joining the defence force

[nemesis_adrasteia]

hey guys, im currently considering joining the ADF, probably navy or possibly army, ive been looking around the defence jobs website, i have found a few jobs that interest me, i have a few questions for those of you out there who are or have served in the army/navy/air force, so here goes
what was your job? what kind of stuff did you do?
where were you deployed?
what did a you day consist of? is there much difference in your duties whilst deployed compared to when your back in aus?
anything else youd like to add
ill probably think of more questions later

cheers
michael

[S2_VR_]

i'd also like to know these questions. im thinking of joining the army at the end of the year.....

[alien]

Well, the two services are different (navy and army). However, with the air force, depending on your job depended what time you would get up. However usually breakfast is served in the mess at 0700-0800. You will be required to march around the base with your unit. As for your job, depending on what it is depends on what you'll do. But usually lunch is another march to the mess and back to work. Then after work, depending on the day, back to billets and then to the mess for dinner or straight to dinner. Thats what USUAL days are like. Expect to be up at around 0600 or 0630 mostly and make sure your room is ok for inspection (you will learn all this). If you live off base it will be a different story for wakeup and what not.

You are also expected to keep your uniform in top notch, but dont worry, you get paid a certain amount for that

[Garth]

was in the navy myself, did 5 years service

i was a signalman, it's now been joined into another job and had it's name changed to communications information systems. was responsible for all onboard ship comunications,
i was deployed to hmas brisbane, hobart, perth, (all three ddg's now decomisioned) and hmas melbourne. ffg05. was onboard that puppy for some time while in the gulf enforsing un sanctions.

ill point this out now, when on a ship, while at sea, your hour's can be either one of the following below
8's about, which is 8 hours on shift, 8 hour's off shift.
5's and 7s, 5 hour's on, 7 hour's off, 7 hou'rs off, 5 hour's on.
6's and 4's 6 hour's on, 4 hour's off, 4 hour's on, 6 hour's off.
or start at 6am, and finish at 8pm. those hour's are various state of operational readyness hour's, normaly it's the top one, depending in what status the ship is at while at sea it can change. the 6am to 8pm one is generaly done by officers, or those who are higher up in the non comisioned officer level, i.e pety officers, cheif petty officers, or god

general sea life consists of doing either ships husbandry, (painting it, or keeping it neat and tidy) doing various exercises to keep you at a operational level, i.e. anti air exercises, or splash target exercises if your billet requires you to do it. or my personal fravorite, dammage control exercises, those suck.

i would recomend the navy if you wanna go and see the world, travel and get paid better than the other forces

the only real advice i think you should listen to, and you should take this seriously, is you wont be in the defence force all your life, you will want to retire, or leave if you dotn like it, so make sure your in a job that a) you enjoy, and b) gives you a national qualification. i.e. marine tech, it's like a diesle fitter mechanic.

[nemesis_adrasteia]

Thanks for the reply mate, I was in airforce cadets about 5 years ago so I know a bit about uniform and if its not right yourin trouble, I was taught how to march as well as some basic service knowledge, fieldcraft and that kind of thing I found it pretty interesting but I got over the whole planes and flying thing pretty fast.

[System]

was thinkin of the army reserve, i already have a permanent job, so i wont be goin full time.

Been given mixed responses with the reserves, or the "weekend warriors" as i've been told they r called. But as i always say, its better to join in the reserves then not join at all. Its all the same job in the end.

been told to do the combat engineering because of my civil background, but i'd rather choose something different then the same old job i do normally.

Anyone in the army- is the fitness standard the same in the reserves? What reputation do reservists get around regular army?

[alien]

nemesis_adrasteia, i was also in the now AAFC. Kicked out for being too old. Cadets is a bit different experience. Just a question, qhat flight or SQN were you in? If you go into the defence force just make sure you DONT mention you were a cadet. If you do a lot more is expected and other people joining dont like those people. Cadets will give you a foot in the door, leave it at that and dont use it for anything else.

System, permanent have mixed feelings about reservists, but most of the time they're fine with them, see them as drinking buddies, more mates e.t.c. Fitness standards, i'm not too sure, might have to ask a reservist. I dont see many of them these days.

