I mentioned previously that my aim for the military is to be an Army officer in the armoured corps. The recruiting process is somewhat a headache really. In Australia we start off with a JOES (Job Options Evaluation Session) day, where we do a simple test in the morning which i have passed with flying colours. Then i had a medical interview which was quite straight forward again. After that, i had an interview with a captain and he basically asked me questions like, "Why do you want to be in the army?", "Why do you want to be an officer?" and "What qualities could you bring to be a suitable officer?". After 20-30 mins of talking, he just chucks me all of this paper and says "Alright now read all of this and prepare for the Assessment day". It was full of advice about how to successfully be chosen, but it also has information about ranks and Chiefs of the defence forces.

This sounds all easy but afterwards i received a call about booking an assessment day and then i was told that i need to do something to prove that i have leadership potential. Well in response to that i decided to do some community service. Apparently it seemed to be a good move because when i told them about it, they were impressed. With that out of the way, i received another call. This time i was told to collect some high school reports from year 11 to 12 (Final two years of school) and mail them to the defence force so the psychologist can have a read (They really want to see teachers comments). This is a problem because....

A. Most of my school reports are missing (I would never have thought that teachers comments would be anything important, but only year 12 would be)
B. I sort of slacked in year 11 (Not pleased with results and teachers comments), but in Year 12 that has changed alot because i took that year seriously.
C. It seems that i need to call the school up to see if they have records.
D. They need it ASAP due to Assessment day being only 2 weeks away.

Not only that, but then i was told that they will call me several days before assessment day and ask questions to test my knowledge about The Royal military College, Duntroon as well as the army itself.

Anyway for assessment day which is on March 18th, it will be a challenging day itself. I have to dress well (Bringing a Italian suit) and do a more thorough medical check up. A psychologist will interview me and another officer will too.

I like to ask if there are any Officers in the Australian defence force here? If you can give me some advice, it would be much appreciated.

It's meant to be hard. It takes more than an Italian suit to get into RMC. It's applying for 1 of the top 3 recognised military academies in the world, no an easy task. If you had to do some community service AFTER the JOES process, they wouldn't be impressed... they want a long term commitment in people to be leaders, not just a quick stamp on your record to make it look better. Plus not being organised with your documents well before the day can mean the difference between officer material or not. As for school history, a glitch in your school record says something about your study ability, does Duntroon want to spend millions on you, only to have you slack off on study? You think the recruiting process is hard, try a few days at RMC and then tell me that. Remember, there is so much that goes into it that it's not funny.

Even if you did pass your entry requirements, you could be booted any time, you've got to do a standard literary test as one of the first things when you get in as well as numerous BFA's, CFA's and AIRN shoots, and your fitness needs to be near SAS standard for RMC. And if you get enough CG3 reports against your name, it's out of RMC and into the OR's.

I had to work bloody hard to get into RMC, and even harder since I started. I had 6 odd years as a platoon sergeant in the Army Cadets, vast amounts of community service over the years, and top grades (scholarship student). I was a University student as well. Even then, I wasn't a sure thing at all.

Remember, they are looking at investing millions of dollars in you, and putting the lives of hundreds of men in your hands, they don't want to have the slightest doubts about you.

Well then, at least i gave it a go. From now on im doing general entry and after a few years i'll try RMC again. The Warrant officer advised that going through general entry will get me a better chance into officer than waiting another twelve months.

Well, i see a good reason for them to accept you in. Good luck in the RMC process.

Good luck in the RMC process.

Cheers. I'm almost done though. Not too much longer and be I'll Lieutenant Wilson.

Heh, and i'll probably be calling you sir....

What corps are you joining?

Probably infantry... but as training goes on, armour looks more and more tempting

if so, our paths may cross one day.