My regiment – 256 (City of London) Field Hospital

I have finally found the courage to join the British Army Reserves. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, I’m too old to join the regular army & I don’t think I’d want to.  Joining isn’t a case of wanting to fight for my country, far from it, it’s about pushing myself, challenging myself and getting stronger & fitter. I want to see what I am truly capable of.

So far I have had my informal meeting with the detachment based in Brighton. It’s part of the City of London field hospital. I have sent of my medical form and been asked to join them on Wednesday evenings to get ready for selection. Tonight will be the my first attendance!

Everything I was told at my informal meeting sounded great. I have to commit to 27 days training a year which includes 1 basic training week and multiple weekends (usually one a month). Training week is thankfully not far from me. There are also ‘adventure’ holidays as many as one a month that I can go on, these include, trekking, ski-ing, canoeing, in all areas of the world. Next years training camp is in Gibraltar & 2017’s is in Canada, you don’t need to go these though. All these ‘holidays’ are all paid for, they just ask for a contribution and we also get paid 🙂

The next step is to await my medical form being returned and a more formal meeting with a army nurse. They don’t see me having any issues with these steps. The final thing will be a selection weekend with will involve a fitness test, medical, memory test and group exercise. I’ve only just past the eye test, so I’m a little concern with that part. Each Wednesday leading up to the selection weekend I will be help with my fitness (namely the 1.5 mile run) and the ‘icebreaker’. This part I am really shitting, this is the worst part for most and many fail.

Is anyone else in the army or reserves?