[nemesis_adrasteia]

was in the navy myself, did 5 years service

i was a signalman, it's now been joined into another job and had it's name changed to communications information systems. was responsible for all onboard ship comunications,
i was deployed to hmas brisbane, hobart, perth, (all three ddg's now decomisioned) and hmas melbourne. ffg05. was onboard that puppy for some time while in the gulf enforsing un sanctions.

ill point this out now, when on a ship, while at sea, your hour's can be either one of the following below
8's about, which is 8 hours on shift, 8 hour's off shift.
5's and 7s, 5 hour's on, 7 hour's off, 7 hou'rs off, 5 hour's on.
6's and 4's 6 hour's on, 4 hour's off, 4 hour's on, 6 hour's off.
or start at 6am, and finish at 8pm. those hour's are various state of operational readyness hour's, normaly it's the top one, depending in what status the ship is at while at sea it can change. the 6am to 8pm one is generaly done by officers, or those who are higher up in the non comisioned officer level, i.e pety officers, cheif petty officers, or god

general sea life consists of doing either ships husbandry, (painting it, or keeping it neat and tidy) doing various exercises to keep you at a operational level, i.e. anti air exercises, or splash target exercises if your billet requires you to do it. or my personal fravorite, dammage control exercises, those suck.

i would recomend the navy if you wanna go and see the world, travel and get paid better than the other forces

the only real advice i think you should listen to, and you should take this seriously, is you wont be in the defence force all your life, you will want to retire, or leave if you dotn like it, so make sure your in a job that a) you enjoy, and b) gives you a national qualification. i.e. marine tech, it's like a diesle fitter mechanic.

Retiring from the defence force is something I've been thinking about too because I was considering doing one of the more combat based jobs, I was thinking that after I could either join the police or continue on with my apprenticeship,

[nemesis_adrasteia]

nemesis_adrasteia, i was also in the now AAFC. Kicked out for being too old. Cadets is a bit different experience. Just a question, qhat flight or SQN were you in? If you go into the defence force just make sure you DONT mention you were a cadet. If you do a lot more is expected and other people joining dont like those people. Cadets will give you a foot in the door, leave it at that and dont use it for anything else.

System, permanent have mixed feelings about reservists, but most of the time they're fine with them, see them as drinking buddies, more mates e.t.c. Fitness standards, i'm not too sure, might have to ask a reservist. I dont see many of them these days.

I was in 409 SQN at east sale RAAF base I quit because I finished all the theory and they got me to start teaching the new guys they were immature little ****s so I decided id learned all I could and quit

[Galixia]

i joined in 2003 at a reservist operator suppy then changed to full time army at the start of this year as an information systems tech.

reserves was fun and i learnt heaps. you do get paid out a bit by the full timers but in the end u do the same job and the exact same training only you have more freedom and get paid tax free $$$ which is good... like i said i was a reserve storesman based with 39 const sqn. it was good cause i could work as much or as little as i wanted and at one point i lost my job a few years ago so i just worked full time as a reservist for a month while i found a new job so i still had a decent income which was good.

now ive joined up as full time and im living in melb. i switched over to full time cause im doing something i wanted to do which i enjoy and also i have a stable job which is also a great plus. i usually wake up bout 6ish have breakie get dressed ect then at work bout 8ish morno's 1000-1030 lunch 1200-1300 then knock off bout 4ish and do whatever i want after that i live on base which suits me fine so i pay next to nothing for rent ect cause its all substituted the only problem with it is room inspections :P but if ur a tidy person its no problems.

the fitness levels is the same for army reserves and full time but u dont really have to be fit to be in the airforce or navy theres are about half of what the armys is from memory but hey every base has a gym and usually a pool as well which are free to use whenever u want and there are always PTI's there who will write up a program for you to follow to suit what u want or help you train as well as that you have programmed in PT lessons throughout the week as well which is good. as well as every Thursday is a lunchtime knockoff in the army so everyone can play sports all arvo which they normally have a few different ones going.

[nemesis_adrasteia]

can anyone tell me how long an average deployment would be?

[kane88]

your initial minimum period of service is different for each job in the forces.
it will tell you everything you need to know on the defencejobs site, and every job has a downloadable pdf containing information on wages, service periods, physical requirements, training, etc which you will need to know backwards before you go to your interview.

When I was interviewed the officer said to me that the army is one of the few jobs that tell you everything you need to know/say for the interview beforee you even get there, and as such they expect you to know it all back to front..

