Heights issue

[willh32]

Hi,

Got an issue with heights, which has a long story behind it!

But to cut it all short, I have a fear of heights. I was initially joining the Royal Marines, got to the PRMC stage and on the assault course, and was told i had failed due to lack of confidence at height.

I was knocked back a lot, because I had committed everything in my life to it for the past 3 years, and it all came to a halt, because I stalled on the plank at height.

Now I've considered other options I have never really put much thought into! I spent 3 years studying military/services, and am able to apply for officer in the Army, but again my heights issue is beginning to haunt me. So my question is, does the army take problems with heights as serious as to fail you for 9 months to come back to do it again, or do they accept you have it, and work on conquering it during training?

Any replies a huge thank-you!

Will.

[Hyperlithe]

Could you not work on it before applying/re-applying? It would get you a lot further than turning up and saying you know you have a problem and expecting them to help you...
I'm RAF aircrew, and I don't like heights! Got round the assault courses ok (couple of minor wobbles!), am fine doing emergency egress (hand over hand down a flimsy rope...) out of an aircraft from over 20ft up, no problems flying, but never been able to jump off the top diving board at the swimming pool.

[willh32]

Yeah, I attempted 50%+ of the assault course at my PRMC, but got stuck at a certain point, I give it 100%, but the plank part always catches me out!

[Tab]

If you are nervous on a plank who would you be up the mountains scrambling around. You have to cross gaps by sliding across a single strand of rope with all your kit on. There are a very good reason why they do these tests and that is to weed out those that can't do it

[mike.dt]

Maybe you should consider going for another job. Most jobs in the Army don't require you to be confident at heights (Besides the Para's obviously ). This isn't a guarantee that you'll never come across a high section on an assault course if you join the army, but I am comfortable with saying that you won't be thrown off the basic training course for hesitation at heights.

Other advice- Get bungee jumping, climbing, skydiving, or paragliding... whatever it takes to conquer your fear before you give it another shot. Drill it into your head that it's just a feeling, and it shouldn't be a bar to your success. If you got far enough to get onto the tarzan course in the first place then you've obviously shown that you have the potential to succeed and become a royal marine, it's just a matter of how bad you want it.

Good luck