Blog closed.

I had hoped to continue the blog during Raleigh and beyond. However, I've had several people advise me to cease posting due to security reasons. As such this page will no longer be updated.

For anyone going through the recruitment process, good luck! I can confirm that it is definately worth waiting for and although Phase One is both physically and mentally demanding, it's also very rewarding - roll on December 7th!

Initial experiences

Hi all,

This is the first opportunity I've had to access a PC - it's literally been non-stop every day from 6 'til 10:30. We're all really tired but also enjoying every minute of it.

The first week was mainly death by Powerpoint. Lots of lectures/welcomes. I'm in Cornwell division, starboard class (each entry has a port and starboard class, from week 3 we each earn points for various things - drill exam, assault course, exams, etc. and there's a trophy up for grabs to the class with most points at the end of week 9).

We had several pass/fail fitness tests too, mainly the 1.5m run and swimming test. There are lots of tests throughout training which you need to pass in order to progress. Failure results in recieving "remedial" training in the evening - which eats into your spare time. I passed these without any problems.

Scran (food) isn't too bad, there's lots of choice (toast and/or cereal and/or full-english at breakfast; 4 choices of lunch and a salad-bar; 4 choices of dinner and a make-your-own omlette, followed by desert). Certainly getting a much needed high calorie intake!

The second week was more involved, we did lots of outside activities like the low ropes, some team-building excersises and more running. The lectures were more interesting and some led to extra privileges. After the "Marks of Respect" lesson we could freely move around the base without supervision. If an Officer walks past, you come to attention, salute, he'll salute back and you both carry on. It's pretty weird at first but soon becomes normal like other Naval traditions.

Next week we have our first kit muster, parade exam, ship/submarine visit and Pier Cellars (an old harbour used by Raleigh and used as a team-bonding, let-your-hair-down experience. We'll get 3 cans of beer, do a lot of orienteering and perform a Sod's Opera in the evening - basically extracting the urine out of our instructors, can't wait! Week 4

I'd go into more detail, but time is very limited at the moment

Waiting game

Sorry I haven't updated the blog for a while. I'll include all the updates in one post...

The fitness day was nearly disastrous. After signing in at the gym, I was asked for the "form", which - to my sudden horror - I'd completely forgotten about and had left at home. You need the form to take the test, so I was looking at a wasted journey.

The AFCO is only 5 minutes walk from the gym, so I asked for a bit of time to get another form. Thankfully (after a long wait) the AFCO coughed up another form.

All the training I'd done for the fitness test was on a road (I hate treadmills), but because the standard needs to stay constant throughout the country, the actual test has to be done on a treadmill.

It was horrible, there was no music, the "supervisor" was miserable and I had to stare at myself in a mirror. I ran the 1.5 miles in 11 minutes 30 secs, the minimum requirement is 12 minutes 20 secs. I sure was relieved when I'd finished.

Now began the waiting game.

Completely unexpected, while I was visiting a friend in Oxford about a week later, the AFCO phoned to say I had a join date!

From 7th October I will board HMS Raleigh for 8 weeks of hell that I will apparently enjoy!

Fitness test date

Just a small update.

I'm booked in for my fitness test on the 30th May.

It's official

Had a letter in the post:

"Dear Mr Adam,

I am pleased to inform you that you have been successful in the tests, interview and medical carried out at this office. As you are aware, the next stage of the selection process to join the Royal Navy is the Pre Joining Fitness Test (PJFT) which you must pass before you can be allocated a joining date. This letter explains the process in more detail."

I need to run 1.5 miles (2.4km) on a treadmill in 12 mins 20 secs to pass the test. If successful, I'll be given a provisional offer of service!

Just need to phone the fitness centre to arrange the date which has to be within 28 days from now.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Medical update

Had some good news this morning!

Got a phone call at work, it was the nurse from the medical on Tuesday, she'd spoken to the my CPO and after making a few enquiries the Navy have decided to waiver the weight issue! So I've passed the medical!

Everyone at work is trying to fatten me up now (I work in a pub kitchen), so I might not tell them they needn't bother, I'll just keep taking the food. ;-)

Next step is the fitness test which will happen in "a few weeks" according to the nurse (1.5 mile run on a treadmill in 12 minutes). At the end of the run is my ticket to Raleigh, it's all starting to move at a rapid pace now!

Medical

While the rest of the country is trying to loose weight, I'm trying to gain it.

Had the medical today, basically I'm TMU (Temporarily Medically Unfit) for service because I'm 5kg underweight. Apparently I'm doing too much stamina-training (running, cycling, swimming, etc.) and not enough muscle training. All I need to do is pay some more visits to the gym and eat lots of protein/carbohydrates and I should easily gain the weight, according to the doc.