I actually have to go back on the 25th with medical reports stating everything is cleared up (tore my toenail off a little while before my first interview) but as long as you can show them you know exactly what you're getting yourself into there should be no problems mate. Good luck with it

[Robbo_c]

can anyone tell me how long an average deployment would be?

Im pretty sure its 9 months,then you have to wait a year before you get a chance to do another one.

[Garth]

depends on the service your in

army not sure
airforce not sure
navy, if it's a operational deployment, anywhere from 6 to 12 months
if it's a non operational deployment, anywhere from 1 week, upto 4 months at a time.
when on a war ship, you can expect to be away from loved ones for a long period of time

[PORT3R]

was thinkin of the army reserve, i already have a permanent job, so i wont be goin full time.

Been given mixed responses with the reserves, or the "weekend warriors" as i've been told they r called. But as i always say, its better to join in the reserves then not join at all. Its all the same job in the end.

been told to do the combat engineering because of my civil background, but i'd rather choose something different then the same old job i do normally.

Anyone in the army- is the fitness standard the same in the reserves? What reputation do reservists get around regular army?

From my experiance, reserves isn't really worth it. I would only go full-time. Technically, it's only the "same job" when you are deployed, if you get deployed that is. All you will do is go in every Tuesday night for parade, and get payed around $120 a fortnight. When you are deployed, you do the duties as if you were a full-time soldier. As for fitness, it's the exact same for chocos as it is for full-timers. Basic level you need for entry is 15 pushups, 40 situps, 7.5 beep test (piss easy). Once you go to Kapooka, it goes up slightly, but it's still very laughable. Reputation wise, you cop a bit of flack from the full-timers, but it's all a bit of a game to be honest. It's not like they are out to get you or anything, but they will give you shit because you "havn't got the guts" to be a full-timer and crap like that. But overall, if you want to go reserves, it's a good experiance, but don't do it unless you are 100% dedicated, as the training you have to do can be extremely demanding at times.

Btw, I'm a rifleman in reserves Lol

[nemesis_adrasteia]

depends on the service your in

army not sure
airforce not sure
navy, if it's a operational deployment, anywhere from 6 to 12 months
if it's a non operational deployment, anywhere from 1 week, upto 4 months at a time.
when on a war ship, you can expect to be away from loved ones for a long period of time

What's a non operational deployment?

[VY Rossi]

Come August this yr ive been in the Army for 3years though im still in training as a Telecommunications Systems Technician (RASIGS - Royal Australian Signals Corps) which you sign up for a minimum of 6years.
Operational deployments are 8months in Iraq, Afgan, Timor etc
Non operational deployments are exercises conducted in Australia (eg Talisman Saber)
Only during basic training (Kapooka) do you have have to get up at 0600hr and by 0615hr you have to be shaven, dressed, beds made and bedtime is 2200he (10pm)
Once you leave Kapooka you begin your IET's (Intial Employment Training) where you are basically in school again learning everything you need to know about your job and you start work at 0730hr and is basically school with an hr for lunch (1200 - 1300hr) and knock off work around 1600hr (4pm) after your finished for the day your time is your own eg go get drunk, shopping, cruising etc
In my job as a Telecom Sys Tech when not deployed or on exercise i basically make sure all the equipment is servicable eg not broken and test new equipment
When on exercise i run communications cable (internet, phone lines etc) and maintain commications link whether they are Radio, Cable or Satellite links.
PT (Physical Training) is conducted almost daily and has a wide varity of activities which leave you feeling f***d but is still good
if you have any other questions feel free to pm me and ill do my best to answer them

[nemesis_adrasteia]

thanks for all the replys guys heaps of really good info here, im kinda thinking i might go for boatswains mate, seems pretty good pretty active and all im also considering rifleman or main battle tank crewman

[Garth]

thanks for all the replys guys heaps of really good info here, im kinda thinking i might go for boatswains mate, seems pretty good pretty active and all im also considering rifleman or main battle tank crewman

ok, ill try to sum up a boatswains mate role nice and easy for ya.

as a bm (boatswain mate) when along side, you paint, you paint and paint and paint and paint the ship, do the ships husbandry.

when on a ship, and at sea, you paint, and paint and paint, and do dammage control exercises, yada yada yada, aim higher than boatswain mate champ, they are the shit kickers of the navy. if there is a crap job, they will do it, ages ago they use to be called gd's, general duties sailors. so yeah, aim higher, heaps higher.

