AHG Driffield, spent a happy 6 weeks there. Bussed up to leccy every day for driving lessons. Making up the packed lunches. Driving all over humberside & Yorkshire. I vividly remember the wife of an rp there, German girl, very flexible she was.
paul@midway:
Wouldn’t be surprised if he missed the pin tbh.
There seems to be an “army” of retards out there dropping loaded and unloaded trailers too high.
So high in fact you just about get under them and the legs are still welded to the floor.
Idiots.
Its got to the way they are being instructed ATM, there are too many that are left too high just lately, it doesnt help at your place with all the "new" agency lads, [who have replaced all the higher earners on agency], who seem to not give a ■■■■ [so im told] 
Monkeys / Peanuts syndrome
I passed my hgv in army in 2001 in leconfield. done week on class 2 then test then wagon and drag for class 1. was posted out to germany where my unit had 3 low loaders seddon atkinsons and kings trailers with rear steer. was trained on every vehicle we used and pink card ticked off to say qualified to drive it called fmt card short for familiarization training. was taught to couple and un couple before going out for drive to get used to them.
not a case of army sending out unprepared as army when i was getting out in 2006 clamped down on all squaddies driving vehicle when not trained on them. you pass your test and all down to the unit or trade that your are some will use alot of articulated truck, some wagon and drag and some never. but when leave the army you get resettlement courses and alot of squaddies dont intend on being drivers like me i done a mobile crane course so they put me on a mobile crane course. if you wanted to be a hgv driver they would give you extra training you needed and a tacho course or some just train to be builders etc then turn to driving when they have no job lined up or change of career. I once bumped in to my old sergeant major in tesco livingston and what a good laugh i had when he told me he never drove a truck since passing his test in 22yrs of army service and he turned a corner cutting up a car and trailer straight over the bonnet. its down to the individual to ask the questions…
not just squaddies iv seen alot of numptys from all walks of life behind the wheel of truck and clip something or miss the pin i seem to find the most common course is driver in too much of a hurry the forget things try to save a few mins turns out to cost alot.
TAKE A GOOD LOOK AROUND THE ROADS EVERY ONE WANTS TO BE INFRONT OF THE VEHICLE INFRONT OF THEM…they dont care what problems or accidents they cause to get there faster
bigtruck:
As limeyphill says half of them don’t do the training,a couple of laps of the parade square and they’re signed off,
Might have been the case back in world war 2 or the days of National Service but it certainly hasn’t been the case since the late 1980’s.
limeyphil:
Just because some of you claim to have gained top rate HGV training in the Army.
It dosn’t mean they all got it, The majority didn’t and probably still don’t.
Considering EVERY SINGLE SOLDIER WHO GETS A HGV THROUGH THE ARMY GOES THROUGH ONE OF THREE UK DEFENCE DRIVER TRAINING CENTERS, with them all doing the same course - learn to drive, test, loading and load security, offroad and convoy, vehicle familiarisation, maintenance, I fail to see how you can claim that.
Actually I can see - you don’t know WTF you’re bleating on about.
Norfolknewbie:
Slightly off topic but my uncle was in the army in the 80s, he RELIABLY informs me that his first car test at 17 was undertaken in a land rover around Hull with a civilian examiner which he promptly failed, however they were able to give him a test the very next day which he went on to pass. I don’t know about any HGV training he did other than he did it somewhere up near Leconfield. However why would they have to have civilian examiners for basic car test and then not for HGV test?
At Leconfield the examiners are civilian employed by the MOD. They use those for everything from motorbike up to class 1. As DST Leconfield is a recognised test center, they can do tests on someone 5 days a week if they wanted.
bigtruck:
their is an old saying " never a driver came out of the army".
I’ve got to admit that that is an old saying that must have passed me by.
There is another old saying that I reckon applies to you though and it goes something along the lines of “give an infinite number of monkeys an infinite number of keyboards and an infinite amount of time and…” go on, see if ya can finish it off.
You probably hadn’t been told to listen.
Obtained my HGV licence during military service in 1982. This was done with civilian instructors and examiner. Quite a few lads failed.
My son is currently serving in Afghanistan and aquired his HGV before he went. Again civilian instructors and examiners and from what he told me quite an intensive course. He obtained a CE licence by taking the test in a wagon and drag. he’s never driven an articulated vehicle, never coupled or uncoupled but of course is licencsed to drive one. His CE has no restrictions.
Unfortunately he has been chosen for redundancy (after 15 years service) and is serving most of his notice period in Afghanistan - lucky for him eh? Survive that ■■■■■ then come home and pack yer bags we don’t want you any more.
When he gets out in January he may well have to turn to his HGV licence to earn a living. he could very easily get a job driving an articulated combination - yet has never done so. I would like to think he would at least ask for advice but there again … he just might be glad of a job and hope to get through the first few days without losing said job by owning up to not knowing what he’s doing!
I suspect the young lad in the OP is in that position - I may be wrong. Yes he should have sought some help - but knowing half the drivers I know, I wouldn’t turn to them that’s for sure 
it is true the military does not generally prepare soldiers for civilian life, and a lot of their experience and skills are of no use in civilian life. Killing people is apparently frowned upon. When I left the army in 1991 I lost my first job on the same day I started it and my second job 3 days into it. it aint always easy
RAF paid for my class 2 through resettlement, but had no part in the training. I used a civvy instructor, old guy in Elgin.
Like monkeys, you can teach some people to do tricks!
It is the cold steel, they don’t like it up em!
