Exiting the NZ Army?

[portokiwi]

If he is still doing his basic training, he can see the Padre.
tell him the truth. you will find that they will get him out fast as they dont want to waste time on guys that dont want to be there.
The service dosnt want people in there that dont want to be in.
After his Basic training he has to put in his 717 and it takes 3 months before he is released.
yes I was in for 10 years.

[Nasty]

My 18yr old son is doing his basic training and I have told him that I will not lie for him to get him out.

This may seem harsh .. but tell him to grow a spine and see his group leader .. if he is having that much trouble they probably don't want him there anyway (seems rude but its a committment thing).

[enigma51]

My 18yr old son is doing his basic training and I have told him that I will not lie for him to get him out.

Good on you for not wanting to lie.

And this going to get me red

You need to tell your son to HTFU he needs to see it out and get on with life. Its too fucking easy to just say i dont like this im going to quite. Thats the problem with todays kids "i dont like it so i will quite"

Also you making it easy for him as well by posting on here trying to get your son out of the army.

He signed the contract now deal with it!

[Grub]

My nephew did basic 2 years ago. He's in Timor now and just loves the Army. Yes basic is tough, but the latter part of it gets better and the day of graduation changes ... they become people again. It's a life-changing experience - for the better. Basic is designed to be hard but it is really for just such a short time - and the rest of his army life isn't like that.

If he can hang on, he won't regret it.

[young1]

Thanks everyone for your comments. It is up to him now, I am encouraging as much as I can to tough it out, yes HTFU etc etc. So we will see!!

[devnull]

I agree with the others on here... tell him to harden up (Iwas in the Army too)

Yes, basic training is tough - it's meant to be.

It teaches individuals discipline, and to work together as a team

But the basic they do now isn't as long or as hard as it once was. The PC brigade has even invaded the armed services.

[Grub]

Posted on behalf Wannabiker who can't get to KiwiBiker at work

[The answer is yes you can leave at any time if you don't think it is for you. Most recruits experience an initial culture shock/homesick, but this does go, and recruit training does get easier to cope with as it goes on, and recruits get into a routine. The thing I cant stress enough is that recruit training is only for a short period of your life, and that once you pass the initial training, and get posted to a unit, your life will return to almost normal.

On my recruit training I wanted to leave daily (sometimes twice a day) but my best friend, who was a sergeant at the time talked me into staying. I have now done 20 years in the Army, and have accepted an offer for another 8 years. I have two trades/professions under my belt, and am currently working away from trade for a break, as a recruiter in Wellington.]

[Nasty]

Thanks everyone for your comments. It is up to him now, I am encouraging as much as I can to tough it out, yes HTFU etc etc. So we will see!!

If he really needs to speak to someone from the 'inside' perhaps we can get him in contact with Wannabiker ... not a bad chap to chat to

[Hoon]

Yes basic training can be pretty tough and can be hard for some people. I was the 3rd, maybe 2nd biggest sack (of shit) in my section. If you keep screwing up then the staff come down harder on you and if its also penalizing your section then they come down hard on you too.
Some may say it's a harsh method but it works - either you sort your shit out and become an effective member of the team or you quit. Either way it's a win win situation for the Army.

If it's only the first month then tell him to stick with it. Basic Training is designed to weed out the quitters and weak minded but anyone can become harder and tougher if they really want to.

[KiwiRat]

He has told me that 4 left in the first week, not sure if that was before or after they did the big signing up thing.

Then they must be big sooks, because although arduous, military basic training in NZ is nothing compared to 25 years ago when I went through it.

I'm not the toughest guy around by a long shot, and I actually tried what your son is trying, just turned 17 but about 6 months in. The real reason being my that mate had had enough and was leaving. My parents told me to have a good think about it, don't be an idiot etc, etc.

I ended up staying and never regretted it. Life in a real operational unit is completely different. I have made some lifelong friends, and when you get older, the networking benefits kick in via all the contacts you have made.

I do, though understand that everybody is an individual, and that the military life is not for everyone, so if your son really does feel that strongly, and wants to leave, then the usual channels can be used to effect his discharge.

Just tell him not to expect to be home by Friday. 3 months is the minimum time he will have to wait.

Good luck to you both.

[Tank]

FFS DONT LEAVE.




According to reports in the NZ Herald - there are only 5 people running the Army, Air Force and Navy combined. If you leave you reduce NZ's defence force by 20%!!!

[Jerry74]

FFS DONT LEAVE.




According to reports in the NZ Herald - there are only 5 people running the Army, Air Force and Navy combined. If you leave you reduce NZ's defence force by 20%!!!

Good call hahaha stick it out its all good

[Delerium]

It depends how far you are. If you have not completed your trade training you can hand in your MD717 (leaving document) and it will be accepted with 3 months notice. You can apply for early release on the same form, which wellington needs to approve otherwise it is still 3 months (I did this when leaving the air force, I gave 1.5 months notice as that was how long it was untill the uni semester began)

If you have completed trade training you will be subject to a return of service. during this time it is very rare to be able to be released, and the period of the return of service varies with which trade you are ( I was CIS tech, so 2 years for me)
Im currently in the process of going army now, but Im not 100% sure how it will work, as I am attempting to join the army equivalent of the trade I was in the RNZAF, so I will be trained in a lot of the job already.

[sAsLEX]

If you have completed trade training you will be subject to a return of service. during this time it is very rare to be able to be released, and the period of the return of service varies with which trade you are ( I was CIS tech, so 2 years for me)

I have two years left on my Return of Service of 4 years, prob stay in longer, but no 3 month option for me until I have been in nearly 10 years. But I knew that on signing the line at 17......

[coop]

I managed to get out of the Navy within one week of signing my 717. I had an apprenticeship lined up (requested to get out early). Mine was probably not the usual case... We had completed trade training and were waiting to go to sea, three intakes of technicians sitting on their arse all day, talking shit and reading magazines. Hard life. They sent eight of us onto a frigate for one month to keep us occupied, from an engineering viewpoint, what a crock of shit that was, hence three of us left afterwards.

All thru training, basic and trade, we were able to get out within days of signing the 717, was not until we passed out that we had to give the three months notice. Not sure If the Army is the same, but I can't see why they'd keep someone there in a training environment that doesn't want to.