Kit List

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Personal administration is one of the things that will be heavily drilled into you when you do Army Training. You need to be there 5 minutes early, with the right kit and dressed correctly. As the first half of training is 7 weeks long, it is important to make sure you have the correct things and you have enough of them. There’s loads of info out there, especially the Joining Instructions on the British Army website but here’s a list of kit that I needed and helped me throughout Basic.

DISCLAIMER:
I went to Pirbright for 14 weeks Basic Training in Summer 2011. Other Army Training Centres will/may have different kit lists so take this list with caution.

PERSONAL ADMIN

Toiletries

    • Lynx shower gel x7
    • Toothbrush
    • Colgate toothpaste
    • Nivea Face Wash (good for washing off cam)
    • Shaving gel
    • Gillette Mach 3 razor
    • Gillette Mach 3 turbo replacement blades (2 packs of 12 blades each)
    • BABY WIPES!!! (get small packets for exercise)

Field exercise kit which has:

    • Small facial wash (I got some from Body Shop)
    • Razor (I used Wilkinson’s disposables but preferably another proper one)
    • Small Toothpaste
    • Mirror

Boot polish kit:

    • Kiwi Polish x8
    • Cotton wool balls
    • Sylvet
    • 2 Brushes (1 on brush and 1 off brush. The ones you get from Spar de-bristle quickly and leave a mess.)
    • Toothbrush (Sainsbury Value for 99p for 2 – used to get to the sides of the soles and cleaning the soles off stones and pebbles)

EQUIPMENTS

STATIONERY

  • Marker Pen (Sharpie/Pentel)
  • Pens BLACK x10
  • Mechanical Pencil + leads (no need to sharpen)
  • Ruler
  • A5 notebook (to fit in trouser pocket)

CLOTHES

  • Twisters (pair of short elastic cords to keep the bottom of your trousers tucked in. Can be bought from camp shop for about 2 quid a pair)
  • Socks (2 pairs will do, you’ll have plenty of issued ones)
  • Underwear x7 (preferably black, it’ll get trashed)
  • Towel x2
  • T shirt x3
  • Shorts x2 (used as sleep wear)
  • Flip flops (get ones that dry easily as you’ll be wearing them in the shower i.e. Not ones made of textile or foam)
  • Hoodies
  • Suit, shirt, tie, trousers and shoes!

GOOD THINGS TO HAVE:

  • Laptop (I brought my MacBook Pro after week 7)
  • Phone (my HTC Desire and later my Sony Xperia Mini Pro was tethered to my laptop for decent internet. At one point, I had 5 laptops connected to it without major performance problems.)
  • Bluetooth headset (helpful to have so you can talk on the phone or listening to music while ironing/polishing boots or watching movies on your Bluetooth enabled laptop. Signal is shit. You’ll have to be by the window to call.)
  • Musical instruments (couldn’t find the time to practice as much as I wanted to. Too busy!)
  • PSP/DS or other handheld consoles
  • swimming goggles (you won’t wear googles for the swimming test)
  • Stamps
  • Writing pad
  • Envelopes
I didn’t have those items in italics, but some of the lads in my troop did.

DO NOT BRING

  • Ironing boards (£20 from shops in camp or queue up for the issued ones. I bought 1 in week 6 because I couldn’t stand waiting for others to finish. You’ll find that people burn their clothes and then damages your clothes when you use it after).
  • Pets (lol)

FOR SOLDIER DEVELOPMENT WEEK (WEEK 10 WALES)
These items are not essential but handy to have.

  • Thermos flask
  • Shemagh (or any scarf)

As I’ve already briefly mention, there are shops in camp where you can replen your supplies. There’s Spar, which is closest and Sandes further away. Spar, being the most convenient, can afford to hike up the prices. So beware. There’s also the PRI shop where you can buy regimental goods and other pieces of kit. Like Spar, quite expensive.

As you can see, there’s quite a lot of stuff here.

Next Post:

So, heaps of preparations and various test passed and there was no stopping May 30 from coming. The wait was over and the coming weeks were one of the best 14 weeks of my life. I’ll break it down in to two so the next post will be Week 1 – 7 of Army Basic Training.

Application and audition

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They say the beginning is the most stressful and difficult part of any process. But I can say joining the Army is not something to be daunted about. It may take a while and you need to be adequately prepared. There’s tests, auditions and interviews to pass. After all, this is a profession.

It took me two years to get to Royal Military School of Music Kneller Hallfrom (my phase 2 training establishment) from when I started thinking of joining the Army. Before my Look at Life Insight Course (IC) on September 2009, I didn’t consider anything to do with the military. I didn’t think I could do it but with a little bit of wanting to do something different and some encouragement from the people I met in IC’s, I braced myself up and took on the challenge.

