Scroll below this comment for a response from BeforeYouSignUp.info

Comment

The following points are on your web page and not quite true.  They say that some of the problems and risks of military life are:

• Wanting to leave the forces and not being able to.  You sign a 4 year contract then give 12 months notice this is fully explained at the ACIO before you sign anything.
• Spending a long time away from home.  New large regiments based in the same area mean soldiers can opt to stay closer to home for much longer.
• Long-term stress as a result of warfare (post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], alcoholism, depression). These will not effect every soldier and have as much a place with the Police, Fire service, Paramedics and other emergency workers. The army have 24hr 7 days a week access to fully trained counsellors.
• Bullying and harassment.  This was true however has been mostly removed from army life through education and training.
• Death or serious injury.  This can happen to anyone
• Finding that the rights and wrongs of warfare are difficult to work through.  You are fully trained and more aware of world affairs than members of the public to enable soldiers to deal with any issues that arise.
• Difficulty resettling into civilian life after leaving the forces.  An excellent resettlement package
• Poor quality accommodation.  I have never had poor accommodation in my service, although it does exist, I am now based in a brand new camp

There are two sides to every tale as you can see, however its not all great but nowhere near as bad a picture as you paint.

Education within the army is better than any other employer can offer, all soldiers will have numeracy and literacy level 1 within 3 years and level 2 within 6.  Can any other employer offer this on such a scale to its employees?  These courses are all done through Learn Direct, I have just completed all modules of ECDL for free and will continue to gain qualifications throughout my career.  Your web site is so anti-military and shows complete bias against the army it is nearly unbelievable and quite shocking that your site can accuse others of telling lies when you blatantly do the same.  It's obvious to anyone there can be a downside to military life, however there are more positives than negatives, just because you have extreme liberal views don't try to ruin the great career opportunities for others.

Response from Before You Sign Up

Here is a response to each point in turn:

• Legal obligations.  The rules for leaving the armed forces are not explained on the careers web sites for each service and information from recruiters is patchy.  For a fuller discussion of this, see the 'Informed Choice' report at www.informedchoice.org.uk, section 2.  The most common calls made to independent forces helplines SSAFA and At Ease are from personnel querying their terms of service, which suggests that many personnel are not clear about the terms, which are very complicated (see 'Informed Choice' report, p. 60).  The terms of service are set out on this web site under the listings for each branch of the armed forces.
• Separation from home and loved ones.  If you have evidence to show that soldiers are generally now able to stay closer to home, please let us know so that we can include this on the web site.  Long periods away from home also include deployments abroad, however.
• Psychiatric risks.  Long-term stress certainly does not apply to every soldier, as you say.  However, the prevalence of psychological distress 'exceed by a large margin' that found in health surveys of the population as a whole (Jones et al (2002) 'The burden of psychological symptoms in UK Armed Forces' Occupational Health, vol. 52, p. 326).  Even so, you are correct to state that the rates of PTSD are comparable with those in the civil emergency services, which actually have slightly higher rates (Jones, 2002) and the web site has been changed to reflect this accordingly.  There is also evidence that deployment can be beneficial to mental health in certain circumstances, but where a soldier is exposed to firefights the risk of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder increases markedly.  Please ask if you require full references for these data.
• Bullying.  Bullying has not been removed; the rate was 8% for soldiers in 2007, which represented neither an increase nor a decrease from the 2006 levels - see the article on bullying in the army.
• Risk of death and serious injury.  Death and serious injury are risks in military life but they remain relatively small.  For the current rates see the article on the physical and psychological risks of army life in the 'I'm thinking of joining...' section.  Note, however, that current rates are not a guide to the future.  Should a military emergency arise, such as the Falklands crisis, the rate could rise sharply, and if the UK withdrew from Iraq and Afghanistan then the rate would probably fall.
• Ethical issues.  The 'rights and wrongs' of warfare are difficult for anyone to work through; the evidence for this statement on the web site comes from some first-hand accounts of soldiers and others who say they had not fully thought through the ethical issues involved before signing up.  See for example Ken Lukowiak, 'A Soldier's Song'; Lee Jones, 'Nobody's Hero'; David Tinker, 'Letters from the Falklands'; and Dan Hallock, 'Bloody Hell: The price soldiers pay'.  If you can provide evidence that members of the armed forces are better informed than the general public about global affairs then please let us know so that we can include this on the web site.  It is an exaggeration to say that soldiers are able 'to deal with any issues that arise', for many do struggle with psychological symptoms as a result of warfare.
• Resettling into civilian life.  Many soldiers do resettle into civilian life but the risks of becoming homeless are greater among ex-forces personnel than among the general population.  For a fuller discussion on this, see the 'Informed Choice ' report at www.informedchoice.org.uk, section 4.6.
• Accommodation.  The evidence for poor quality accommodation is the Armed Forces Pay Review Body Report, 2006, which stated that 47% of UK armed forces accommodation worldwide was of the lowest grade; a large refurbishment and newbuild programme is now under way, however, and there have been improvements.
• Educational opportunities.  In 2006, 1 in 3 soldiers said the educational opportunities in the army were good; the same proportion said that they were not.  We will look into whether there are more recent statistics on this.
• Downside vs. upside of military life.  For you, the upside outweighs the downside and that is true for the majority of soldiers, as the web site makes clear.  For a significant minority, the opposite is the case.  In 2007, 25% of soldiers surveyed said life in the army was better than they expected, 37% worse and 37% about the same.  The web site describes both pros and cons of military careers, not just the cons - see the article on some of the main pros and cons of miltiary life.
• Accusing others of lying.  Nowhere on the web site are others accused of lying.
• Trying to 'ruin a great career opportunity'.  The web site aims to help people to make an informed choice about whether to enlist by balancing the pros against the cons and making their own decision.  Some of the other feedback we have received suggests that it is serving this purpose.  If you can show where the evidence provides inaccurate or unbalanced information, please let us know so that we can look into it.  The web site makes clear that many people enjoy life in the armed forces and that there are more satisfied than dissatisfied personnel.

<< Back