JSASTC to be taken over by Army

[Kukri]

Doesn't he want to continue with a medical theme?

Yes. He wants to be a Navy doctor, thus combining his interests. ?

 

[Kukri]

That’s an almost impossible question to answer. (I assume he’ll become a military doctor?)
I had several friends who were Surgeon Commanders and one or two of them had done the All Arms Commando Course and got their green lids (berets). One or two are still serving and I could put him in touch and he could have a chat? To be a Dr with the Royal Marines Commandos you join the RN and volunteer to serve with them. (Same for my branch and it’s what I did). Commando training is not just about fitness and upper body strength, but it is a measure of attitude and character and determination. I didn’t realise just how true this was until I passed out of Lympstone Commando Training Centre.

My experience of med students is that what they think they want to do early in their training is not very often what they end up doing when they come out the other end!

Saltire of these forums is an ex RN Surgeon Lt who went on to become a consultant anaesthetist. He might be able to help advise?

Your son should know that RN Dr’s spend very little of their service life at sea. They also spend a lot of their time seeing fit young men and women so their chances to become cardiologists etc are limited. For this reason and to try and broaden their experience military Dr’s work for a significant amount of time in NHS trusts/hospitals that have ‘military wings’ or wards.

Thank you John. I must say neither his parents nor his MN brother understand his enthusiasm for running up hills with a backpack, when he could be getting cold wet and seasick, but it takes all sorts!

Saltire has already been extremely helpful.

As you say the eventual choice of specialism comes late and he’s aware of this.

 

[Never Grumble]

Thank you John. I must say neither his parents nor his MN brother understand his enthusiasm for running up hills with a backpack, when he could be getting cold wet and seasick, but it takes all sorts!

Saltire has already been extremely helpful.

As you say the eventual choice of specialism comes late and he’s aware of this.

I always found the squadron Doc would turn up for the best trips/runs ashore, they might have to work for a living nowadays.

 

[john_morris_uk]

I always found the squadron Doc would turn up for the best trips/runs ashore, they might have to work for a living nowadays.

I was always accused of that too. It wasn't true. I spent a lot off time on ships going through BOST but matelots always seemed to forget those months of sleep deprivation and pain...

 

[Ladyvictoria]

I was always accused of that too. It wasn't true. I spent a lot off time on ships going through BOST but there always seemed to forget those months...

It's news to me and Hornet is my club. However, the Army do more sailing than both the other arms put together, especially now there are many more licentious soldiers than tars or airmen. When I did my CC with them (Many many years ago), everyone else on the boat was Army, even the skipper was ex-Army. Bloody good fun though.

Hornet is a lovely club.
The JSASTC staff are a nice bunch with exception to the Officer in Charge who is apparently a very poor manager and the new chief instructor who apparently doesn’t know his arse from his elbow and cannot teach any shorebased courses!

 

[PeterV]

This gathering of ex-services yachtspeople prompts me to ask the question John alludes to in post 16.

#2 sprog is a medical student who is planning to take his AIB presently. He has a slight hankering after the Marines but would also be happy aboard a surface ship or a submarine.

Which branch should he choose?

when I was in submarines doctors didn’t choose the branch as such. If they volunteered they did one job aboard a submarine (about 2 years) before doing other doctor jobs. All the submarine doctors I knew were bored stiff.

 

[Kukri]

when I was in submarines doctors didn’t choose the branch as such. If they volunteered they did one job aboard a submarine (about 2 years) before doing other doctor jobs. All the submarine doctors I knew were bored stiff.

Cunning selection of a bunch of exceptionally heathy patients! It seems to be an extreme case of the Airline Pilot’s Conundrum - not “99% boredom...” but “99.99999% boredom - 0.00001% reactor incident!”?

 

[capnsensible]

when I was in submarines doctors didn’t choose the branch as such. If they volunteered they did one job aboard a submarine (about 2 years) before doing other doctor jobs. All the submarine doctors I knew were bored stiff.

Four knotters I presume?

 

[Poignard]

Hornet is a lovely club.
The JSASTC staff are a nice bunch with exception to the Officer in Charge who is apparently a very poor manager and the new chief instructor who apparently doesn’t know his arse from his elbow and cannot teach any shorebased courses!

That is an unwarranted attack on two people who are not in a position to refute your allegations. Even if they were, it is still an unwarranted attack.

Shame on you!

 

[wully1]

Yes. He wants to be a Navy doctor, thus combining his interests. ?

Alcohol and venereal disease? ???????

 

[Tanqueray]

Some lovely memories of JSSC (Before they added the 'A' and 'T' bits).

Think that I might have been working on Adventure along with Wully !
Nic 55 Chaser to Antigua via Gib, Tangier, and Canaries 1981.
Admiral (then a Captain) Charlie Williams 'Rumbuster?'
John Fieldhouse, ex - FOSM ran Falklands op from Northwood kept his Moody? there. Lovely folk, down to earth.
Coming through Alderney race in a genuine eight with Terry Nash as skipper (It was 'Racer' I think) - I was on the helm when the steering gear failed right in the middle of a (very) lumpy race. I screamed out to Terry - he looked up from his position cooking toast in the galley, pushed his spectacles up his nose and said "It's ok, you couldn't touch the sides if you wanted to" - he was correct of course, got spat out into the Channel like a bar of soap before he even bothered to look up from his toast. Lovely guy, went on to be club manager.

Nice memories.

 

[Kukri]

Some lovely memories of JSSC (Before they added the 'A' and 'T' bits).

