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Hi,

I'm currently in the process of applying to become an Officer, with my first interview next week. I recently spoke to my family about my plans and heard some interesting opinions and wondered what you guys thought.
Firstly, my brother's a sapper and the first thing he said was "officers don't get the full experience, just more money" is that true?
Secondly, when I told my mum about becomming and officer she said "officers don't get respected because they just come in with a degree and are often younger / less experienced than the guys they are in charge of" I think she got this impression from my grandfather who was a sergeant in the signals years ago...

What are your opinions on this?

Cheers,

Ja

By full experience he probably means a different experience. Its not the same as being a ranker, you wont have all the mates and the camaraderie. You cant be one of the lads and you will have to make un popular decisions. But you will get to command British soldiers and have the privilige of leading the best troops in the world. Thats about as full an experience as I can imagine.

In terms of respect, I think thats rubbish. The system would not work without respect and its worked for hundreds of years. However its mostly down to the individual. If you are worthy of respect you will get it, If you are not you wont. Its true that a lot of your soldiers will be more experienced than you, the way you react to them, and interact with them will be a large part of wether you gain respect yourself.

Since I have the T shirt I venture to suggest that
the officer training is harder. However the young
officer is very much on probation and he must
not display any misplaced hubris. He should seek
advice from his senior NCOs' who will not disrespect
him just as he should from his brother officers.
Respect has to be earned as my squad instructor told
me when I was a Royal Marines recruit.

RM & Queensman.