The rest of the medical was fine, passed everything easily. It's official - I can see, hear, walk in a straight line, see colour, breathe, my heart beats and I'm not infected with any diseases. However it's only official for 3 months, so if I take longer to put the weight on, it will all need to be rechecked, just in case I forget how to walk in a straight line. Better start stuffing those Big Macs down me.

Interview #2

I was successful! Still can't believe it myself!

There is a minor complication which I haven't mentioned before. Wearing braces is a bar to entry which, for some reason, I wasn't told about until last week. Having them removed is the only option for me, I don't want to delay my application by another 12 months waiting for the treatment to be finished - I'll just have to live with not-quite-straight teeth.

Anyway, I had an orthodontic appointment this morning before the interview. I explained to him my situation and asked what the best course of action was. I also explained that I didn't want the brace taken off there and then in case I failed the interview or didn't join the Navy for another reason. He's given them the OK for them to be removed before I go to HMS Raleigh (for basic training, which will be June-July time if everything goes to plan) which is what the CPO requested. Now we can continue with the application and the Navy knows I'll have them removed if I pass selection.

So I the train to Brighton straight after my appointment and arrived early afternoon. My nerves were behaving themselves today, maybe because of my long discussion with the CPO last week (he'd be the one interviewing me today) and knowing I'd get on with him.

There was another guy inside who was attending a presentation for the Navy - the same position I was in nearly two-and-a-half months ago. It's gone so quick. We chatted for 10-15 minutes or so and wished me luck as the CPO came to fetch me, this was it...

80% of the interview consisted of these 5 parts: Home life and background, education record, work experience, free time activities and fitness. The remaining 20% was assessing my motivation to join the RN, so I was asked questions about the current fleet and location of bases, ships currently in development/construction (ie. the new Type 45 Destroyers /CVF Aircraft Carriers) and current deployments. There was also a bit about the Falklands and specific questions surrounding the CIS Specialist; what I knew about them and their role on a warship.

The interviewed flowed nicely, I managed to fit a few bits of humor/banter in and generally tried to make it as two-way as possible. It seemed to have the desired effect. Thankfully I'd done my homework and was able to answer the questions relatively easily.

I was told to wait outside, which I did for 10 minutes before being summoned back into the room. He asked me how I thought I did, before the golden words: "Well I'm pleased to say... Congratulations! You've been successful at the selection interview."

The biggest grin spread over my face, I'd passed! I hadn't felt this good for ages.

There was lots of paperwork to sign and he booked me in for my medical examination on 8th May, which I'm not looking forward to but it'll mean being only one step away from joining.

As I left the building, I caught a glimpse of the guy I was talking to before the interview. Hopefully in 2-and-a-half months time he'll be in the same position as me.

Interview #1

I'll say now that I neither passed nor failed the interview, it was postponed until next Tuesday 21st, for the reasons outlined below.

From previous experience I arrived in Brighton 45mins early, sat down, had a coffee and tried to calm my nerves - which were making my heart pound and adrenaline flow. I headed off for the AFCO and got there at 9:10.

I played a game with my nerves for the next 20mins, trying to calm myself right down but then getting all wobbly again. The CPO walked in and suddenly my nervousness vanished - we shook hands, exchanged paperwork (opticians report form, security check and mug-shots) and went off to another room.

Now things began to go a little weird. The CPO asked me if I really wanted to continue my application as a Warfare Specialist because I'd scored twice the required mark for it in my selection test, in fact I'd scored high enough to make any job I wanted available to me.

Communications Technicians have the most academically demanding job. Their work involves intercepting signals from around the world, as such there is very little I can say about what's really involved (for "security reasons") - but you get what I mean, I hope. It's something that really interested me as the CPO was talking about it (he is a CT), however the downside is the ~24 month waiting time. I'm just not prepared to wait another 2 years to join.

On the other hand, CIS (Communications and Information Systems) Specialists are the next step down, after listening to the CPO it is an area of work that I'd find much more challenging. He was reluctant to tell me exactly what to do but said he thought I'd slot in to a communications role much better than anything else. Even better there is no waiting time - I'm now applying as a CIS Specialist!

These guys are the centre of the communications network on a ship: from using high-speed satellite links to opening a line for someone to talk to his mum at home.

http://www.careers.royalnavy.mod.uk/pdf/L3-X-CIS.pdf

Because I'd obviously prepared to be interviewed for the Warfare Specialist job, I wasn't ready to do a CIS-oriented interview so it's been rearranged for next week - can't wait!

Eye test

Had the necessary eye tests this morning. The optician was in the Medical Corps within the Navy 50 years ago so ended up talking to him for ages :P

I passed with "Standard 1" - better than 20/20 eyesight apparently.

