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Hi guy's just asking for some advice really. I have joined the navy,been in for about 8months now. I was wondering how i go about joining 22,if im eligible and what kinda stuff id have to go through!?I know what your all thinking, a matelow in 22?im willing to give it my all,feel my fitness is high and that i should start preparing now because its something id love to do.any advice would be greatful!

I'm not in the forces (yet) but even I know you have to spend at least three years in one of the forces before you are eligible for selection...


lew

Not in the forces either, not even British, but why don't you transfer to the Marines? Gives you some idea of the physical aspects and it's good preparation. If you have to wait three years, might as well gain some useful experience.

So then matlow,
Have you changed your mind about transfering to the Corps?
Blimey, a lot can happen in 24 hours.
Aw well, never mind...you'll still have to face your D.O. at some point whether its to put your request for transfer in, or chit in for selection.

I think you ought to decide what you REALLY want to do first and foremost before you start wasting anyones time.

matlow mate, what branch are you in now? If you MEM, RO or MA you can go commando (probably other branches but as I aint a careers advisor maybe some other members of the forums can add to the list)
Try and get some green time under your belt before considering 22.
I aint an expert its just my opinion. Its not all about fitness, its mental strength, possibly more so and maybe some of the HMB brigade will comment further.
If you´ve only been in the Navy 8 months then you cant long be out of training or maybe your still in it. Your DO probably wont entertain any request for transfer before you´ve settled into your first draft and possibly your second. Try and do some time with the Corps as a Matelot and then decide what you want to do. No offence meant here, but you seem to be reading the forums or books and saying to yourself "on theres nice i´ll give that a go" when you really should be standing back listening to the old sweats in your present draft. No other unit will look at you seriously if your changing your mind every 5 mins after only 8 months in.
Dont get me wrong if you know what you want go for it, I joined as a RO and changed during training to MA so change is possible, but I knew I was wrong branch in Raleigh and in fairness I was young and just wanted to get in and should have waited for a MA place.
But RN to RM to SAS in a weekend is abit silly and hopefully you´ll sit down and look back at this in a few months time and think to yourself "silly sod" and then go for what your mind is made up to do.
I wish you all the luck mate, Hereford is open to all serving members of the forces, and you have a right to apply, but your DO wont think much if different pieces of paper are winging their way across his desk every 5 mins when your just out of the box.
Settle in, enjoy your first draft, chill get some experience then decide.
P.S. i personally have never heard first hand of any matelots going for Hereford, but then I have had nothing to do with Hereford, but I have heard of a few guys (and a gal) go Det and do a bloody good job.

Thanks for the rapid replies.In all honesty yes ive been totally confused about the whole lot. I have always relished the oportunity of being in one of the elite organisations. Clearly you have mis-understood what i was after. I was after some advice and help on the matter. Yes i agree totally about the fact that it will not go in my favour changing my mind every minute. No way am i ready for either 22 or RM. I would just like to know what all my options are, get some idea's and decide from there. I know 22 is clearly more infantry based,this is why i wanted to know whether matelow's were able to give selection a shot. Anyway guy's thanks for your advice, cu around.

Unless you're adept at tabbing/yomping, map reading, survival, skill at arms, fieldcraft, and your stamina would surpass any marathon runner, I would seriously consider transferring to RM first, like these lads said. On top of these skills, you need to have incredible mental strength and determination. SF selection has a really low pass rate, and soldiers and marines have died during selection, even though they had a lot of experience in every aspect of soldiering, and were also incredibly fit. I wouldn't recommend any matelot go for SF selection without previous soldiering experience, and a lot of it.
Remember, if you transfer to RM, you'll be expected to be fit before you get there, and the rest you'll learn. When you go for SF selection, they expect you to know what you're doing when you get there. You'll get NO help. Just think about it for a bit longer, and read up on SAS selection.

Machiavellian, its made up of mostly Para's. Thats what i have been told, from Paras serving to television documentrys.

Grimey Vibes wrote:Machiavellian, its made up of mostly Para's. Thats what i have been told, from Paras serving to television documentrys.

That's what I heard as well. The most common route for RM into special forces is into SBS.... But I could be wrong.

SBS = Navy
SAS = Army

If you want to join the SAS and your in the Navy you have to leave and take a gamble on passing selection or vice versa.

Under the new heading of UKSF, you can jointhe SAS or SBS from any of the British Forces units without leaving and joining another unit.

This also means thatthe SAS and SBS will from October be able to actively seek applicants from any of the three services.

they're wrong. You need to get hold of a RN DCI from 2003 entitled 'Opportunities for Naval Personnel to serve with the SAS and SBS'. It should be held by your UPO or find it via the NavyStar system. As it is not unclassified I won't go into the details for the process of applying, but it is fully laid out there.

In addition, if you are anywhere near COLLINGWOOD, SULTAN or the major base ports then there are regular briefings on joining SF, look out for it on daily orders.

hope this helps,

Al

alfred_the_great
Stop being lazy, like the rest of us - and tell us what RN DCI from 2003 entitled 'Opportunities for Naval Personnel to serve with the SAS and SBS'. - actually say's.
It would be very interesting, especially as most of us on this forum don't have access to RN DCI's.
Sneaky

but you and I both know that an SO3 can't decide what is unclass and what isn't.

but....
the general gist of it is that 3 years service, your CO's permission and passing SB pre-selection (mandatory for all prospective SBS candidates) are all you need to go forward to selection proper. As for the lack of military skills present in most matelots, then there is a quite rigorous process of bringing you up to speed before going onto the hills. Entry to SAS is generally the same, however there is no pre-selection per se, just a briefing.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. but to be fair the only people it's really pertinent to are serving members....

Al