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RMR

General discussions on joining & training in the Royal Marines.
kevin916
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RMR

Post by kevin916 »

I am going to be applying to join the Royal Marines as an officer in May or around September time this year. I have been told by the careers liaison officer that I could do with trying to get some more leadership experience in before the AIB in 2008 (if I pass POC that is).

I was wondering if it would be benefit me to join an RMR branch in the near future seeing as I have over a year before my possible AIB interview?
Chrisbrum
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Post by Chrisbrum »

As far as the leadership experience goes, I'm not sure if joining the RMR will help you, as I believe all applicants to the RMR join as recruits and then get pinged either during or after RT for officer training. Seen as you're talking about doing your AIB next year, and also bearing in mind that you'll have to wait for the next intake of RMR recruits at your local detachment, I doubt you would have time to move on to the officer/leadership training side of things before your AIB.

That said, I would highly recommend joining the RMR anyway. You'll gain a fantastic insight into the Corps, as well as greatly improving your fitness and having a bit of a headstart on your fellow YOs if and when you successfully start officer training. Theoretically if you can crack the Commando Tests with RMR then your POC should be a breeze. I'm looking at the same path as you, although with 2 1/2 years left of my degree it'll be a little longer before I go down for POC and AIB.

For more info on the RMR, go onto the RMR forum and have a look at the sticky thread at the top of the page. It'll give you more info on the joining process and interview, and will soon be updated with information about Holding Troop and eventually - hopefully - recruit training.

Hope that helps a bit.

Chris
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Post by MrC »

Give it a go anyway if you can commit, even though as said above, you wont have time to go into the officer side of things with the RMR before your regular intake, but you will at least be able to get some insight into how the team works, and how your officers role fits in with the troops life.

I tried it with the TA while waiting for my POC and gained a good view of the officers role compared to the soldiers role, was quite valuable to me.


Edit: also the fitness side of things will prepare you better than anything else for what will be coming up in your life with the corps, Good luck with your decision.
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Post by Scouser »

Kevin - RMR would certainly do you no harm, at AIB they look for examples where you have worked as a team, showed some sort of commitment and stuck at it, worked through difficult situations and, of course, been a leader. RMR will give you plenty of examples, I'm sure, for these sorts of things. I would advise you to do a lot more on top though, they don't let you give examples from the same thing again and again in your AIB interview, try and do a broad range of things in the next year or so and you'll have tonnes of experiences to waffle on about.
Good luck mate
kevin916
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Post by kevin916 »

Thanks very much for the replies, they have been quite helpful.

I finish my degree at the end of May this year in Glasgow and after that my current flat lease terminates (university owned flat therefore cannot renew). At the moment I am trying to work out whether to go back to my hometown for a while to the northern isles of Scotland or whether to stay on the mainland which would involve finding a job and new accomodation. I really think it would be worth my while to get involved in an RMR unit though and back home there is only a TA unit.

I see that RMR Scotland are recruiting next in May so I had better go and visit my careers office fairly soon I guess.
batess01
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Post by batess01 »

you could think about joining the OTC, that way youl get more experience to "officer/leadership" related style... perhaps.
Chrisbrum
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Post by Chrisbrum »

Having read your second post, and realising that you are at University, the OTC could be a very good avenue to take. However, it all depends on what you are looking for.

My own personal experience of the OTC was not fantastic, but I feel this was largely due to expectations set by my prior experience in the TA. I found the OTC to be more of a social club, with more of a focus on making friends and getting plastered than on military training. The defining moment for me was on one particular exercise, when after moving into a patrol harbour, my platoon, instead of assigning a stag rota and settling into harbour routine, decided to all stand round a few stoves and chat about next weekend's planned p*ss up while at the same time whinging about how cold and wet it was! I personally felt that if I was going to sit around and chat, I'd rather do it in the comfort of my own home or in the pub, rather than in the middle of a wood in the freezing cold and p*ssing rain. I don't mind being cold, wet and hungry, so long as I'm doing it for a reason.

