_ wrote:I spoke to a mate who's in Falklands platoon at catterick, He seems to think it's similar to the insight course but with more of
the Joe factor
in other words might be a good idea to get a sense of humour if you dont have already have one
In other words, they are just going to thrash you for 3 days!
The only thing I have been told by my recruiting office is that it's not like a selection, once you have passed ADSC you will still go into training, it's just to take a look at what training will be like (i.e trashings)
I say
BRING IT ON! 
Posted: Wed 08 Apr, 2009 4:09 pm
by paraprep1
i think the 'thrashings' could be the case especially since theres no PT or physical tests on day one and only a small amout on the next two days, it all sounds too easy to be true, im certain they will have lots of little surprises that weren't mentioned in the criteria
Posted: Thu 09 Apr, 2009 5:17 pm
by EagleEyes
I don't know if the 'life essay' was you having' a laugh but spoke to my recruitment officer and he said basically everything you did but no essay, the only tough bit is the 3.5 mile squadded run then straight after 1.5mile best time...
Posted: Thu 09 Apr, 2009 9:38 pm
by J.Fazza
Alright lads. I just got my start date for depot para on the 12th July. I passed selection on 25th March. I must have missed the new selection by a couple of days. Kind of glad i don't have to go through another selection. When lads have done it, can they post what they went through as i'm sure potential recruits would like to know what to expect. Good luck paraprep, let us know how you get on.
Anyone else going on 12th July, let me know.
Posted: Fri 10 Apr, 2009 1:31 pm
by paraprep1
EagleEyes wrote:I don't know if the 'life essay' was you having' a laugh but spoke to my recruitment officer and he said basically everything you did but no essay, the only tough bit is the 3.5 mile squadded run then straight after 1.5mile best time...
no i wasnt 'having a laugh' EagleEyes... it says on the PRAC programme on day two '1600- 1700, Basic skills test/ Candidates to write essay on their life' thats a direct quote if you don't believe me...
No worries j.fazza i'll be sure to update this thread after i complete the course and give and overview of what it was like.
Posted: Sat 11 Apr, 2009 6:18 am
by _Mark_
paraprep1 wrote: day two '1600- 1700, Basic skills test/ Candidates to write essay on their life
Just write an abbreviated version of 'Forest Gump' no-one will know