going to army cadets in the summer break

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so i've now finished secondary school, and by that i mean i've finished all of my GCSE exams and passed my BTEC course and i think i'll be going to my school six form in september with some decent grades so im generaly in a pretty good mood right now.

anyway the point is im waiting for my taekwon-do classes to finish for the summer on july the 22nd and then i think im gonna go to cadets for the summer. main reason for that is that i wanna get stronger in any way i can, mentaly and physicaly. i've already toughned myself up to some extent in my final year of secondary school, i never get into fights anymore and i find some kids able to rely on me to protect them from older pupils at least. nothing anyone says to me really gets me down anymore and my confidence has grown a lot.

anyway i'll get off my high horse and get to the point. i want to become self-reliant. i dont nescessarily want to become a herculean superstar but i wanna gain even more confidence in myself and get stronger so others can generaly rely on me. about a 3-4 week stay in cadets seems like a good way to build myself. although i should note that i still have absolutely no plans to join the army itself as a 4 year minimum stay seems a bit much. although if i got good enough and eventualy joined the SAS that would be a freakin amazing goal for me to acomplish. still, im sure the army isnt for me at all. nothing but bullcrap out there

if any of you have ever joined cadets, was it a benificial experience to you?

Hope you don't mind my posting here - I'm hardly adolescent, I just noticed the title on the front page. I used to be in the ATC - air cadets - and I still don't know whether to think of it as a good thing or not. I found the social aspects to it very difficult - I didn't ever fit in or really get what was going on, and I was seriously unhappy at times - but on the other hand it was a great opportunity to do things I wouldn't otherwise have done (like fly planes and gliders; with army cadets I'm sure you get to do equivalent things), and go to interesting places. And it's very good to see firsthand what the forces are like - you might even change your mind about joining.
Just the summer is a bit short, though, you might not get much opportunity to do fun stuff, but I guess you're approaching the upper age limit.
Anyway, good luck to you, it's definitely worth trying, whether you end up liking it or not.

thanks man, i dont mind you posting here at all, its not like you being an adult would mean you're incapable of giving me the advice i need XD.

thing is though, with the way things are going with the war at the moment, im not sure im interested. iran is building their nuclear power and they've recently stopped U.N nulear inspectors checking around. if they do happen to be building weapons of mass destruction with the intent to threaten Britain and the U.S.A with then something very similar to the cuban missles crissis could occur. i really dont wanna be involved in the kind of war.

its that and the fact that i wouldnt fit in in the army at all. i'd probably be able to take this, but other soldiers would probably pick on me (not like it would really affect me deeply, even if they got violent i wouldnt care). although im sure most soldiers arent like that, ive heard some pretty nasty things that soldiers have done to each other, which is just so damn stupid really because demoralising and bullying doesnt help to much for the war effort.

although i think i will keep it open as a possible career path, but once i get a bit older maybe. i hear the begining annual salery for a british teratorial army soldier is £16000. times that by four for the minimum time you can serve and thats quite a bit. seeing as for the most time, your dental work, food and accomadation is all taken care of, you could potentialy save all your earnings, which might even be enough to start up a small business. that said, after you serve with the british army for some amount of time, you are eligable to apply for selection for the british SAS, although the selection process is verrrrry tough; one part involves potential candidates having to scale and descend the pen y fan mountin in wales solo, a 23km hike altogether in full equipment in four hours. sounds pretty difficult so im not taking that as a serious career plan. still thinking about it though, i'd rather go on to study and research in biochemistry.

Hi. I'm in America so I cannot give you absolutely specific comments... But I did Tae Kwon Do for years before boot camp, myself, and it really helped! You seem to have a good attitude. Definitely try the brief cadet thing and enjoy. Yes, you are absolutely right that the military a) provides all sorts of benefits you don't have as a civilian b) but owns your life and can send you off on a mission at any time.

But it wasn't till the very end of your post that I read the biochemistry research part... Gee, having had friends who do that, and having been in the military, I'd personally take the nice quiet interesting research option, eventually. But you are young... you could test your limits first if you wish.

Good luck either way!