What are the officers like in the French Army and FFL and how do they differ from officers in the British Army ? Does anyone know how the French recruit their officers and is it like in the UK where alot of it depends on which part of society you come from ?
Cheers
Sorry if this is in the archives.
For every hot chick, there s a guy bored ******* her !
They speak French.Originally Posted by son_of_scotland
[QUOTE=Samtoo;54961]
Merci, mais sauf ça ?
For every hot chick, there s a guy bored ******* her !
Historically the British Army Officer class was made up of second sons of aristocratic families, the eldest son inheriting the title and estate.
Commisions were generally bought which led to a high degree of inetitiude in some regiments. I am not overly familiar with the little nuances of the Queens Commission hailing from the ranks.
Chas may well know more about this subject than most.
From personal experience from Brit PARA and REP I found that there wasn't a noticeable class distinction among the officers and in general they were good, professional and competent, I believe this to be because firstly the slightly more arduous training process to enter these regiments breeds a kind of basic respect among the troops, and secondly because of the relative youth of these regiments and of airborne warfare in general they avoid the generation game where familys followed each other into the respective "Regiment".
I believe Royal Marine Officers are afforded similar respect.
One other point whilst officers are afforded this respect in elite units it is also very easy to loose that respect.
Last edited by serge; 26th September 2006 at 12:17.
Dont know about the Paras but at the Royal Marines, the Officers undergo the same training alongside the recuruits. Obviously, they need to do more in terms of leadership, tactics, etc but all the phys is the same except the officers have less time to complete run.
As for the selection process, I applied to the Army for commission and attended the RCB (Royal Commissions Board) . basically a 3 day testing centre to see if you have the skills required to be an officer. Coming from Glasgow and from a working class family, I felt subject to extreme prejudice from the staff there. There were people in my group who failed the planning exercise ( a given senario to be solved using planning and Speed Distance and Time Equations) . One of the lads "invented" a radio and a boat to solve the problem and another girl broke down crying due to the stress of the excerise. Guess what......? they both passed. Me......nah !
May sound like sour grapes and in a way it probably is but there is a definate class system and a "jobs for the boys" attitute throughout the Officer recruiting process and its very dissapointing.
Eventually, I was offered a place at Sandhurst with the view to becoming a Logistics Officer but declined. I would rather become a Royal Marine at the bottom of the ladder than do that.
The thing that was most amazing is , the people who attended RCB will eventually go on to Command troops, mostly from working class families and schemes. These potential officers dont know anything about these people and are so out of touch with them that its difficult to see how the 'normal' private on his £200 a week can afford these new 2nd Lts any respect.
For every hot chick, there s a guy bored ******* her !
Yes I'm certain that narrow minded classism still exists just as I,m certain racism still exists in the guards and the household cav.
I can imagine a working class kid would still run into prejudice should his parents be wealthy enough to send him to Eton and then through choice wish to go the Sandhurst and Guards route, and no doubt the fact that daddy doesn't play polo with the CO may hamper promotion chances.
Anyway all very sad but I wont be slashing me wrists just yet.
In my experience the best officers apart from those who have risen through the ranks are those who when they leave their respective officer training facility and take their first command are prepared to take advice from senior soldiers in their unit. It takes a good officer, and a good man to be able to take advice from his troops while at the same time accepting the full mantle of responsibility.
I have had the pleasure to have been under the command of such officers.
I've also met some right knobbers!!!
Last edited by serge; 26th September 2006 at 12:18.
French officer school graduates must choose an infantry regiment to go to for 2 years. The smart ones choose to do their 2 years in a Legion regiment. If they perform well, the Legion asks them to stay. If they screw up, they are told to leave. While in Tchad, Epervier-'87, I was stationed at Moussoro, about 200 klics from N'Djemina. We sent a convoy back to the capitol early one morning. We referred to it as the "Convoi d'Enfer". There were several mishaps along the way. A VLRA broke down, vehicles got lost, some found there way into Niger, etc. Halfway there, they stopped for a radio-check--alas, the trans caporal had relied on the premier class Legionnaires to load his BLU and assorted radio gear--he wanted a few extra minutes of sleep--oops, nobody loaded his gear, and the convoy found itself 100 klics from nowhere, without communications. Imagine the Lt.'s face when told," I am sorry Lt., I cannot make radio contact because I forgot my radio." Had they come under fire, there would be no support. Officers and Sous-officers started dribbling in--they hitched rides, some came back by helico, some by car--the Lt. in charge had only been with the regiment for a few months. Upon return to Nimes, he was handed his walking papers and told "La Legion no longer requires your presence." I felt bad for the Lt.--it was the trans caporal who screwed up--but the Lt. was in charge, so he paid the price. C'est la guerre. Tex
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