Exclusive: Army officers encouraged me to sign up but I was rejected three times
When 18-year-old John* applied to join the Army back in 2023, he thought he was a shoo-in. He was part of his local cadet force and had even been encouraged to apply by multiple officers.
Yet, after three appeals, he was rejected on the grounds of an old injury – which he said didn’t stop him from completing multiple physical challenges, including the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
After Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard said that of the 165,000 young people who applied to join the Army last year, only 9,500 were hired, John (not his real name) was one of hundreds of readers who got in touch to share his story.
All signs point to the Army
From a young age, John knew he wanted to serve – just like his father had. His dad was a former Warrant Officer Class 2 in the regiment he was attempting to join and had been confident he'd pass selection.
His plan was to join the reserves, wanting to become a chef, and then one day join the regulars.
First, John joined the Army cadets. During his time there, several people encouraged him to get his application in and sign up, including a former major general.
But despite the enthusiasm from those within the Army that he had worked with locally, it all went horribly wrong.
A positive start
Initially, he enjoyed a swift response to his application. He sent in the required medical history that all recruits are asked to provide and declared an old injury from 2018.
Several months went by, and he was called for selection. He was so excited to be attending Pirbright.
But everything came to an unexpected stop. On day two, he was sent home after being told his medical history meant he wasn't fit enough.
John says he was never seen by an Army doctor – it was a civilian doctor who made the assessment at selection.
He sought advice from the Army personnel he knew, and they were confident he would successfully appeal the decision. But that wasn't to be.
Reasons for rejection
"I was turned down on appeal three times," John said. "It was due to an operation on my left foot and one on both of my knees, the latter of which happened in 2018.
"Since then, I had done the Army cadets, I'd done all three levels of the Duke of Edinburgh award on foot. I'd proven to myself that I was fit enough for this and other people within the Armed Forces community, including the officer at my local unit who encouraged me to join and put the application in to start with."
After initially applying in October 2023, John was finally rejected after three appeals in September 2024.
"It's really annoying, because you spend so long with that one goal in mind," he said. "To get to that point where you're nearly a year in with that unit, and you've made all those great friends, to be then told you can't be a part of this anymore, is so, so, downgrading almost."
Unlike John, many people have already given up. I've had conversations with some of those who've tried to join and are deeply frustrated that it's so difficult.
One person said they are now trying to join one of the other services after giving up on the Army. They didn't want to go on camera because they think it'd count against them for speaking out.
Defence response
The MOD told Forces News it can't comment on individual cases.
In a statement, it said: "We are committed to fixing recruitment and retention and have already given personnel the largest pay rise in decades, scrapped 100 outdated recruitment policies including measures blocking recruitment of some sufferers of hay fever, eczema and acne and passed legislation through the Commons to introduce a new Armed Forces Commissioner to improve service life."
Despite the setbacks, John tells me he's still not giving up, saying: "I'm pretty determined, I mean, I will keep on appealing and trying to join until the day where I'd have to retire."
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