Think that I might have been working on Adventure along with Wully !
Nic 55 Chaser to Antigua via Gib, Tangier, and Canaries 1981.
Admiral (then a Captain) Charlie Williams 'Rumbuster?'
John Fieldhouse, ex - FOSM ran Falklands op from Northwood kept his Moody? there. Lovely folk, down to earth.
Coming through Alderney race in a genuine eight with Terry Nash as skipper (It was 'Racer' I think) - I was on the helm when the steering gear failed right in the middle of a (very) lumpy race. I screamed out to Terry - he looked up from his position cooking toast in the galley, pushed his spectacles up his nose and said "It's ok, you couldn't touch the sides if you wanted to" - he was correct of course, got spat out into the Channel like a bar of soap before he even bothered to look up from his toast. Lovely guy, went on to be club manager.

Nice memories.

‘Chaser’ more recently (2019):


Simon, her owner, first sailed aboard her when he was in the Navy and she was at the JSSTC.

He was responsible for talking me into ‘Kukri’.

 

[Pete7]

It's news to me and Hornet is my club. However, the Army do more sailing than both the other arms put together, especially now there are many more licentious soldiers than tars or airmen.

I guess with the with drawl of the Army from Germany which meant Kiel was closed btw, the numbers of of Army pers in the UK is actually still quite high despite the cuts a decade ago. Shame to see the Nic 55s go, they certainly did some miles.

Pete

 

[john_morris_uk]

‘Chaser’ more recently (2019):
View attachment 107621

Simon, her owner, first sailed aboard her when he was in the Navy and she was at the JSSTC.

He was responsible for talking me into ‘Kukri’.

I’ve skippered both and have fond memories. Chaser just after a major refit. I was in company with her sailing another Nich55 from Bermuda to Boston via a lot of ports on the E coast of the USA.

 

[Kukri]

I think the JSSTC still have one Nic 55 - “Dasher”, iirc, and from what little I know of Services budgets and how they work in practice, I am very sure that they are sitting on at least three boat loads of Nic 55 spares and gear. (I wonder if the nice bimini whose shoes adorn “Kukri”’s cockpit coamings is sitting in a shed at Hornet? )

 

[Tanqueray]

That view brings back lots of (hand steering) memories!
We sailed across in company with an Army Nic 55 (might have been Lord Trenchard?) - about half way across the trades picked up and we were unable to see each others' mast tops even though only one swell separated us. One of the Army guys got hit badly by the boom - suspected back / broken ribs iirc. We had the only 'Doc' onboard between the boats, he was actually a Dental Surgeon Commander (Richard). He volunteered to go into the dinghy, we payed out the lanyard and when he was +/- 50-100 yards behind us (completely out of sight in the swells) the Army Nic sailed across our stern, picked up the rope with a boat hook, then winched him in to them. Took guts 1500 miles from anywhere, well done Richard.

 

[Babylon]

Coming through Alderney race in a genuine eight with Terry Nash as skipper (It was 'Racer' I think) - I was on the helm when the steering gear failed right in the middle of a (very) lumpy race. I screamed out to Terry - he looked up from his position cooking toast in the galley, pushed his spectacles up his nose and said "It's ok, you couldn't touch the sides if you wanted to" - he was correct of course, got spat out into the Channel like a bar of soap before he even bothered to look up from his toast...

Great story!

 

[ctelfer38]

Is the ex Kiel fleet of Halberg Rassy vessels still on the JSSTC books? Interested to know as I had the 'pleasure' of taking part in the last Kiel Regatta before the 10 HRs were allocated to Gosport. I do hope the Services are not about to lose adventurous sail training capability. CBT

 

[Pete7]

Is the ex Kiel fleet of Halberg Rassy vessels still on the JSSTC books? Interested to know as I had the 'pleasure' of taking part in the last Kiel Regatta before the 10 HRs were allocated to Gosport. I do hope the Services are not about to lose adventurous sail training capability. CBT

Can't be certain, but I thought some of them were sold off. With the Vic 34 fleet all those HRs made a bit of a parking problem and doubt they could have put them all to a good use at the same time. No idea what they were like condition wise. Hopefully the money raised goes back into the fleet somewhere rather than a MOD budget for boring things like boots or comfy sleeping bags for the RAF. Not that they would ever use them, 4 star hotels even when on ops bombing Libya, because the Italian airfield officers mess wasn't good enough

I don't think we will loose sailing as an AT activity, it and others like diving are seen as a good stress break for the troops by getting them away doing something completely different out of their comfort zone. Hot bunking on a Nic 55 crossing the English Channel was certainly that. The big black cloud looming over Portsmouth harbour had me worried, so I asked the skipper an old Brigadier what the weather forecast was for our channel crossing. He replied it didn't matter, we are going anyway and we did. Clearing the forts, he suddenly shouted "YOU" and jabbed a finger at me, steer this yacht.! EEK how and which way do I turn it to make the compass needle go the other way?

 

[Travelling Westerly]

This gathering of ex-services yachtspeople prompts me to ask the question John alludes to in post 16.

#2 sprog is a medical student who is planning to take his AIB presently. He has a slight hankering after the Marines but would also be happy aboard a surface ship or a submarine.

Which branch should he choose?

FAA! But if he joins the scab lifters branch then he will need to discuss his ambitions with the 'dissappointer' if and when he gets out of Dartmouth. Presumably he is only doing a SIC at BRNC?