What would you do

OUT OF HOURS HEALTH AND FAMILY (INTERACTIVE)
1

I am in a bit of a dilemma.

At the moment I am stuck shore side in the navy as I damaged my knee quite a while ago (while playing football in Gibraltar) and now when I go up and down ladders on warships the pain is excruciating, it does not hurt any other time, not even when jumoing in and out of cabs/trailers. The navy is looking to send me to a medical board of survey in May with the possibility of discharge with a pension and pay off. I will have done over 18 years mans time when I get to the medical board so I won’t miss out much on my full pension and gratuity.

Now the question I want to put to you is that fact that I may be looking at losing my naval career but would it be worthwhile asking for discharge as I hate being stuck in an office and not able to go to sea. I want to be a wagon driver and have the possibility of a job trunking artics if the company I work for on weekends does manage to stay afloat until that kicks in (which I think it will). If it was you, would you say goodbye to the navy and hope for the best on the job front or would you try to stay in a job you don’t like and see it out until the end?

I’m not asking you to tell me what to do, I’m just asking what would you do with the economy being what it is today and if you think we will see a rise in the amount of work by the middle to end of next year (2009).

The Pros I have to stay in the navy are (in no particular order)

Very good job security.
Guaranteed wage of over £2000 a month whether I work or off sick or on leave
Subsidised housing
Free health and dental care
Approx 36 official days off per year(do get more on the quiet)

Cons to stay in the navy(in no particular order)

Hate office jobs, which is all they will give me at the moment
I really want to drive for a living and have done since I was about 10.
Job satisfaction, I really don’t like my job anymore, it bores the boobies off me
Quite a stressful job (don’t ever get stressed on the road)
Job security in the outside world.
If I stay in they may (and it’s a good possibility) they will send me to Scotland or Cornwall (so I won’t be able to drive on weekends, which I love doing) and I will be away from my family but instead of sleeping in a wagon, earning money, I will be in a single room that I will have to pay for.
Travelling costs
Additional rent to pay for housing (won’t get benefit because if pay out)
I miss going to sea and having a laugh in foreign places.

As a foot note I only have another four years left so I would I be better getting into the job market next year when it hopefully picks up a bit or do I wait 4 years and try to get a job when I am over 40 ( I know it shouldn’t matter but it looks better on a CV if you are 36 rather than 41)

My wife doesn’t mind me being away from home as she is used to it (have done numerous 6 month tours while together) so the tramping won’t be a problem, and if I land the right job the money will be about the same

What are your views and what would you do if you were in this situation?

2

I’ve been out of the RN eleven years now and I still can’t get used to Civvy Street. I’ve always regretted leaving.

There’s a big queue of drivers looking for work at the moment. I’d stick with the Andrew for another couple of years if you can… I’m only getting a couple of days work a week at the moment. Dread to think what Jan, Feb, March will be like.

3

I’d certainly give it till May. Like iggy said, god knows what the start of next year is going to be like.

Even if you get sent to Scotland or Cornwall, you may still get a chance to do some driving - yeah I know it’s so good for agency round there.

Do you have anything to do with transport receiving at Gosport, i just ask as we deliver and collect regularly at Gosport?

4

Plan for the possibility of them discharging you, otherwise stay put for as long as poss.

5

stay put and ride the recession out, then make your plans

6

biggusdickusgb:
stay put and ride the recession out, then make your plans

I agree. :wink:

7

Finally had chance to have a proper chat with the missus and we have sort of come to a decision, even though it might be subject to change so it’s a definite maybe. :open_mouth:

As a lot of people have said were not going to make any plans until just before the medical board. We will have both a good look on the job market for driving jobs and see how the economy is doing. If it is on the increase and looking more rosy than it is now then we will see what happens at the board but if the economy is positively glowing with job opportunities and the boom is in full swing then I will ask for discharge and take it from there. If they do decide to discharge me then I have until the middle to end of august before they stop paying men so I have nearly 4 months to find a job. In that 4 months I wont be able to work for anyone else but can do things similar to work placements to get experience, or work for a company to gain experience who then offer me a job and give me a signing on bonus (probably equivalent to about 4 months wages). Personally (I’m going to get shot for this) I would go in the office as a planner or manager if I had to but don’t think I could handle it as I would side with the drivers all the time, having seen it from this side of the fence, unlike some I could mention. Plus yet again it is an office job, not something I want to do!

We will weigh up our options nearer the time. I guess I’m just worried I will make the wrong decision and my family will suffer. But then if they do decide to discharge me anyway then I will have to deal with it like the man I am (run away and cry and blame the wife :laughing: )

Cheers for all the ways of putting it people. Any more thoughts then let me know.

By the way Albion No I don’t have any links to receipts in Gosport as I work in Portsmouth. Where abouts in Gosport do you deliver? Is it to Fleetlands? If it is fleetlands I think I know the bloke over there…

8

If they do decide to discharge me then I have until the middle to end of august before they stop paying men so I have nearly 4 months to find a job. In that 4 months I wont be able to work for anyone else but can do things similar to work placements to get experience

What about free training for resettlement during those 4 months :question: :question:

9

Giblsa:
The navy is looking to send me to a medical board of survey in May

Giblsa:
As a lot of people have said were not going to make any plans until just before the medical board. We will have both a good look on the job market for driving jobs and see how the economy is doing. If it is on the increase and looking more rosy than it is now then we will see what happens at the board but if the economy is positively glowing with job opportunities and the boom is in full swing then I will ask for discharge and take it from there.