For more information on Corps of Army Music Insight Courses click here.

A week later after the Kneller Hall IC, I went straight to the Bloomsbury Armed Forces Careers Office (AFCO) and formally addressed my interest in joining the Army. Trawling through the Corps of Army Music (CAMUS) site, I got in touch with the Bands of the Royal Signals (RSigs) and Army Air Corps (AAC). A few months later, I went on more IC’s with the AAC in March and RSigs in July.

Thoroughly enjoyed my time there, I bit the bullet and signed on.

I got hold of the application form from the AFCO then did the BARB (a simple logic test), Literacy and Numeracy tests soon enough. The formal interview with my recruiter and a Major were relaxed. Top tip I can give is to research your job choice(s) – what they do and where their phase 2 training establishments and phase 3 postings are. Especially, what you want to get out of in the military.

Everything’s going pretty well, until things started to stall. One of the documents I needed to clear was my medical form from my GP. It took three months to sort out because apparently, when I moved GP, my records hadn’t transferred over, and my GP couldn’t authorise the ‘all clear’.

All the meanwhile, I started getting my fitness levels up. My AFCO had a running club every Thursday and I went to the gym for some weight training. Looking back at it, weighted runs (putting 15kg weights in a backpack) once a week also was good preparation.

After all the paperworks were completed, I sailed right through a two-day Selection in Pirbright in mid April.

The next stage was the audition. The process is an interview followed by something similar to a grade exam. I played two contrasting pieces, did a theory paper of ABRSM grade 5 standard and played scales and arpeggios. I learnt ABRSM grade 8 scales, arpeggios (major, harmonic and melodic minors, dim, doms and chromatics) excluding scales in 3rds and whole tone scales.

I prepared Mozart Flute Concerto in D (1st Movement) and Poulenc Oboe Sonata (3rd Movement) for the audition in July.

I was unsuccessful but they gave me another chance to audition again in December. They recommended that I concentrate my efforts on the oboe so for the second audition I prepared Haydn Concerto in C (1st Movement) and again, the same Poulenc piece.

A week later, I received a letter saying my audition was successful! Quickly, phoned my recruiter and she told me I could start Basic Training on the 30th of May. HURRAY! Conveniently, 4 days after my Master’s exams.

I confess there were many times when I thought the Army wasn’t for me. I nearly pulled my application out. My family and most of my friends were against the idea. It got particularly difficult at times especially when I was juggling between my Masters, my part time job, various awesome opportunities that in the end I had to turn down, all the while trying to get fitter and preparing for the audition. Not wanting to be a quitter and forever wondering what it would have been like to do it, I carried on. Now, having come through the other side, I am glad I persevered with it.

…

Being a soldier regardless of trade needs to ensure they have the right kit and they are in good order. So part of the preparation is knowing and procuring the right kit to take for Basic Training.
Next Post: Kit list

Turning over a new leaf… in the Army

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Towards the end of July, this year, I turned 23. I’ve been to uni, got a degree, carried on to do my postgrad and worked here and there. 23 is not a particularly significant year, not as much as turning 18, 21 or 30 but personally, I consider it as a milestone. I look back on that day, and I vividly recall it being last morning of ‘Exercise Half Way‘ when we filled back in our ‘shell scrapes‘ then headed out to the field for our field tests and my good friend Swirly whining about his prickly heat on the coach back to camp. Good times.

Not really a typical birthday. No presents to open, except a packet of Chili Doritos from my good friend ‘Swirly’ and a self stirring
‘Make Tea not War’ mug from Es (when we got back to the block). But I had a real good time.

So how did all these talk about shell scrapes, field tests and prickly heat come about to me?

On the 30th of May, this year, I officially joined the Army to become a Musician. I started my Phase 1 Army training in Pirbright. On the 16th of September, I ‘passed out’, taking the ‘Best Shot’ award home with me. It has been, without any reservations, the most challenging but also most fun 14 weeks of my life. I’ve been pushed to what I thought were my limits. My troop was a good one and there’s not a day when we didn’t laugh our heads off before going to sleep.

I set up this blog in a whim, so without anything more useful to say, I’ll hit this off with a few posts about my experiences thus far.

Next posts:

  1. Application and Audition processes
  2. Kitlist
  3. Week 1 – 7
  4. Long Weekend, Week 8 – 14
  5. Phase 2 and onwards
PS:
This space is not just about my Army endeavours but also, all sorts of other things I find interesting. So come back often and leave loads of comments. : )