Don't want to go where it's hot and sandy
 

Not me you understand but someone it is my misfortune to know.

Chap is clearly a bit of a Walt. Joined the TA, I called him a STAB but his mum weren't amused. He was all gung ho, get some extra dosh, keep away from sponging ex etc etc

Now he has been warned for Afg and doesn't want to go.

What are the options? I know what I would like to do.:}

Maybe he could leave the TA.

That was his idea too. Only thing is, his boss keeps writing and telling him he is to report for duty.

Yes, TA can resign but can they take the shilling as long as it is convenient and then say sorry, that's too dangerous. What about having accepted a bounty?

Not knowing the terms they join under it would make sense to me if he isn't happy with the idea of going to fight Tone's war then he has to leave.

Perhaps he should put a dress on and make a pass at his CO.

Of course if he were a bootie this would result in a promotion rather than a quick exit.;)

Matt, I wonder just how late one can opt out? The TA would be a bag of w:mad: if they could just drop out after being warned for deployment training.

THS, you haven't seen him. His boss might just take it up, provided he shaved first. 30 yr old lean streak of pure p:mad:

How many of the regular army are AWOL after coming back from deployments? If he isn't happy then he should do what feels right to him.

Matt, good point. I think that is what he is banking on.

When a regular unit gets warned for ops, they have a PVR/resignation ban put on them, this is right and proper if you serve the crown. The TA will probably have a similar order? The point probably is that he will be of little use in theater and may be a positive disadvantage; make him/her repay the bounty and off they go on their own merry way, safe in the knowledge that there non-motivated actions haven't been the cause of some poor unfortunates injury, or God forbid, death.

Gnd, thanks you. IMHO he is a Walt (u/t). At 17 he was going to join the Royal Marines. He even went so far as to hang an iron bar from the roof of the garage.

At 27 he was going to join the RAF Regiment. This time he was serious and actually went to Honington. Mummy was horified that he had to spend the night in a hole in the ground.

After a full and thorough assessment the RAF Regiment suggested he might like to become a steward.

At 29 he joined the TA.

His qualifications are ()!


Another fine product of our state education system.

I'm quite certain that those fine fellows at the British Army Rumour Network would be willing to give your friend as much advice as he could wish for.:}

I had a friend at uni who joined the Army equiv of the UAS, can't remember what it was called, in order to make friends and socialise. Decided after a couple of weeks that it wasn't for them and resigned. About 5 years later they received a call up letter to go to the gulf. Apparently no matter how long she served she was down as a reserve for a minimum of ten years from resignation.

I don't know if it's simlar for the TA, but I didn't think the UAS equiv would be regarded as regular forces, I would have thought that it was more akin to the TA.

I believe that once you are under ntm, you no longer have the right to leave the Reserve Forces. If his boss (I trust he works and isn't a leech as well?) can prove that he is invaluable and unreplaceable to the business, it can be deferred.

Or we could get a firing squad together. Volunteers?

Jimmy Macintosh

Your chum is having you on. The OTC has no reserve or call-up liability whatsoever.

Are you certain? Sounds totally implausible to me. UOTC can not be mobilised, period, as they have no wartime/operational role. TA soldiers still at university (you can join TA instead of the OTC while at university) can not be mobilised until they graduate/leave.

The solution for Walter Wannabe is to get himself onto a university course that commences before his unit returns from Afg. He'll probably get discharged, at worst he'll be able to defer until he graduates.

PN - Your 'friend' is a bit of a chump for joining the TA in the current climate anyway. If a soldier has family committments, then any benefits accruing to his family if he comes to grief come from the AFPS. TA service not being pensionable, the family gets next to sod all.

Many TA soldiers were quite happy to train to 'do their bit' defending the homeland, but a lot less are prepared to spend 6 months away sandyside on non-pensionable service being passed over in their civvy jobs to bale out the overstretched regular forces. Especially when, if the worst happens your family is up the creek or, if you are wounded, you are told to go and see your GP at home.

Using the TA as a cheap stop gap for the regular army is killing the TA. I wouldn't like to be a jobhunter with 'currently a member of the TA' on my CV. Who is going to employ you and risk losing you for 6 months at a time?

Diginagain, yeah, I was worried about the other forum :).

An Teallach, he is not smart enough to be a chump. He married this tart who already had a son after he got her pregnant. Apparently marriage had not been on her career plan so she ditched him as soon as she could but uses him as a baby sitter and the MinL as a source of free clothing for his daughter and the other bastard son.

PS, I am not sure if he has an NTM as we thought he had actually left the TA. More likely, knowing him he probaby just stopped going to training sessions but still hase the kit.

Essential skilled worker, my arse.

I understand the scepticism, granted she was probably a special case. She was doing medicine at the time, she had graduated and been working for a couple of years. But yes, she went away for a tour. Hard to fake the trip!
The only thing I could doubt was how long she was actually with the unit before she resigned. The rest happened.

PN, despite your admirable intentions, you really ought to steer your friend over there. It's rather quiet this evening.

Reading between the lines, it looks as if 'mummy' could be a big part of your friend's inability to find his way in the World.

Call me cynical, but even if he PVR's, he's still likely to buy himself the medal for services rendered. Whatever happens we can expect him to Walt it up for life.