Why have you singled out the armed forces when many other careers can carry just as many risks?

There are three main reasons for providing this service.  First, careers in the armed forces carry risks of physical and psychological harm that are unusual (although not unknown) in civilian life.  Second, the legal obligations of military service are unlike anything in civilian life, in which turning up to work is not a legal obligation that carries a potential prison term when flouted.  Third, careers in the armed forces raise ethical issues connected with the use of lethal force and the political purposes for which military action is used; civilian careers can raise ethical issues, too, but these are not usually as severe.  Combined, these three considerations mean that the need for accurate and balanced information is particularly important for those considering military careers, who may be as young as 15 when they begin their application process.  However, once an informed choice has been made, a new recruit may well enjoy their forces career, as the experiences of many forces personnel will testify.

Why are you trying to put people off a career that so many people enjoy?

Before You Sign Up is not trying to put people off at all.  The aim of the web site is to provide balanced information of the pros and cons of military careers; official sources of information on military careers tend only to state the potential benefits and leave out the potential difficulties.  Even so, there are more satisfied than dissatisfied forces personnel and the web site shows this clearly.  If you think the information is not balanced or accurate, then please let us know and we will respond and post your comment on the comments page; we may also change the web site in the light of what you say.

Are you not just helping the military to become better recruiters?

While there are armed forces, there will be armed forces recruitment.  This web site is based on the principle that young people have a right to make an informed choice about their choice of career.

You are funded by Quaker organisations so you must be a liberal pacifist web site

Actually, no we are not.  Before You Sign Up is the only service of its kind presenting both the potential benefits and the risks of forces careers so that people can make the best decision for themselves about whether it is the right thing for them.  It is also the only military careers information web site that records users' comments.  We ask web site users to judge for themselves: does the web site help people to make an informed choice about a military career?

When are you going to start providing information for officer entry?

We have no plans to do this because of the limits to our resources.  The situation of officer recruitment is similar to that of non-officers in some respect but different in others: officers tend to be more satisfied, they are less likely to suffer problems such as bullying, the material conditions and pay are better and it is easier for them to leave if they wish to do so.

Your sources are selective

Most of the sources we use are official Ministry of Defence statistics.  We draw heavily on the annual Ministry of Defence survey of forces personnel, which gauges the extent of job satisfaction, bullying and so on.  The sources for each entry in the web site are stated in the text.  If you believe a statistic is inaccurate or unfairly presented, please let us know so we can look into it.

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