An Officer's perspective through training

The Army Officer experience starts far before you reach your first day at Sandhurst, once you have navigated your way through the application process which can take up to and beyond a year from you first applying to the Army. You will find yourself on the intimidating steps of Old College Sandhurst with your family and your ironing board under your arm on ironing board Sunday, which is your very first day of the 44-week commissioning course.

The course is split into three 14-week terms and two weeks of adventure training after the first two terms, Junior Term is all about military discipline learning how to iron, march, use a weapon, and become competent basic soldiers. After the initial shock of capture and the fact you start to realise that the Colour Sergeants are human, you begin to enjoy the course. The intermediate-term is a clear increase in pace, the complexity of the exercise, and command appointments, with some of the officer cadets changing their minds on whether or not they wanted to join the infantry as exercises became tougher and some realising that maybe it was not for them. The later stages of the Intermediate-term are the Regimental Selection Board, this is the main interview stage of officer recruitment the time you interview for the two regiments of which you have shown interest in throughout the course. The Royal Welsh is my obvious choice and thankfully they wanted me as well.