JessopSmythe said:
The big thing to remember is that it's not all music. At the end of the day, you'll still be a soldier and, if your chosen regiment goes into battle, the odds are you'll find yourself pretty near the front line carrying bodies since most Army musicians double up as stretcher bearers.
As others have said, military musicians are not solely musicians, although if you can put up with the military side of it - which doesn't generally intrude over-much - then it can be a good training, and a good life for someone with the right attitude and personality.
Having said that, things do have a habit of changing, unfortunately often at the whim of people in the military or civil service hierarchy who have no understanding of the musical side of things. For example, whereas previously you belonged to a specific band, I believe I'm correct in saying that all army musicians now belong to the Corps of Army Music, meaning much less stability and the likelihood of being posted from one band to another. One of the latest things has been the decision that people will need to change bands in order to secure promotion, which is likely to cause chaos both musically for the band suddenly losing their Principal Cornet or whatever, but also to the domestic life of a player and his family who may suddenly have to uproot and move.
As the bands have been reduced in size flowing various cuts and reorganisation the opportunities for doing outside work have been curtailed to some extent, although they are still there if you develop the right contacts.
As to the suggestion of bandsmen (and women of course :wink: ) taking up stretcher bearing duties that has also changed. As I understand it, having put bands through far more thorough medical training than we ever had to undergo, recent conflicts have proved that even that training is nowhere near adequate. I believe at least one band is being prepared to act as a chemical decontamination unit, and other recent duties have included covering for firemen and ambulancemen during industrial disputes, as well as general logistical duties, such as the Irish Guards Band undertook during their spell in Kossovo.
Hopefully some serving personnel will also chip in here and maybe give some pointers to the differences between the services. The RAF always seemed to me to have the best deal (as an outsider) whilst I know the marines seem very keen to recruit at the moment.
or not :cry: on the 9th july!#