On the flipside, however, the OTC do train their members to pass the MTQ 1 and MTQ 2 exams. MTQ 2 in particular is focussed on the leadership side of things, involving planning exercises, platoon commander appointments etc. If the key focus you are looking for is on leadership experience as opposed to good quality training in basic soldiering, then the OTC is probably the best option.

The other thing to consider is the timescale. The first year in OTC is dedicated to MTQ 1, which is equivalent to basic infantry training. Only on successful completion of this can you progress onto MTQ 2, the leadership training, which takes place in the 2nd year. If Kevin has his POC and AIB next year, he would only have time to complete MTQ 1 before going down to Lympstone, and as such would probably be better off joining either RMR or a regular TA Unit, which would, in my opinion - and especially in the case of RMR - offer a much higher quality of training. Additionally, it is unlikely that he would now be able to join c@#t the next University year starts in September, and as he has already stated, he leaves university in May, which unfortunately makes that option a non starter.

So, to cut a long story short, I think in Kevin's case RMR or regular TA would be the best, if not the only option. For those with more time at university or planning to attend university before applying to join the Marines, it is a case of weighing up the options as to what you are looking for. RMR and TA will offer a higher standard of military training, but with little emphasis on leadership, whereas the OTC will give you the opportunity to gain leadership experience, but perhaps slightly at the expense of higher quality 'green' training.

I think the best course of action when considering this would simply to be to get in touch with someone at all of the relevant units and see which one takes your fancy the most!

Chris
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Post by dwarfy »

Personally i wouldnt even glance at the OTC, they are a bunch of wasters as far im concerned and i imagine only 1 per cent of them ever go on to do anything in the Armed Forces. Thats from what i have seen of them anyway....just a fun club for people to have a laugh. I,d go RMR all the way, remember you will still get some forms of leadership skills from within Recruit training (and not specifically Officer training), all RM recruits will have to take things on themselves alot of the time and you may be Duty Recruit or asked to act as Section Commander on an exercise and what not, so all of this will add to your potential. If you show signs of good leadership skills within the RMR during training, im sure this wont be lost on your application to become an Officer.

Plus it shows a dedication and solid interest in the Corps, and that you have been interested even througout your degree. You will take alot away from your time in the RMR and it will stand you well if you have passed RMR training if you end up going for Officer in the regs.

Best of luck mate
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Post by letsrole »

Dwarfy, please dont slag off the OTC if you have never been part of it (and btw 50% of officer cadets that go to Sandhurst have been part of the OTC).

I think it all depends on the OTC that you are at, I am at Oxford OTC and in my experience it was more detailed and hands on than some of the lessons (with phase one recruts) at RMR Henely (whilst in HT). I am only considered at 'phase one' as well at my OTC as I am MTQ1. MTQ2 which I will undertake in April teaches how to become a platoon commander and learning the orders process etc and takes one year aswell. Sounds glamourus but the WOs there are some of the hardest barsterards I have ever met, usually with at least 15 years experience. We also have 3 para instructors for the inf side of things. At the end of year 2 I will have a leadership qualification, that would be useful for AOSB or the AIB, and the OTC doesnt take up a lot of my time as it doesnt concur with lectures and the building is close to my Uni. If I were to go RMR the commitment would be a lot higher and the journey would take around an hour, and thats not going to happen if my lectures end at 6. Just my tuppence!
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Post by dwarfy »

letsrole,

As i have said, 'thats what i have seen of them', but i have to say the guy who i lived with for two years first of all went to the OTC and i believe it may have been the Oxford one, i may be mistaken (he was from university of Gloucestershire), and he then left to go to the RMR and says you can not compare the two, in terms of quality of training, and the mentality of the people recieving the training. Personally the lads i saw from my University who attended OTC were not in the same ball park as the lads i met during my time in RT with the RMR, and nor did they need to be as having spoken to them on numerous occasions, it barely seemed to be anything where being 'swithced on' was a nessesity or even a requirement. 99 per cent of the time all of the stuff they talked about was of jovial fun and adventure training and certainly not anything of particular use for aiming for a career in the Royal Marines, in compariosn to the training you'd recieve on woodbury common or down at CTC with the RMR.(which will introduce you to the mindset and mentality of being in the Royal Marines)

I am not saying, all those who attend are in the same category and maybe further down the line in OTC training things pick up, but personally i still feel that for the Royal Marines POC/AIB (not sandhurst) having been in the RMR would stand you in a far better position than having been in the OTC.

