Has anyone here been in the UOTC?

Nix

Nix

Soldato
Joined
26 Dec 2005
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As title really. I'm thinking of joining the local UOTC at my university this year which is the one based in Exeter.

Has anyone been in the OTC before? I'm curious as to what the entry requirements are like (how hard is it?), what happens in the medical, etc., and what things you got up to while you were a part of it.

TIA :)
 
I know a couple of people who are in this, one in exeter and the other up north. They both really enjoy it. As for entry requirements, all I know is that about half of the people going for it get in, the medical isnt too strict although if your almost blind or not very fit you probably will fail. You do have to be fit though to get in.

As for what goes on, from what i have heard from the two in it they do all sorts of stuff, expeditions, shooting, military excercises and that sort of thing.

Hope that helps a little. :)
 
I am in the Edinburgh OTC and it is the best thing I have ever done. A lot of people join for the wrong reasons though (i.e. they are interested in a specific activity that the OTC does). You need to be interested in the Army and thrive on the Army bArmy stuff.

Entry at Edinburgh was pretty much like a mini RCB, medical, intelligence tests, teamwork exercises, debating skills etc. They were very discreet about not letting people in. Basically about the 2nd morning we were just told 'right - you have all got in'. At the time I thought 'wow, that was pretty easy then' and it wasn't until later I discovered they had been quietly letting people go all weekend. So basically you don't have to worry about some embarassing incident where they read out a list of names of people who didn't make it! Also a lot of people found the 1st day so tough that they simply didn't bother turning up the 2nd day!

It takes up a LOT of time so I don't recommend it if you are doing anything highly academic (science/engineering/computing). If you are doing something arty farty then it is great :p
 
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I'm doing this when I go to Salford University in September.

I'll be joining the Manchester/Salford OTC and I can't wait for it.

Adventure training, social aspects, getting paid, get to see the country/world etc.

Good luck if you get in, hope I do. :D
 
dboundy said:
I'm doing this when I go to Salford University in September.

I'll be joining the Manchester/Salford OTC and I can't wait for it.

Adventure training, social aspects, getting paid, get to see the country/world etc.

Good luck if you get in, hope I do. :D

I'm going to start jogging everyday (advice from Stringy) as it should improve my chances, it's something I'd really love to get involved with. :)
 
Nix said:
I'm going to start jogging everyday (advice from Stringy) as it should improve my chances
:cool: At first everyday might be slight overkill, I only do 2 days on/1 day off at the moment, and in the beginning I was doing every other day.

Best of luck to ya, and have fun pretending to be a pongo :p
 
OCdt Stringy said:
:cool: At first everyday might be slight overkill, I only do 2 days on/1 day off at the moment, and in the beginning I was doing every other day.

Best of luck to ya, and have fun pretending to be a pongo :p

:o

Cheers, I will do, and same to you.

Have fun at being an erk rupert ;)
 
Oh sorry yeah it might help if I posted the requirements for fitness!

It is called the BPFA, basic personal fitness assesment.

I am assuming you are male, so to get in you need to be able 44 situps in 2 minutes, followed immediately by 50 situps in 2 minutes. This will then be followed by a half mile squadded march (very slow pace) and then they set you free and you must run 1.5 miles in 10.5 minutes.

http://www.army.mod.uk/linked_files/london_reg/TA_BPFA__CFT_Guide1.doc

This is very handy because it also gives you a 5 week plan to prepare for BPFA! I know from experience it works well, as I myself followed it and went from red to green in a month.
 
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I thought you meant my local theatre company....

They put on plays where people dress all in one colour or pretend to be trees and that.

Load of toss
 
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