RMA Sandhurst

New episode tomorrow, BBC4 at 9pm! Looking forward to it.

Thursday’s ‘Young Soldiers’ episode was very good viewing.

Watched the programme last night in which Mark Evison was killed May 2009. Very moving, urge you to read his diary on the Daily Telegraph website.

Indeed – no different from the other euphemisms for death – passing on and passed away and no longer with us, resting at peace etc. Sadly death is death, arrived at by whatever means.

I agree with you about the bayonet rushing. I am sure a degree of “psyching-up” is necessary but it verged on the laughable. In fact some of the cadets were laughing and berated for it, weren’t they?

I also found part II a big improvement on the first episode. With the cadets
being made acutely aware of what could be expected of them, once
deployed.

I found the scenes of the bayonet training (as echoed on the last “Young
Soldiers” programme) rather OTT.

One of the things I’ve inherited from my father, is an acute dislike of being
told that servicemen “Lay down their lives”, or “Make the ultimate
sacrifice”. Which came up a number of times in the documentary.

He used to get very angry when that was said during the Cenotaph parade.

No they didn’t !! he would say. They were killed ! …. Not so PC, and maybe
not what families want to hear, but closer to the truth.

I thought the second programme better than the first. It went into detail on the options the cadets will have to confront and I thought it revealing on just how important it is for them to accept and come to terms with the possibility of their and others deaths in the field of duty.

However the fact that anyone who watches television can see at first hand exactly what life is like on the front line I was surprised that that reality came as a surprise to some of the cadets. We have all been exposed to the facts of war in the Middle East for years now so anyone considering a career in the Army should reralise that they will have to kill peolle and that they might be killed. As indeed didm one of the cadets when commenting on his colleague’s decision to leave.

Newsflash: young people are fickle!

Wait, that’s not news :rolleyes:

Sandhurst was very good tonight, but I was very surprised by the guy who left due to uncertainty about killing, of all things.

I found young soldiers to be very good so far.

Both programs give great insight, especially to me personally, as I’m considering joining the armed forces myself.

I have no doubt that the “elite” will shine through, but there still seem to be
a lot of cadets who who seem to be “fish out of water”, and are wasting
everyone’s time. I realise that’s what the course is all about, sorting the wheat
from the chaff, but many of them seem to be clueless as to what
the army expects of them.

There’s another series running, “Young Soldiers”, where at least a couple of
recruits have dropped out when the reality of having to go to Afghanistan
has been explained to them.

Don’t they ever watch the news ?

I have to agree with this. Do not forget that this is ‘infotainment’, story first, facts second.

Standards have not dropped! and the elite will shine through.;)

Which is why there seems such a gulf between this series and the previous one made many years ago.

They didn’t have the “comfort blanket” of the mobile phone back then. 😉

Which is why there seems such a gulf between this series and the previous one made many years ago. Times and standards have changed, I suppose. I will continue to watch it to see how the cadets manage the remaining weeks of the course and how many survive.

Having watched the first episode over the weekend, I was left with a feeling
of Deja Vu. I was also amazed at how uninformed some of the candidates
were, as to what was expected of them.
Surely to go to a place like that, you need a certain level of intelligence, and
have a rough idea what to expect ? It would seem that I am wrong. 🙁

Unless the programme makers just concentrate on the extremes, or the
eccentrics ?
I would like to think that the officers leading our young lads, were good
leaders. Rather than being proficient at knowing how to conduct themselves
at the regimental banquet.

I watched it. Excellent viewing.

Agreed – definitely!:)

I rather prefer the first series . But another great insight. Love it or hate it. 😉

Repeated Saturday night, 10:35pm

I expect they still have the fancy dress passing out parade, and the horse going up the steps ?
I imagine there will also be the tearful cadets, on the phone to their mum 🙂

A lot, probably, because I imagine they are very cheap, to make – producer/interviewer and camera/sound.

I missed this, but no doubt it will be repeated.

I do wonder how many more programmes like this they can make ? :rolleyes:

I did go for it!! And enjoyed it very much, but today’s Sandhurst seems a world removed from the one I recall a programme about many years ago, not the least part being the numbers of women cadets, now such a significant part of the frontline force.:) And the range of ages and backgrounds of the cadets. I just have a feeling that a few more are not going to make the grade……..I will have to record it while I am away if there are several episodes.

Go for it !:)