and if you want fun, aim for either a major fleet war ship, i.e. a ffg or tanker, or patrol boats. takes a special type of person to serve on a sub, someone with nervs of steel, somethign i couldnt do

[mcrow5]

thanks for all the replys guys heaps of really good info here, im kinda thinking i might go for boatswains mate, seems pretty good pretty active and all im also considering rifleman or main battle tank crewman

i originally went to join as a boatswains mate, but my cousins fiancée is a boatswains mate trainer, and he told me that the bm school is closed down, and are only taking people in if members already being a bm retire/ quit. so id really consider another job, i went for a combat systems operator, as my cousins fiancée said they have the most fun.

i was really pissed off, passing the interview stage and getting through, and they didnt tell me a thing about the school closing down. so to save you any frustration, i thought id let you know.

got my interview for the combat systems operator on the 1st of July. CANT WAIT!!

[FstStig]

Hey Great post. I have also signed up for the Army and wanting to go in as a Vehicle Mechanic. I go for my You Season on the 7th July at 9.30am in Newcastle. Can't wait am very excited and have been training up for the fitness.

[nemesis_adrasteia]

ok, ill try to sum up a boatswains mate role nice and easy for ya.

as a bm (boatswain mate) when along side, you paint, you paint and paint and paint and paint the ship, do the ships husbandry.

when on a ship, and at sea, you paint, and paint and paint, and do dammage control exercises, yada yada yada, aim higher than boatswain mate champ, they are the shit kickers of the navy. if there is a crap job, they will do it, ages ago they use to be called gd's, general duties sailors. so yeah, aim higher, heaps higher.

and if you want fun, aim for either a major fleet war ship, i.e. a ffg or tanker, or patrol boats. takes a special type of person to serve on a sub, someone with nervs of steel, somethign i couldnt do

im not to keen on subs either creeps me out, so im aiming higher, what do you suggest some of the reasons why i like BM is because it seems to be a very active job, going out on the RHIBs and all that, what would you suggest?

[Garth]

im not to keen on subs either creeps me out, so im aiming higher, what do you suggest some of the reasons why i like BM is because it seems to be a very active job, going out on the RHIBs and all that, what would you suggest?

a combat systems operator, cso on a major war ship, while at see, can work as a combat systems operator, while along side, they work the same as a boatswain mate, and while ashore, they also work the same as a boatswain mate. if thats what you want to do, be active and all, then thats probably the way to go.

either that, or head to a trade, et or a mt, electronic tech or marine tech, if i had my chance id go back in as a w rate, which is a etw, electronic tech weapon systems, not sure if they have them still, it was a stream, they use to have mtp, mth, etp etc and etw etp was a electronic tech power systems, c was for comuniction systems and w was for weapos,

[nemesis_adrasteia]

a combat systems operator, cso on a major war ship, while at see, can work as a combat systems operator, while along side, they work the same as a boatswain mate, and while ashore, they also work the same as a boatswain mate. if thats what you want to do, be active and all, then thats probably the way to go.

what do you mean by "while along side"?

i looked up CSO on the defence jobs website seems pretty interesting and along the longs of what i want to do

also i had a look at seaman officer and that doesnt look to bad either

either that, or head to a trade, et or a mt, electronic tech or marine tech, if i had my chance id go back in as a w rate, which is a etw, electronic tech weapon systems, not sure if they have them still, it was a stream, they use to have mtp, mth, etp etc and etw etp was a electronic tech power systems, c was for comuniction systems and w was for weapos,

i have started an apprenticeship as a fitter/machinist which i am told roughly translates to a fitter armourer in the army and i supose it would the close to an MT in the navy, not sure if i want to continue with it atm

[Garth]

while along side refers to being on a active warship, but tied up to a dock somewhere, i.e. fleet base east or west, at garden island. when a ship isnt at sea sailing around, it's along side.


seamen officer, saw a few of them, they did the watches on the ship kept it pointing straight stuff like that, pretty much the people who drive the boat. i reckon a good job would be the navigator, quite a few of the navs i saw in my days were down to earth people, who were heaps of fun to serve under. one in particular was the nav on hmas brisbane, he was a bigger drinker then some of the burly cpo's or gods. ( we had 2 gods on hmas brisbane) would go out with the boys every chance he could, and was a good bloke.