On Monday I received my mobilisation papers. I have to report to a mobilisation centre on the 8th of March. I expect to "celebrate" my 35th birthday on the 31st of March in the Gulf . The first non-alcoholic birthday for nearly 20 years.

I've been in the Territorial Army since 1987 and have accumulated a few apparently desirable military skills and specialisations that are in demand in the Gulf. What I have often joked is a military drinking club, has suddenly become a bit more serious.

When I joined the TA I was an apprentice with Ferranti on £3k a year. However, am now a well paid IT bod in the City earning pretty good money. I have found out I am entitled to £22.5k in military wages. This falls some way short of my civilian salary. I gather, from people in my unit that have already been mobilised, that I will only have this limit increased to cover essential bills etc. I stand to lose tens of thousands in the 8 to 12 months I am operational. That doesn't include bonuses. Big sob story all round isn't it?

I wouldn't have minded making a personal sacrifice for the first Gulf War, but this conflict I have mixed feelings about.

Apart from losing money, I will also have to part company with my beloved Scoob. I cannot justify the expense of keeping it for an minimum of 8 months when I'm thousands of miles away.

I also work for a company that may well be making people redundant in the next few months because of the economic downturn. I expect to be one of those made redundant (yes they are allowed to do this). As I work in IT, my prospects don't look to rosy upon my return.

Most important of all, I will be separated from my beloved Darcie for at least 8 months. I'm not sure how I'll cope without her. I know she will also have a rough time will I'm gone.

I'm not entirely sure why I'm posting, but I felt the need to share this.

If you feel any better after posting it, you did the right thing. :)
Good luck mate. I wish that everything will work fine for you.

tell em to feck off, and offer to pay them back the money they've paid you at a fiver a week. Tell them I said it was OK, criminals are allowed to do it so why shouldnt you.

Personally I just wouldnt go. They could jail me, they are NOT going to **** my life up over some **** like this, and at least the wife and son could visit....

There will be those who say "you knew this could happen when you joined the TA". Tell them to **** off too :D

Good luck mate, I wouldn't trade places for all the tea in China.

Good idea, lets all follow raze's principal and just let johhny foreigner come marching in - hang on, havent they done that already?

jerome, shoot one for me mate.

Best of luck:)

Why are they pulling the TA up so soon, do we not have regulars that could do what you do?:eek:

they don't want to waste resources.

ETS - joking, though its not very funny.

[Edited by mj - 2/25/2003 10:56:44 PM]

XT,

Cheers mate!

RaZe-=Buzz=-,

Firstly, if I don't go I will be charged with being AWOL or desertion. Not good. Also, the Glasshouse (the military jail in Colchester) is a very unpleasant place to be. Worse than a civilian jail. They have a re-offend rate of around 2%. Says something about the regime there.

Also, I assumed I'd get the "you should have known you might get called up when you joined". For anyone who says this, I agreee.
For the last 16 years I have been prepared to serve my country. I just didn't think it would be for a dubious war co-started by one of the most despicable toadies ever - Bush's poodle.

Jerome,

If you've been mandatorily mobilised, then the company MUST keep your job until you return. The 1996 Act covers you for these circumstances. I'm not sure how it would play out being made redundant instead of being fired, but I guess the company wouldn't have a leg to stand on legally. As far as pay is concerned, the government should make-up the difference between your Army pay and your civvie job. I can only speak for the RMR personally, but I guess any of the reserves forces are the same.

All the RMR lads volunteered, although they mobilised the ones needed anyway to save their jobs.

Good luck and I wish you all the best. I can't see reservists being used on the frontline, so you may end up sipping cocktails by the beach for 6mths.

Stefan

PS. Sorry to say it RaZe-=Buzz=-, but if you don't want to go and serve your country then don't join the Armed Forces. It's as simple as that. Not sure about the TA, but war-dodgers ain't looked upon too kindly in the RMR.

mj,

Cheers also. If it comes to it, I won't hesitate to shoot an enemy soldier. I sincerely hope it doesn't come to that though.

BOB.T,

Further cheers!

They've been calling up the TA for a while now. Because of the Strategic Defence Review, the Regular Army is seriously depleted. This has required substantial use of the TA (around 8,000 I think).

You could always refuse to serve if you are a conscientious objector. I.e. morally you feel you cannot serve.

I'm not sure where you stand on this, especially in the TA. But some details below:

-------------------------------------------------------
The Advisory Committee on Conscientious Objectors (ACCO)

The ACCO was established in 1970. It advises the MoD on all conscientious objection claims to further service in the Armed Forces from Service personnel, where an application to retire or to resign a commission on the grounds of conscience has not been accepted by the Service authorities.

Members of the ACCO are appointed by the Lord Chancellor. The Committee presently consists of a Chairman and Vice-Chairman (both of whom will be legally qualified) and a number of lay members. A hearing is attended by either the Chairman or Vice-Chairman plus two lay members. Members are only paid when they attend. The hearings of the ACCO are held in public and the procedure is informal.