I don’t know when things changed in Civvy street but when I took my test, you didn’t have to demonstrate uncoupling and coupling a trailer, you probably didn’t even need a dog clip. As long as you were confident in where the wheels would go and you didnt clip kerbs or buildings, gave a safe drive using road signs and signals, you got a licence, the learning started after the test pass and continues to this day.
But myself and hundreds of others already knew how to drop a trailer and to rope, sheet and adjust brakes, the old ways were the best, that I am positive of.
shep532:
My son is currently serving in Afghanistan and aquired his HGV before he went. Again civilian instructors and examiners and from what he told me quite an intensive course. He obtained a CE licence by taking the test in a wagon and drag. he’s never driven an articulated vehicle, never coupled or uncoupled but of course is licencsed to drive one. His CE has no restrictions.:
He will have uncoupled a wagon & drag as part of his test. He won’t have won’t have a C&E restriction because he didn’t obtain his licence under grandfather rights. I got my license at Leconfield in 1982 and then passed HGV 2 some 4 years later.
When in 1997 (I Think) the new licence catagories came in, I got C+E with a 102 restricton (drawbar trailers only). So looking forward my resettlement I went back to DST to retake my C+E on a wagon & drag (a vehicle I could already drive) to get the 102 restriction taken off my license so I could then drive an articulated vehicle (A vehicle I had never driven at that point). This is not just a military loop hole anybody could obtain a full C+E this way and in my defence when I finally got out I paid to go to a training provider to do C+E, without the stress of having a driving test at the end of the course.
ron9516:
He will have uncoupled a wagon & drag as part of his test. He won’t have won’t have a C&E restriction because he didn’t obtain his licence under grandfather rights. I got my license at Leconfield in 1982 and then passed HGV 2 some 4 years later.
Oh yes, he has coupled/uncoupled a wagon and drag but never an articulated trailer - and the two couldn’t be more different - yet he is licensed to drive an articulated vehicle and that is just plain silly. The military don’t do much with artics, mainly drags so a lot will leave the army with a licence to drive and artic but never having done it.
What you did makes sense but not all will do as you did.
Was talking to my brother again today, his class 1 is valid from 16-03-2010. He was in Iraq between Feb and August 2010.
And he maintains he’s never driven anything bigger than a 7.5 tonner.
He’s not complaining, he’s got a free class 1.
But he readily admits he’s not competent to drive a truck.
thread title reads
“ARMY sending guys out in the big world not prepared”
The army will train the guys on kit it feels they need to operate, since they dont use TESCO shopping trailers will indicate why he wasnt trained on it.
So why is that the ARMYS fault a trailer was dropped at Tesco?
maybe post title should read, “Large civvy shop endangers life of other civvys by employing any Tom ■■■■ and Harry to drive its large fleet of vehicles without adequate training and testing to see if employees are suitable for task” 
Agree, it’s not the Armys fault that guy dropped a Tesco trailer.
That’s partly Tesco’s fault for not ensuring he was trained properly, but mainly HIS for not asking for help.
cieranc:
Was talking to my brother again today, his class 1 is valid from 16-03-2010. He was in Iraq between Feb and August 2010.
And he maintains he’s never driven anything bigger than a 7.5 tonner.
He’s not complaining, he’s got a free class 1.
But he readily admits he’s not competent to drive a truck.
Mmmm sounds like a %^&*up on someones behalf them, could have been finger trouble at DVLA. Did he send off his license to get C+E put on it by submitting a test certificate or did it just come back with it on?
P.S I have no other interest in asking this question other than the context of this thread.
cieranc:
Agree, it’s not the Armys fault that guy dropped a Tesco trailer.
That’s partly Tesco’s fault for not ensuring he was trained properly, but mainly HIS for not asking for help.
Couldn’t agree more. The armed forces train what they need, hence some only get C, some get C+E on wagon & drag (because most users would tow a single axle drawbar trailer) and some (Like the RAF and Army Air Corps) get C+E on a articulated vehicle.
In his defence turning up at a big place, with lots of trucks and other drivers about can be pretty intimidating to a new driver, even more so when your taking a new direction in life and asking someone for help is a pretty bold move.
Says he’d lost his FMT600, OC MT asked for a copy of his driving licence, he gave OC the original.
Went off on tour, came back and asked OC for his licence back, along with new FMT600.
OC had mis-placed his licence. He applied to DVLA for a replacement licence, replacement came back with full HGV entitlement.
So don’t know who’s at fault, either OC MT cocked up and put it through with test passes (though in civvy street the examiner usually sends licence away), or DVLA cocked it up. Not often DVLA get it wrong that way around, usually they lose entitlements!
Either way he thinks it’s highly amusing, and we think it’s highly worrying!
sorry mate no way in hell has the OC MT managed to get classes put on someone licence is just doesnt work like that. An officer doesnt have anything to do with testing, proof has to sent to the Master Driver of instruction ( Civilian or Military Cpl or up) and a pass certificate. No Master Driver will sign off on it unless it 100% correct it just doesn’t happen.
chester:
thread title reads“ARMY sending guys out in the big world not prepared”
The army will train the guys on kit it feels they need to operate, since they dont use TESCO shopping trailers will indicate why he wasnt trained on it.
So why is that the ARMYS fault a trailer was dropped at Tesco?
maybe post title should read, “Large civvy shop endangers life of other civvys by employing any Tom ■■■■ and Harry to drive its large fleet of vehicles without adequate training and testing to see if employees are suitable for task”
The title should be renamed:
WAGON & DRAG learner driver sent out into big world not prepared.
The fact he’s just out the Army has nothing to do with it. ANY driver who had passed in a W&D is going to be understandably clueless his first time in a “proper” artic. He may well of asked for help/advice and been fobbed off, the facts aren’t known.