From Civilian to Soldier: My Journey to Joining the Army
I'm going to preface all of the following by apologising. This is not a blog about wildlife and it could be seen as a little self indulgent. I wanted to write this however, because I had an experience of the military which might differ to many standard applicants. Hopefully my experience can help direct and assure others in their own paths. Regardless, I hope you enjoy reading my brief story and I can't wait to see where it takes me next...
I'd been drawn to the forces since I was a teenager. My grandfather "papa" was an officer and instilled a firm respect in me for all things military. My school had a CCF and I was quickly swept up in the excitement of all the "green skills".
I think the thing which appealed to me was structure, adventure, teamwork and leadership. I did as much training as I could, learnt all I was able to about military history and generally lived and breathed it. So you can imagine my disappointment when, as an eighteen year old, I was rejected from the Royal Marines on the grounds of being "medically unfit" due to a back issue when I was young. This was to become a theme and, when I re-applied when I was 20, the RM once again rejected me. I figured that was probably it and threw myself into my degree and into sport. As many of you know, I rowed for university and for country on a number of occasions but, as my degree was drawing to a close, I once again found myself at a loss of direction and I applied to the army as an officer. This time when the inevitable rejection came, I was able to appeal with supporting letters from doctors, physios, coaches and professionals.
The decision of TMU (temporarily medically unfit) was upheld.
I figured that was it then. Military life probably wasn't for me and I would move on. I was annoyed and frustrated but felt that I had all the closure I needed. I got that job at Winchester college as a rowing coach (remember that?!) and worked happily there as an outdoor instructor for their CCF and that seemed to scratch the itch for a while.
And then, in 2020, with my job in Winchester drawing to a close, I decided that I would apply just once more. It had been almost ten years since my first application so I figured why not?
Once again I was rejected - surprise surprise- and this time, instead of appealing with letters and support documents I wrote a pretty blunt letter back to the applications team simply saying, and I remember it well:
Dear Sir/Madame,
I am writing to appeal my rejection of application which I recently received. I have applied for military service four times and been rejected four times. I do not believe that any of my supporting information from my previous applications has been read or appreciated. I would be grateful if my application would be reconsidered.
Kind regards
Will Hall
To my amazement, this letter was accepted and I was considered fit for service! I now faced a new issue though. This appeal process and the subsequent assessments and tests had taken over a year and a half. I was rapidly approaching twenty nine and I now had a career and passion which I loved and wanted to pursue. I was an outdoor leader, a photographer and would soon be wanted to be presenting and filming all over the world. So how could I make this work?
For those who don't know, the army is extremely complex but at one crucial level it is split into the regular and reservists. The reservists were previously known as the territorial army (TA) and would be tasked with internal affairs, often trained at units and ran relatively separately to the army as a whole. The introduction of the army reserve changed things a little bit. The reserves would work alongside the regular forces to supplement the forces in both national and international theatres. As of October 2023, the British Army Reserve has a trained strength of 27,570 personnel.
Future Soldier is a comprehensive reform plan for the British Army, unveiled in November 2021. It outlines a radical transformation of the army, aiming to make it more agile, adaptable, and equipped to deal with the evolving threats of the 21st century. Without going into extreme detail of the breakdown of future soldier, there will be a growing demand for both regular and reservist roles.
As my commanding officer put it on my first interview: "in the regular army you work for the army, but in the reserve you try to get the army to work for you". This meant that I could continue to drive my career in conservation and outdoor adventure but also combine it with a role in the British army. So with no further ado, I switched my application to reserve officer and started training.
The reserve officer training is split between four, two week modules with training and assessments around one's civilian job. There is supplementary training done at your unit and the whole process can take up to four years to complete (if you choose to take maximum time off between modules). By comparison to the regular forty four weeks of training, this is a short time frame but I think it's important to remember that reservists have an entire life which runs in parallel to the army world. that is what makes the reservists to useful: they can bring life experience and knowledge to the role which regulars simple cannot because of the time requirements.
I decided, in order to make the most of a busy summer of work and filming, to do modules A and B in June and C and D (and E) in November. I had the good fortune of working with some of the most talented and interesting people I've ever met. The beauty of the reserve course is that everyone comes from a diverse background. I worked alongside surgeons, actors, cyber security specialists, authors, students, accountants, lawyers, politicians, padres, doctors and loads more. Every single one of them brought something new to the table and I was so grateful to be able to learn from them.
I commissioned as a second lieutenant on the 25th November 2o23; 12 years after my first application. What's especially exciting is that I have barely scratched the surface of what the army has to offer and what I can do for others. The Sandhurst motto is Serve to Lead and I intend to bring that through both my civvy job and my military role.
If you have any questions about the process or want to know anything else then just get in touch with me ( you can use the form below). I found it pretty challenging to navigate the whole application process and I haven't been extensive in this blog. So if you want any help then feel free to ping me a message.