Whilst no formal qualifications are required for lay members, sound common sense is essential. The key requirements are a firm but sympathetic manner when considering an oral or written statement attesting to an individual’s personal philosophy. The ability to analyse assertions by an applicant, and representatives of his or her parent Service, is an essential attribute.

For more information please contact:

Mr R Chandler
CL(F&S)Legal 1
Room 606,

St Giles Court
1-13 St Giles High Street
LONDON
WC2H 8LD

Tel: 020 7218 0509
Fax: 020 7218 0844

--------------------------------------------------------

Cheers

Ian

how do you feel about having to go to war , at the risk of being one of the " you knew when you enlisted you could get called up " dont you have to pledge allegance to queen and country etc etc .... kind of puts you in a strange position if you dont entirely agree with the reason for war

Stefan,

Respect to the bootneck! :D

You're right about sacking/redundancy, but I'm fairly sure they can make me redundant. My gf (who works in HR) is going to find out tomorrow what my rights are in this circumstance.

As for the front line, you may be right. All of the possible roles I could be used for, would mean working alongside regulars - some near to the front line. I gather that goes for many of the guys I know who've been called up. If I end up sipping cocktails I won't be in the least bit upset!

what do you do?

So you're going to war in a foreign country, thousands of miles away, a country that is supected of detaining biological weapons and the like and you're worried about losing money and not seeing your wife?! I mean you could get shot or made a prisoner or tortured or experimented upon, or something! I hope you dont have to go eventually, or that if you do, you come back alive! Worry about the rest later on!

Ian,

Cheers for the ACCO info, though I can't see myself going down that road. If I go, regardless of my personal opinion of the war, I will serve to the best of my ability. I'll just need a steady supply of teddies to throw in the corner.

bigjohn,

I pledged allegience to Queeen and country in 1987 - not to Blair. The Queen has allowed the government to call up the TA, so I'm going. Doesn't mean I have to agree wholeheartedly with the war.

looking on the bright side of course.

Jerome,

Have a look through here for some more info and keep your head down m8 :)

I guess the decision is whether it's going to cripple you financially or whether you simply don't agree with our country's position in this.

I personally don't agree with Blair/Bush, but if I was in the same position I wouldn't hesitate in volunteering. Having said that, I'm younger, single don't have a mortgage or any other major financial commitments so it's a bit of a no-brainer for me.

Stefan

Of course. :)

Not everybody is lucky enough to come back alive from war, you know.

Lot of respect for you Jerome , when you pledge allegiance you cant choose wether or not you want to participate in a certain conflict ... but you have made the decision to go if you have to .
To not go would almost be like those people that have joined the police force and tried to sue for distress when they see a dead body in the course of their work

Good luck Jerome

You've probably found it already but there's quite a bit of info about effects of mobilisation etc here

Thought you where VERY VERY ill. 1/2 Blind.... Major drug addiction.. Broken leg etct etc
very easy to arrange full medical records etc. (Quick trip to Friendly clinic in spain /Turkey greece etc....... Then you might miss the first few critical months..
If you dont want to go ,dont.

Jerome

Sorry to see the buggers tracked you down eventually :(
I can see you're less than delighted to be joining us on Op Certain Death :D and I'm afraid there's little I can offer by way of compensation. I personally feel we're doing the right thing - but I can see that it must be hard to come to that conclusion when your world is being turned upside down....

My understanding of the Reserve Forces Act is that the MoD will make up the difference between the £22.5K and your actual salary.

Good luck with it all - if you ever have the misfortune to travel Albert Airways out there, I'll be the bloke asleep in the left hand seat up the front :)

my best wishes go with you .... and like a lot of folk I'm really in two minds about this coming war.

I think, however, it will be good to have troops with a conscience over there to stop the whole thing getting too 'gung ho'.

Was interested to read Colin Powell's autobiography where he (?)ascribed part of the reason for the US' failure in the Vietnam War to the fact the US used enlisted men who were not committed to the war.

He thought the Gulf War went better because the troops were all volunteers.

I think he misses the point.

The difference between wars was that one appeared 'justified', and one appeared to be at the whim of our 'elected' leaders.

To those guys who are going off serving Queen and country, I have the upmost respect for you. God speed and protect you.

Rich

Serving Bush...........

Not having any kids myself, I can only imagine what you'll be going through leaving your family behind. A few friends of mine are going on the 6th March, and it's heartbreaking watching them and their families trying to reconcile concience with duty.

I hope all our troops come back safe and well, and soon.

I think playing the 'consciencious objector' card will be difficult in light of the fact that you joined the TA ;)

Good luck out there.

Theoretical question: as I'm an IT contractor (own limited company and all that) I could get out of jury service by saying that it would be detrimental to my company. Could I get out of mobilization the same way if I were in the TA?

[Edited by carl - 2/26/2003 12:02:33 PM]

All the best mate.

Dave

ditto. make sure you come back.