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I am currently 32 and served with the Signals from 95 – 2000. It has been almost 9 years since my PVR and I am wanting to have a go at 4 Para.

If you could answer these questions, it would be a massive help.

I left as a lance jack, will I go in as a private? I understand 9 years is a long time to be out of the army.

Does my past experience count for much with the 1st phase of training? I have been all over the 4 Para website and it talks about basic skills learned in the early weekends.

And lastly, how realistic is it for a 32/33 year old to attempt P coy? I am in pretty good shape. Mile ½ in 9.40 ( I can get this down). 74 press ups in 2 mins. I recently did a half marathon in 1hr 42 also. I know the course is a lot more than this, I just want to go into it as prepared as possible.

I have tried phoning 4 para, but keep getting an answer machine. I understand they are busy.

Thanks for your time

Best wishes

Yes mate you will go in as a private Im afraid mate.
Aslong as you dont start trying to teach Instructors, then your training will be very valuable to the training staff.

As for 32/33 I wouldnt worry if your fitness is good, your only problem will be your recovery time.
Good luck and nice to see you back!

cheers mate. No, gonna keep my head down and my gob shut.

I expected to go in as a private, so that is fine.

I agree with you about the recovery time. Injuries set me back months now rather than the weeks they did 10 years ago.

Thanks again for the reply.

keep phoning theyre not busy just lazy

Ill second that! Also try emailing them as I done that when I went through a phase of rejoining. Basically I got no where ringing so I dropped them a line and they sent out the paperwork. Funnily enough when I decided I couldnt give the commitment needed to rejoin they phoned me quite a few times after to see if I was sure! Perhaps because of my previous service, who knows! I too asked the question on fitness and told them Id prob be out of shape but they said as your older youd make up for it in stamina and determination, plus it would be easier to train you anyway due to previous experience.

Stinking crap hat.

letme wrote:Stinking crap hat.

Im guessing you have just passed out of Phase One??????
You seem to like the words Crap hat and Crow!!!!!
Do me a favour and grow up!

letme wrote:Stinking crap hat.

there is always one. cheers for the advice the rest of you. That mouth is gonna get you filled in once you get to your Battalion, boy.

Cheers

letme wrote:Stinking crap hat.

When do you return to school?
September the third?
Play nicely or get binned.
Choice is your own.

quick update.....

had to sack the January cadre due to having an operation I have been waiting 18 months for (had my nose straightened - I looked like gonzo previousley). I am Having a pop in the second half of the year. I have managed to really get on top of my fitness. Cheers again for those that encouraged me.

I am now 33, but sod it. I hammer the lads in my fitness classes who are 15 years younger.

Anyhow, I will keep the forum updated. I am sure you are on the edge of your seats

When I did my training many moons ago there was 12 out of 48 passed.
One was an ex navy guy of 35yrs old.

hello,
just saw your post. you seem to be sweating about your age. don't worry. i am 42 years old and i'm turning 43 in a few days. i'm currently doing recruit training with 4 para. i have completed 8 of 9 recruit training weekends. at the end of feb i'll be going to catterick to do 'combat infantrymans course' and 'p' company.
it hasn't been easy but i find that if you put the time into training and have the determination then anything is possible. there are no guarantees. i still have my doubts that i'll pass 'p' company but i'm giving myself a good chance by training well and following the training scheduled handed out by our p.t.i.
so you're quite a bit younger than me, don't worry about a thing. it's something worth doing.
need any more info let me know!

42! is that with previous service?transfer? all the best. what bft time you getting?

i had reserve experience 25 years ago in ireland. not relevant at all to what i'm doing now. basically i'm a raw recruit. i haven't been tested on the bft since week one but i ran the 1.5 mile in 9min 23 secs. however i have improved my fitness a lot since then. not sure what my time is but i would think it is about 9mins now.
i am by no means an athlete but just to let you know that over the past few years i have done a lot of running, marathons and half marathons and 10kms so that base of fitness has stood to me. what one must concentrate on most is their stamina and aerobic fitness. alot of running with sprints and hill work.
just a footnote. my best marathon time two years ago was 3 hr 15 mins. that's a 7min 28 sec mile pace. i know many guys much older than me that can smash that time. don't let your age hold you back.
i

I hope my old oppo Pilgrim dose'nt see this post.....
He'll be running ice marathons


I'll get me coat.