Thread: Army - Heavy Vehicle Mechanic

Originally Posted by Ralph1Malph

Hi,
I have a bit of experiance in this area which I won't share.
Rather, I'll give you my opinion as that's far more emotive, thought provoking and likely to bring on the flames!

First, the Army, Navy, RAAF thing. You are really limited to Army and Navy if you want to join the Armed Forces. As Dave so delicately put it, the RAAF is where you go if you found another Govt department a bit hard, or you want to continue your Boy Scout or Cadet career! In fact, many within the Army/Navy believe that RAAF should not be allowed to march with the Armed Services!

As for a HVM, I personally would have tried to steer you towards another trade. They pay more and are in such high demand that for the next few years at least, you can negotiate better posting outcomes. Also, with the near aquistion of Project Overlander, (google it if you are not familiar), the requirement for mechanics will reduce (less cars, more reliable, heavy reliance on contract and OEM maintenance).

Still, the Army is a pretty good life as long as you don't expect the following: To get rich. To immediately travel to exotic countries on operations/deployments/exchange or work. To be treated differently or as a special case, and lastly, Have all weekends off with regular hours otherwise. .

Cheers mate, out of interest what other trades would you recommend? I have Sparky down as my third preference.

Also I don't particularly care about getting rich, exotic locations or working hours. I just like the idea of a secure job, especially for doing an apprenticeship.

if i had my time over i would do elec mech or is it elec fitter....um not the do house wiring as they pick up refrigeration mechanic as well

Well there are certainly some interesting and biaised responses amongst that lot.


Firstly - congratulations on deciding to join the ADF. It is a rewarding career, if you can get through the initial training, which will push you in either service then IMHO it's one of the best things you can do in life.

Second - heavy diesel mechanic (either service) is a good trade, especially if you own a Land Rover Seriously though it's one of the core trades that will always have work even in bad financial times.

Third - personally I would have joined the Army or Navy first if I had my time again. IMHO as a single bloke/girl you'll get more opportunities for deployment than you would in the RAAF as a mechanic. I also believe that the RAAF is better suited to me as a married bloke now. Again just my thoughts and I'm being careful of my comments too on a public forum........

There will always be people that are very passionate about their individual service as the ADF is very much a big family - and as such you always feel obliged to defend against and 'perceived' attack against your individual branch. At the end of the day though, the bigger picture is that we all support each other to get the end job done - which being very biaised is a bloody good job.

Cheers
Chris

Originally Posted by Ralph1Malph

many within the Army/Navy believe that RAAF should not be allowed to march with the Armed Services!

thats because our uniforms look better and they're jealous.....

besides we dont march, thats sooo disciplined, we prefer a good meander.

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

thats because our uniforms look better and they're jealous.....

besides we dont march, thats sooo disciplined, we prefer a good meander.

hard to keep it straight in a cross wind?

nope, we're just usually drunk.

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

nope, we're just usually drunk.

Touche!

Originally Posted by Xul

Cheers mate, out of interest what other trades would you recommend? I have Sparky down as my third preference.

Also I don't particularly care about getting rich, exotic locations or working hours. I just like the idea of a secure job, especially for doing an apprenticeship.

My Pref, in order, would be:

Electronics Technician - Not seen as especially sexy, but the highest paying of all the trades and atm, promotion is whizz fast and you have a huge amount of leverage when it comes to postings. By way of example, we are so short of these guys that in my WKSP, I have ONE tech and 18 vacancies! (I treat him like gold). The world is looking up for these chaps as every new piece of kit has electronics in it - even new cars, plant, and of course all the gucci missile/target computer stuff! No probs getting a job after Army either.

Electrical Fitter - As said before a bit of a sexy trade, (the trade, certainly not the tradies!) but postings can be limited up the rank chain. Per capita, these guys deploy the most of all the trades. Not uncommon for them to go on-off-on-off the deployment wagon. After Army, these guys are gold.

Fitter Armourer - I describe these guys by saying that they actually make stuff! Mechanics only change broken for good. Widest variety of employment and as technology progresses, are being increasingly used to fix mech stuff as well. As a manager I find it better value for money to take a fitter armourer with me who can change alternaters, brake disks and tune the chainsaw than take a mechanic who can only do mech stuff. Very employable after Army.

Mechanic - Most know about these guys so I won't rabbit on. Suffice to say that their world is changing in line with the global attitude to tradies. Multiskilling is hurting these chaps as the world moves to very narrow employment specs for mech trades. What I mean is that there is global pressure to make tradies equipment specific ie, trained on one piece but learn the electronincs, hydraulics, mech, fridge for that piece only. In this context, it is easier and more economical to train a fitter or electrician to do the mech stuff rather than the other way round. We'll always need them though so a safe trade.

Whew, just my thoughts on the subject.

As has been said, ADF is a good life, not a fantastic life and not without its failings.
Best of luck.

Ralph