First of all thanks for letting me take time out of your lives to read this
.I am 19 years old and I am seriously considering joining the Infantry. I like the adrenaline and I like to challenge myself.
I have seriously thought of where I want to go with my life and an army career seems to be one of the top options for me.
I do however have a few questions, quite a few actually.
I am Polish and that is my original nationality, Ive lived in England for around 6 or 7 years but I dont have a British passport or anything along those lines. Will this be a problem when signing up for army? Do I need to apply for an English passport?
Poland is now in the EU so I wouldnt think this makes much of a difference but apparently one of my friends dad had a problem signing up because he was Polish. Not sure how the story went though.
That was the first question
Im sorry if this gets lengthy but this is a big decision in my life and Id like some insight. Ever since I was 10 Ive loved snipers, everything about them, the stealth the accuracy the patience. Ive always been a patient lad and have no problems sitting in a bush for a day or two if thats what it takes. Every game I play (Currently Battlefield 3) I choose to go with a sniper
The whole idea of sniping fascinates me and seems very cool to me.How hard is it to become a fully qualified and trained sniper? Is it something everybody can apply for or do I need to be a good shot and really show off my marksman skills in order to be able to apply? I assume some sort of recommendation from the higher ups does take place. Simply how likely am I to successfully join the snipers?
Another topic Ive been wondering about is the pay. What sort of money am I looking at whilst in the army? And also how much of that money will I need to spend whilst doing service? Does the army cover my costs of living such as food, perhaps some entertainment and so on? I have no idea what kind of numbers I should be looking forward to but lets say that Id get £200 a week whilst in the army. Then lets say Ill do service for around 7 years. Lets do some math. 4 weeks x 200= 800 quid a month, 12 months in a year x 800= 9600, then times that by 7 years and you get a sum of £67.200. Is that the amount of money Ill have when I leave the service or will I have to spend some of that money for some basic living needs and entertainment.
This question aims at fitness requirements. I have done some research and from what Ive found people have been saying that you need to do around 44-50 push ups in under 2 minutes, 50 sit ups in under 2 minutes and a bleep test at 10.2 level. All of that I can do with ease. Just now Ive tried to do 50 push ups and did that in a minute and 17 seconds, so I have no problem with fitness. However, I used to be heavy
. I used to weight around 95kg, thats 209 pounds and around 15 stones. I have been exercising a lot for the past 8 months and now I weight 80kg, thats 176 pounds and 12.5 stones. I have read somewhere that a man can has no more then 20% of body fat to join the army. I dont think Im above that but just to be safe id like to know. I am 6'1 in height and as said weight 80kgs. I dont think that would be a reason they wouldnt take me but Im just wondering. Most of my fat weight has turned into muscle but id say around 10-15% of my body weight is fat. Damn belly fat so hard to lose!:D2nd to last question
. If lets say I join the infantry, I dont qualify to be a sniper, or I fail the training, and I need to chose another job... lets say, heavy machine gun operator or whatever they are called . Will that include the same basic training as a sniper would? And then would extend into heavy machine guns rather then snipers or would I simply only be trained in heavy machine guns and thats it? I just realized this question may not make sense to everyone but I dont know a better way to put it 
Last and of course the most important question. I am not afraid of being in a tough situation, I am not afraid of being deployed to Afghanistan or wherever else in the world but I am very interested on the chances of being killed or very seriously injured.
I understand that the current number of fatalities for the British Army in between 2002 and 2011 is 388ish, might be wrong but its close to what it actually is I think. So theoretically I have a much lower chance of being killed in Afghanistan then just driving my VW golf around? I understand it very much depends on the job I will do. I am either going to join the normal Infantry as a sniper which is my main goal or simply stay a soldier with an SA80 in my hand right out there in the field.
I presume a sniper is safer. Camouflaged, further away from combat and so on.
As I said Im not afraid to be out there in the field doing work and what I joined the army for but what I am afraid of is never seeing my family again and leaving them alone as Im an only child. I am very attached to my family and love them very much, therefore I want to do least to upset them so I hope you can understand why I have asked this last question.
Please dont answer like most people do, that being: "100%, everybody dies sooner or later". That is the most ridiculous answer you can give a young passionate lad trying to find out their chances of survival in the army.
Right, that is all
Thank you for sticking with me. I understand these questions will be best answered by actually communicating with the army but before I take any steps forward Id like to have some solid ground to stand on. I am planning on contacting the British Army to discuss my options this Monday.Again, thanks for reading and have a good day
