Trying hard not to lose sight

Finally something to smile about!!!!!!! After nearly three months sitting in the dark there is finally a faint glimmer from the night light of hope that is getting an interview!! After being told that my ACLO would give me a phone call this week and the end result that he didn't, I decided once again to phone up the London AFCO. Again the very kind receptionist couldn't understand why, after three months and an RT test, I still had no interview. However, instead of fobbing me off with some excuse about him contacting me in the 'near' future, she gave me his mobile number (now we're getting somewhere ). So I decided to give the number a ring and see if I could get through to him. I have just this moment got off the phone to him and finally I can say with some pride and relief that I have a date for that allusive interview . Although this is only a small step in the eventual marathon that I must run, I still feel a great sense of achievement in persevering until I achieved my goal however small. On the down side however, the interview has been scheduled for the 24th of January which is over a month away; and will mean that the total time I have waited for this interview will be around 4 months! Although this is slightly annoying as it means I will have to wait further still, at least I know that the date is definite and the anxiousness I suffered from worrying about when they would contact me is over. Now I just have to sit back and wait for the 24th. Easier said than done.

Whilst on the phone to my ACLO I decided to ask, for my own piece of mind, whether I would be able to be eligible for selection before I went away to uni in October. Thankfully he reckoned I should be able to if I pass my FATs and AIB well enough but it might go right down to the wire. This info is a huge weight off my mind as I was worried that, what with the process being so ridiculously long, I would end up going to Uni for about a month paying my tuition fees and accommodation then being told I had a place at BRNC. This would be a total waste of time and money I don't have.

So now the weight begins, and I'm sure that like an engine that wont start, once the application process gets going it wont stop (sorry for the poor analogy ). Next stop the 24th.

A useful place to start, in most cases, would probably be the start of an event or period. Useful as it is, it is not a luxury that I can enjoy. The start of this blog should have come a long time ago when I first started along the path that I wish to pursue. This path will hopefully lead me through the front doors of one of the most respected and revered of all naval colleges: Britannia Royal Naval College. Along the way I will no doubt have to face many challenging obstacles and tests, such as FATs (Flight Aptitude Tests), the AIB (Admiralty Interview Board) and definitely countless interviews and briefs. If you haven't all ready guessed or you don't already know me, my one ambition in life, my one true calling is to join the Royal Navy as a Pilot. You may ridicule this with the original and unimpressive attitude that most have i.e. the Navy is for gays. Well go ahead. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. I can take it. I spent most of my time at school being called a gay for various reasons, reasons which are to this very day still a mystery Anyway...

I have decided to keep this blog for a few good reasons. Firstly by keeping this blog I will be able to share my story and experiences with people who are in the same situation as me or who are contemplating this avenue of employment (though in my own opinion I believe that the Navy is a career that you must fall in love with first before you apply - and they say the Navy's for gays). Secondly I write this so that friends and relatives will be able to read and understand what I am going through and how I cope with it. Lastly, I am writing this blog in order to unburden some of my thoughts and feelings about the whole process and how it is effecting me mentally and physically. Also I'm writing it because now that I have left school I don't do much and thought this would be a good idea to stop my brain melting through lack of use.

The reason I cannot start at the start is because it was a fair few months ago. In about May, once I knew I wanted to join the Royal Navy and in what branch, I visited a local AFCO (Armed Forces Careers Office) to have an informal chat about what I wanted to do and the next step forward. This next step turned out to be filling in an Officer inquiry form which declares your interest in the service and a commission. I STUPIDLY thought it would be a good idea to wait until after my A-level results were know to send this form off!!! Due to waiting this long I am still in the process of applying, where as if I had filled it out in May the process would probably have been over by now; and I may have been on the list for a January entry at BRNC. As a result of sending it away in September, I am sorry to say I am still waiting for my initial interview!!!!!!!!!! This is the part that is driving me insane. I received a letter from the Navy on the 14th of September to say that they had received my form and would be arranging an initial interview with my ACLO (Area Career Liaison Officer) i.e. the guy that helps me prepare for selection. And here we are. Its nearly 3 months later and still no interview!! I know what you're thinking. You're thinking: But Dominic, have you not teleophoned these gentlemen at Her Majesty's Royal Navy and let them know of your vexation? Yes actually, I have. Many a time and always to the delightful answer that my ACLO was unavailable but was aware of my situation. Great. After a few more phone calls and at the beginning of November, around two months of waiting for an interview, I was told by one of the nice receptionists that because I was for some reason being made to wait so long, I would take an RT Test. These tests are a basic psychometric aptitude test that all hopeful entries to the Royal Navy must complete, whether they're applying as a Rating or an Officer. They're pretty simple tests really and comprise of verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, mechanical and numerical tests. There is a threshold of around 50% (I believe) needed to pass as a rating and higher for an officer. In preparation for this I did numerous practice tests on my own and thankfully they paid of as I managed to pass, with what I was told was a good score. Yay!! I was then told that my score would go up to London to be put in my file and my ACLO would contact me within two weeks for that elusive interview. You do not need to be remotely intelligent to guess that this didn't happen at all (mainly because I have already said so above ) And so the wait continues. I shall be phoning again soon to once again try to unearth the mystery around the lost interview, and hopefully in a few posts time I will have something to write about. Until then I will be continuing with my rather stressful but simple life all the while preparing myself for what I will ultimately have to undertake in good time: the AIB.

This entry is just a little snippet of what this blog is about just to set the scene. My entries will probably be irregular and few because I'm pretty lazy and because the application process is not a smooth one, as I have previously alluded to .

P.S Don't ask me why there are so many smileys in this, even I don't know......