Ok 'wasters' as i put it was the wrong word, my appologies for that, i just dont think many of those who attend are actually thinking of really going into the Forces and are just there for adevnture and some 'extra' pocket money.Ok so some do, but its not quite the RMR is it?

The short of it is that in my opinion if you want to go for Ofiicer in the RM, you'd be better off joining the RMR whilst at uni, thats my opinion, it may be wrong.
kevin916
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Post by kevin916 »

Thanks for these replies they really are invaluable. As stated in a previous reply I probably would not be able to join the OTC at this stage seeing as it is my final year. I am pretty sure now that I am going to stay on the mainland and fire into either RMR Tyne or the RMR in Glasgow. The next recruiting phase for these bases are at the end of May for Glasgow and the beginning of June for Newcastle so this will fit in well with the completion of my degree course. I should be able to complete over a year in the reserves (if I get in) before my potential AIB in September 2008.
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Post by letsrole »

Fair Dos, as you said its only what you heard but I have been to both and from what I have seen the OTC was better than the RMR, not slating anyone here who is in the RMR, as I have the upmost respect for you, and as I said I only sat in a few lessons during a few holding troop sessions.

There are a few nobs in the OTC Ill give you that, a lot more than I saw in the RMR but, and I guess it could be called a better social club too as thats all people seems to think it is. Not going to lie to you the social life IS amazing. But so is the training, and thats because Iv got good platoon staff, where as if you are dickEd with a shite training team your going to have a bad time. There are to many circumstances.

I believe OTC is a better choice if you are a student, not saying its the only choice just easier (now your going to go on about taking the easy option but thats a differnent subject).

As I said I'm not slating the RMR in any way, as I am intending, amoungst other options, to join the RMR.
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Post by dwarfy »

'Sit in' on a few excecises down on woodbury and i think you may change your mind Letsrole, sitting in a period or lecture on camp or at a det is one thing but out in the field it is a different ball game.

Like i say, my mate, who i trust one hundred per cent left the OTC after 18 months and went to the RMR got his Green lid and says it was the best choice he made. Personally i dont think you can even begin to compare the two in terms of 'green' training, would you send the OTC to Afghanistan? i know that is not why they are there, and that is not the aim of the OTC but its just that i still dont think you can compare the two, they are not meant for the same goals for a start. I just feel you have more to offer the RM if you have been a member of the RMR during uni, and not as you admit yourself just had a hoofing social life with the OTC. I admit there may be more to the OTC than i portrayed but i still dont for one second put it above the experience the RMR could give you. When i went to the AFCO in my second year, they suggested the RMR was the better option, saying that a fair few YO's had been in the RMR during thier studies, they did not mention the OTC of which i believe their is a Royal Navy equivalent???

Anyway this is turning into a pissing contest, we have different views and thats fine.

Best of luck with what ever you do mate, are you thinking of applying for Officer with the RM?

dwarfy
letsrole
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Post by letsrole »

To settle this I'd just like to say the RMR are much better than the OTC, at pretty much anything lol.

I have just come back off ex with my OTC and we were in the same area as phase one RMR recruits. Just the disipline for inspection and on the runs and stuff, kicks anything we do really. The only thing though is, I saw them a total of 5 times, 4 of them doing phys and 1 doing a morning inspection! I was on stag at 4am and I saw them speed marching past me... is this the norm in the RMR? Like there is only so much phys you can fit into a day right? How much phys did you used to do? To be honest I felt like joining on the back of the speed march, get some real solidering done.

I think we get more rounds to play around with than you though!

And yes there is a RN version of OTC, but thats even worse.

I think i'll stick with my origonal plan, stay with the OTC for three years, get a TA commision in my third year, and in my final year (4 year course!) give the RMR a go, then hopefully be selected for officer within the RMR.
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