Published on 12, July, 2020
My son was diagnosed at 11, he has done remarkably well in his GCSE's but is determined to join the Army. He has always been interested in anything military, and even went through the first stage of the recruitment process. The gentleman that interviewed him was full of praise and admiration for the research, knowledge and his overall conduct during the interview. He also attended the fitness test and did well, we then had to fill in his medical details and hit the brick wall even though we had disclosed his diagnosis at interview and on all earlier paperwork. My son has noted that if his medical report regarding his diagnosis says that a further review would be of benefit when older that the army have to let him be reassessed before they turn him down. I know that he is probably not going to be allowed to join up but does anyone know of people being reassessed when older and if so how we would go about it.
Many thanks
I was an Officer Cadet with a TAVR University OTC for four years in the 1970s. During my Industrial Training Year, I came to the attention of a member of the TAVR Squadron of the SAS, and when it came to Commissioning, although the general infantry wouldn't accept me, on the grounds that the average Tom wouldn't understand me, the SAS put a job offer on the table. While considering it, I did the Platoon Commander's Course at the School of Infantry, coming top - in one exercise, I brought my section out of smoke within five feet of a Gurkha platoon position, catching the lot looking the other way. That earned me some very strange looks from the supervising Officer. I was every bit as good as the Regiment thought me, a very thorough background check revealed why the vacancy had arisen - and it wasn't one which allowed me to proceed. I therefore ghosted, as explaining a refusal would have been as deadly to me as it had been to the previous job holder, but landed in a job in business which had me under the eye of a vetter anyway. 15 years later, having attracted the eye of Lord Carrington for an excellent if unauthorised initiative at the start of the Falklands War, I was on the way to a Civvy post in the European Defence Diplomatic HQ, notionally as an accountant but really for my intelligence skills. Our guards were from the team which took the Iranian Embassy down, and my delivery made me a legend among those legends, not least because my ghosting sorted the mess the Command had made.
I wasn't diagnosed until 4 years after I retired.
An alternative to military service would be as one of the civvy staff supporting the military. What skills does he have, particullarly technical ones?