Selection Test

That was a crazy day. Was up early, arrived at the train station in plenty of time...only it was white with snow and the stuff was still falling - in the middle of March?!?! I got that sinking feeling in my stomach as the announcements came in about all the delayed trains.

To cut a long story short, the snow thankfully stopped and my train arrived 30mins late - I'd planned to arrive 45mins early, so there was still hope. I phoned the AFCO to explain that I may be late (again), just in case.

We arrived at Brighton at 9:55 and I walked in at 10am on the dot... not a good start, but it could have been a lot worse.

The 3 other candidates had already done the paperwork and I quickly handed over my documents to be photocopied. Then we all given a fire drill briefing and led downstairs. My adrenaline was pumping now; the CPO saying, "you are under exam conditions - no talking" didn't help!

The test consisted of four sections: Reasoning, Verbal Ability, Mathematics and Mechanical Comprehension, each with their own time limits. Each type of work in the RN has a different pass mark. For example to be an engineer you need to score well in the maths and mechanical tests. Conversely you need to have good verbal ability to be a Communications Technician. They were all much harder than the sample questions and by the end I really didn't think I'd done well enough.

The four of us went to a pub for an hour while our papers were marked. The others seemed nice enough people, all working in boring jobs and wanting the challenge of working for the finest Navy in the world! Two of them wanted to be stewards while the other was applying to be a chef. Comparing my answers, I felt a bit better as we all seemed to have answered similarly.

Arriving back at the AFCO, we were greeted and led back down to the exam room. The CPO explained that usually they speak to people individually - but since we were all in the same boat (excuse the pun) we were spoken to as a group:

"You've either all failed..............or all passed. I'm pleased to say, congratulations; you've all passed the selection tests for your chosen branches"

My heart skipped a beat, I'd passed!

We were given a VERY detailed security/counter-terrorist form and explained what happened next: the interview.

The date is set for 4th April, so not long to prepare. I'm told this is the hardest part of selection.

Again, hopefully my next post will be a positive one.

UPDATE: Gah. Had a phone call after I posted this, they'd double booked the 4th and I've been resheduled for the 18th March. Sucks to be honest, but at least I have more time to prepare.

Selection Test date

Got a letter in the post this morning:

"Dear Mr Adam,

With reference to your recent application for entry into the Naval Service I am pleased to invite you to attend this office at 10:00 on 20/03/2007 for psychometric testing..."

So far so good, but now it starts getting scary. Looking through the sample questions they sent me, the tests aren't dissimilar to the ones I took for NATS selection (air traffic control) - same format but slightly easier and not so much of a time pressure. The four sections are Reasoning, Verbal Ability, Maths/Mental Arithmetic and Mechanical Comprehension. Time to get revising!

Hopefully the next post with be a positive one, wish me luck...

Application form

Sent the application form off this morning - took forever to complete.

My first preference remains Warfare Specialist. I specified Seaman Specalist as my 2nd preference - due to my sailing interests and links.

Now the wait begins.

AFCO Visit

I hate trains. They're always either really early or really late; I had to call the AFCO to say the train was running late and just to confirm that I was indeed on my way! They were fine about it, happens all the time apparently (not surprised). Unphased, I walked in the door 15 minutes late to be greeted by an intercom with 3 buttons: RN&RM, RAF, Army. I had a moment of indecisiveness (!), before a smiling Navy dude letting me in.

There were supposed to be 3 of us, one had failed to show and the other guy was a scruffy looking townie wanting to be a Royal Marine. Rather than give a 45 minute presentation to 2 of us, it was decided to give us separate interviews, which suited me fine. Scruffy was back out the door again in 15 minutes, but I sat there for the next 2 hours and chatted to a Leading Rate about what the RN do, where they go, why they go there and what life is really like living on a ship. I also had a very detailed explanation of each Branch, much of it I'd already read on-line and in the literature I'd been sent, but it was useful anyway. It was good hearing it like it actually is, rather than from a glossy brochure written by people trying to sell the job. All my questions were happily answered and I got to watch a couple of videos too.

I should mention at this point that I'm wanting to join as a Warfare Specalist. These guys are primarily responsible for interpreting all the information gathered by a ship and it's sensors before passing it on to the Warfare Officer who makes the tactical decisions. You can later specialist in either Underwater Warfare (detecting submarines), Above-water Warfare (other ships, aircraft, land objects, etc.) or Electronic Warfare.

Finally, I was handed a huge information pack about selection, training and the start of your career, accompanied by the all-important application form!

The ball is rolling

I took the first step today - phoned the RN and "expressed my interest". She answered a lot of my initial questions and booked me into a presentation at the AFCO (Armed Forces Careers Office) in Brighton on Tuesday (22nd Feb) - can't wait!