Joining the ‘real’ world

Many Service leavers meet people who view them as having been protected from the realities of existence and cocooned against the difficulties of everyday life

Many Service leavers meet people who view them as having been protected from the realities of existence and cocooned against the difficulties of everyday life. They may be asked if they can think for themselves rather than receive orders, if they can work with members of the opposite sex without causing problems, or if they have to shout to get things done. While some of this is fuelled by out-of-date and stereotyped images, some is certainly based on the simple reality that the vast majority of civilian occupations are concerned, directly or indirectly, with the creation of wealth. The Services, on the other hand, are involved in spending money – no matter how efficiently and effectively they do it, the profit motive may be alien to many.

All jobs have plusses and minuses, and the Forces are no exception. The job security enjoyed by Servicemen and women is exceptional in 2003, and the pension provision is both generous and protected. Most Service leavers discover that the pay is good, the holiday entitlement is better than they will find in any future career, and the opportunities for sport and entertainment better than almost every other environment. Allowances, too, are a strange concept to the civilian who may get expenses reimbursed but will probably not receive travel or educational subsidies.

Some stereotypes may be encouraged by people in uniform promoting the advantages of military service or by the use of words like ‘civvy street’, ‘squaddy’ ‘NAAFI-break’ and ‘bull’. There are, too, some Service people who believe that they are part of a ‘superior’ group of people to civilians, and who do not have the wit to keep quiet; just as some members of the public may rashly refer to the military as ‘Baghdad baby-killers’.

Charges range from ‘not living in the real world’, ‘free housing, heating, lighting, food, drink, cigarettes, clothes, travel, cars, petrol, etc.’ and ‘excellent free medical and dental facilities’, to ‘not understanding or accepting the basic ingredients of a commercial life – that selling is not a shameful occupation and that profit feeds the family’.

With some justification, Servicemen and women point out that life does not get much more ‘real’ than when a high-velocity bullet is parting their hair or when every incoming missile could contain WMD. But, these are not occurrences the average civilian can easily relate to, and they tend to make the individual who has experienced them stand apart.

What many Service people may not realise is just how dull many people’s lives are. For every corporate raider, international sports star and TV personality, there are thousands of untalented wannabes. Millions of people have repetitive, nine-to-five jobs, watching football on TV and reading comics for excitement.

Many of these individuals with little colour in their own lives seek it through other people – real and imaginary. This partly explains the fascination with the doings of B- and C-list celebrities and the huge following that TV soaps attract. This does not make them bad people; just different to most Servicemen and women.

Service life certainly does have some protective elements in it, and it does no one any favours to pretend otherwise. Accommodation and food are both subsidised, and people living on their own can have it cooked for them – not an option for most civilians. Medical and dental treatment is excellent; anyone who doubts this should stay in a public ward for a few days or try to find an NHS dentist.

While the Services social scene is far from free, it is much cheaper that anything outside, and there are often considerable welfare facilities available free or at a reduced rate for which a civilian would have to pay full whack. Education, training, resettlement and personal development opportunities are among the best and most available in the country – and are still significantly under-used.

Apart from comparatively few instances, people can stay in the Forces until their last discharge date, with quite a few able to stay until retirement if they wish. Compare this with the civilian who may make a massive contribution to the business but still be out of a job when management fails, a take-over is successful or fashions change.

Some people – entrepreneurs, artists, real go-getters and action-men – may not value job security highly. However, for many people it is something that they only really appreciate when it is no longer there. For them, the more brutal civilian world, in which reliability and competence may not be enough to avoid the axe, can be a cold place indeed.

Every occupation has its plusses and minuses. So, Service leavers making the transition who do not have a sensible, balanced view of what the military ones are, may appear as ignorant as the civilians who accuse them of being human robots with no minds of their own.