I’m no economist but think I can safely say that in May of next year the job market will most likely be either as it is now or worse :frowning:

You can definitely rule out “the economy is positively glowing with job opportunities and the boom is in full swing”.
The economy isn’t likely to recover that quickly, May 2010 maybe but May 2009 no chance.

Sorry to be the profit of doom and gloom but you may as well see it as it is :wink:

10

i damaged my knee playing cricket for the army.sounds very similar.i got medically downgraded and couldnt train run or do anything as my knee would swell up and i would be in pain for days.they gave me crappy jobs so i decided to sign off and get out.i could have waited for a md but it woud have took too long.i put a claim in when i got out through the british legion.lots of help off them if you need it when you get out.advice,addresses etc.i think you have to wait and see what the outcome of the md board is.your destiny is in their hands really and all you can do is deal with their decesion the best way you can an do whats best for you and your family

11

can do but i think it would be more wisely used to get the foot in the door with a company.

not sure what sort of training i would want to do.

im guessing ADR or Hiab but we dont get that much to be honest. or level 2 CILT Cert. would set me in good stead hopefully for when i finally hang up my keys and move on to pastures new…

so many questions so little time, why cant i find my own little mystic meg and see what they reckon? its not the stay in or leave the navy bit, i’m not worried about that cos i hate it with a passion, its just the not getting a job on the other side of the fence. sitting at home all day job hunting will drive me stark raving mad.

does anybody want to employ me i’ll work 10 hours a day for £25 an hour but with an 8 hour paid break in the middle of the day and an hour either side of that?

12

No, think we’ve only been into Fleetlands once; usually we go into DM Gosport. Just thought the paths may have crossed.

13

As said in here

Stay put life on the otherside aint too good at the moment
I know your not liking the Office job but there aint much going on out here.
See if you could retrain whilst in there ask about doing something with transport, I know the navy is all about ships but you have transport and again i know a lot of the driving is done by civis but someone there has to do it.
Look into getting them to getting you a cpc national or international as well as doing your licence etc.

Leaving now and you’d be a mug

14

The only reason I left the mob was because I hated being away from the family for up to 9 months at a time.

If I was shoreside I think i’d have stayed put as the grass definately isn’t greener on the outside. You really dont realise how easy it is until its all gone.

Just my opinion of course. You do what you feel is right.

15

jonah65:
The only reason I left the mob was because I hated being away from the family for up to 9 months at a time.

i know that feeling very well and dont really want to experience it again, especially now i am getting older

jonah65:
If I was shoreside I think i’d have stayed put as the grass definately isn’t greener on the outside. You really dont realise how easy it is until its all gone.

being shoreside isnt all its cracked up to be, i have just had 3 years in gib and now this, so its doing my head in, i wanted to go to sea, (i secretly enjoyed being at sea, its what we do, but dont tell the wife shhhhhhhhh :open_mouth: :blush: )

jonah65:
Just my opinion of course. You do what you feel is right.

thansk for the honest input and i will think about it, you never know it might be out of my hands come may

cest la vie…we’ll just have to play it by ear until then really, i would just like to have “all my ducks in a row” (nice naval terminology there) and have plans in place incase it does happen.

16

tachograph:
I’m no economist but think I can safely say that in May of next year the job market will most likely be either as it is now or worse :frowning:

You can definitely rule out “the economy is positively glowing with job opportunities and the boom is in full swing”.
The economy isn’t likely to recover that quickly, May 2010 maybe but May 2009 no chance.

Sorry to be the profit of doom and gloom but you may as well see it as it is :wink:

youre not the profit of doom mate, i know i was being very very optomistic but you never know, maybe we will all win a couple of grand on the lottery and it will improve the economy so much we’ll be back to normal by friday next week

17

Gibsla,
I would stay in and do your 22, at least your at work and doing something,
The work situation for drivers is going to get a fair bit worse before the economy improves.

on a side point I get to Gosport fairly regularly as my sister and her extended family live there, next time I am coming down you want to meet for a couple of bevvies?

18

can do mate, put a face to a name so to speak. when you next down this way?

where abouts in gosport do they live? i live by the green dragon and the co-op on rowner lane.

i still havent decided yet what i am going to do but like i said it could be out of my hands in May, we will just have to wait and see and decide then i think. everyone is saying staying in so i guess that confirms what my head is saying, job security,rather than what my heart is telling me, a job i enjoy doing.

19

Personally I would say stay put and wait for the outcome of the MB, and ‘encourage’ them to give you a medical discharge.
Your due a decent pension I expect, plus if it was an ‘on the job injury’, you’ll get additional injury compensation for it.
If you hand in your notice it’ll make sorting these things just that bit more difficult compared to doing it from the inside.

I’m sure you could do the Nat’ and probably Internat’ CPC as resettlement training, which would (IMHO) be better than doing lorry mounted crane, FLT or ADR training. You might be able to wangle a CPC and one of the practical courses.
Getting a start in a transport office may not be so easy either. The bosses like you to have a book of contacts so that you can bring fresh work opportunities into the job with you. I don’t suppose you’ve got one, although there is the possibility of making some contacts through this site (and the others).

Much as you hate where you are now (I know how you feel, 12 years green), your probably going to find that once you’re ex-forces all those ‘probably be able to helps’ turn into ‘sorry mate, nothing after alls’.
I’m sure you’ll know that although the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, it has to be cut just the same. The greener it is, the harder it is to cut as well.
I found that my 12 years experience (as a driver) counted for nothing in civvy street, I had to start from scratch, again. It’s been invaluable to me since though.

20

as most have said stay put at the navy and give it at least another 12 months.