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the army

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Hi Mike,

I see what you mean about the pump. I saw my doctor last Monday to chat about one. He said that seeing as I'm a cadet and consequently running/crawling around fields on overnight things due to fears of cannula's becoming dislodged. Pumps aren't tough and can't take a bit of punishment like pens can. My doc has written to the armed forces minister asking him to look into my case seeing as my MP has passed on my correspondance to him.

I must point out that the first time I attempted this I was turned down. That was due to my poor planning, research and expectations of the politicians concerned. I expected them to do research when they didn't. Now I have done much better research and continue to research things look better now.

Tom H
 
Just remembered somthing that might interest you. I was told this when speaking to one of the top MODY researchers. Some people with MODY2 (glucokinase) diabetes have been cleared to join the army, not have usual driving restrictions placed on them. This is because they in general have stable blood sugars that don't deteriorate and doe snot require medication.

If it's what you want then keep fighting
 
I definitely will be keeping up the fight with this one. I wonder if anyone on here is from DUK?
I will get in touch with DUK sooner or later. Hoepfully sooner. I wonder what help they can offer?

Tom H
 
Tom - you might like to look up on the Diabtetes UK website the campaign regarding firefighters with diabetes. There are now guidelines that permit those with well controlled diabetes to join and remain in fire services / brigades.
 
Thanks Copepod. I'll do that and get their opinion on what I'm trying to do.

Mike, what was your role in the paras? Did you do anything special? Sorry if that comes across as patronising 🙂

I've tried to contact the Finnish army over the past few months but still no joy with that one. I've read that the Isreali forces allow diabetics to do limited service so I think I should get in touch with them soon.

Would people be happy if I were to point DUK in the direction of this message board, more specifically this topic?

Tom H
 
Israeli Defence Forces are largely conscript / national service, whereas UK armed forces are all volunteers - worth keeping the distinction in mind when researching different approaches to service with diabetes.
 
Thanks for pointing that out Copepod, I'll bear that in mind. At the moment I am in the process of contacting DUK.

Tom H
 
Just to say that I've e-mailed DUK today and I'm now waiting for a reply.

Tom H
 
hi tom not patronising at all 🙂. i was a recon specialist in the para pathfinders when i was forced to quit. started out as a lowly rifleman and advanced to be schooled in the art of many things including marksmanship and demolition techniques. i was also going for selection for another regiment as id served over the mandatory amount of years i needed to to become able to go for it. i also have close protection qualifications and evasive/ offensive driving qualifications from my time in the army. as you can see tom even though i started low down i made it to a very highly skilled level.
 
Thanks for that info Mike. Talking theoretically here, supposing that I did succeed and was allowed to go to RMAS and join the TA for my time at uni I suppose I'd be looking for a regiment that was progressive in its outlook? I don't really know much about the various regiments that there are apart from my CCF sponsor regiment. Any ideas?

Tom H
 
hi tom, it all depends on what you want to do when your in the army as to regiments to choose and also how quick you want to move up the ranks etc.

if i was going in now i would probably still choose the para's as i love nothing more than yomping round the hills and carrying heavy rucksacks and also playing with guns and explosives. however i have a few mates who are ex airborne but were in the support arms of it i.e logistics and the likes.

now if your looking for a trade you can get a good job with on the outside then best thing to do is look at either the sigs or engineers. hope this helps you some 🙂
 
Thanks Mike. Do you have an idea of which units would be open minded enough to attempt this sort of thing? Personally I was thinking airborne gunners. I like things going bang! With the degree I'm planning on doing in September I'd have something to do on the outside so to speak. I'm going to do a degree in Applied Biomedical Science. My granddad was engineers so I might just go to them instead of the gunners. Signals sound good too.

Tom H
 
well tom as in who would be open minded to try this, it's gonna be up to the government and also mod to decide that. my thoughts would be logistics corp and maybe the signals would be the test case units. however if it is not where you wanna be then once you have completed the required test period to prove you can do it then you should be able to transfer units to one more suited to you. if i was going back in i would be back to my old unit, but im just a nutter who loves going target shooting and also making things go bang. i would really look into which units serbe the sort of trades you want to do. as your degree is in medical side of things maybe try the scab pickers?? (medical corp) you can rise through the ranks quick in them and also you can get into sides of it where you wouldnt be placed near the front line. however not all meds are based away from front line. i think it is best to just concentrate on which units you are interested in and then research them to see what is involved.
 
Thanks Mike, I'll be having a look at things like the gunners and signallers. Maybe people like the infantry too. What do you know about the Rifles Regiment or the Fusiliers?

Cheers,

Tom H
 
hi tom, not sure if they would be the first place the army would send people who are going in with diabetes. my experiences of the para's is very very different to a lot of others as i knew i was signing up to a hard unit and also i was going in as a career soldier so i wanted to be in for a long time. as for your motives tom they are your own and i would not like to say which units you should go for or not. that choice is yours and if i were you i would fight it all the way to get the unit you want.
 
Hello All,

I've had a reply from DUK and I'm waiting for either my MP's office or DUK to liase between themselves. Basically DUK gave me their position on Daibetics and jobs which was:

"...they should not incur any blanket bans and their suitability for a role should be based on an individual medical assessment."

Hopefully this will be helpful, however, DUK's main focus at the moment is on the emergency services and not, sadly the armed forces.

Tom H
 
hi tom,

the good thing is if this blanket ban is lifted off the emergency services then the armed forces should in effect follow the lead as they use a fairly similar recruitment process as the emergency service. however this may be a while coming.

have duk told you why they cant support your action as well as pushing for themselves?? it wouldnt be to hard to put something in writing for you. also they could ask you to be the front man for it and just contact them if and when you needed advice and support off them.

anyway good luck and keep me informed mate 🙂

mike
 
Hi All,

Just thought I'd give a little up date on what I'm doing as regards DUK's involvement with myself. I've just e-mailed them asking them to put their support into writing and pass it on to my MP's office. I'm going to get DUK and my MP's office speaking with each other soon.

Tom H
 
good luck tom and let me know how your getting on with it all.

p.s good luck at uni mate :D
 
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