joining the army

Tommorow at 830, going to a recruitment meeting.

if all goes well I should be accepted in, hopefully I'll breeze the medical and fitness sides of things, just have to worry about the psych testing.

Does that mean your knees have recovered?

Good luck, and regarding the psyche test, just remember these are not your divvy mates that you are trying to impress, so drop the act and be the sensible smart young man that we both know you are when you relax and be yourself

knees are still shady, but ill have to get over that.

will do

I really wish you well Crab, but I am concerned about your knees.
The fact that they are still bad, indicates that the problem is tendon, ligament, or cartilage. Any and all of which will get worse with the amount of running in boots involved in Basic training.

The thing about the army, is that if you have problems once 'in the fold', they will look after you brilliantly, but if you develop medical issues that prevent you finishing basic, you are out, and may not get a second chance.

If there is any way you can defer, and get your knees in better shape, I would suggest it as your safest option. I really would feel bad for you if things went wrong

I think I have it in me to pass basic. running doesnt seem to affect it much. more deep squats and kneeling and whatnot.
Ill have to see what happens either way

That's a heck of a commitment! I think it's a good idea, but take your time and be sure that's what you want to do.

I really hope they hold out for you, and that you pass with flying colours. Good luck

Quite a decision there, Crab. Could be a great career choice. I hope the best for you.

cheers for the input guys, I went today and I think all went as smoothly as it could have

I've passed the first stage of testing and have the final assessments in 4 - 6 weeks, where they decide what role I will be going into.
Im pretty firmly fixed on the army, but I told them that was just a preference, so we'll see where that goes.

I was actually a bit nervous on one bit, where they asked if I had ever taken drugs or smoked, but I just decided to go with honestly and told them it was back in the day and I havnt been there since.

So all is looking good
now that I dont have to look neat im going to shave an x into my head and put on a dirty singlet as soon as I get home.

- lachy

Forget the hair cut:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patellar_Tendonitis

Sound familiar? You need a specific diagnosis of cause, so go to a good physio and get a treatment plan so you go in with good knees in 6 weeks.

yeah, thats definitely what im rolling with.

the problem is, if i get a diagnosis, it may affect my getting into basic. So the idea was for me to tough it out, and after that I can get it diagnosed.
After your passed training your officially in the army, and anything like that is just treated accordingly, instead of being refused entry.

I dont know how it works in Oz, but here, if you go to a chartered physio as a private person, as opposed to being referrred by your GP, the physio records do not get transferred to your medical record, merely they are kept by the physio.
This means that if you go that route, it is entirely up to you if you disclose the problem to the army, as they can;t find out by other means

IT may be different in Australia, but in the American Army if a trainee gets an injury or something that causes them to discontinue training, they are sent home on convalescent leave for a month to heal up and get medical treatment then they just get re-cycled with the next group. We had a bunch of guys from my basic training platoon end up going that route. When we graduated they were back trainign with another group. If it takes logner than a month to heal, they kept them at the processing center and had them doing low stress jobs till they could train again. One guy was there for 8 months with dental problems. Several were on crutches doing odd jobs.