Tori C.
Regimental Medical Officer
Hi Tom,
A GDMO posting can be in any military medical centre that has a GDMO supervisor. GDMO supervisors are (usually, but not always) RMOs who also move around every 2-3 years, and not every RMO is a GDMO supervisor. Some of them will already have a GDMO they are supervising. Some may be deployed. So trying to predict which locations will be available can be really tricky.
I've found the postings ok, but we have changed our lives to adapt and have subsequently become less worried about location. I wanted a posting near to the south west when I first joined, and was given Gloucester. My husband was also serving at the time, but it wasn't really working so he decided to leave the military. Since then I've tried to ask for jobs near his work place, but it's not always worked and he does weekly commute at the moment - although he did pick a career where he could work from home a few days a week which has helped. We agreed a long time ago that my career would come first for a while, and that has made it less stressful as we have both accepted we may move somewhere unexpected. We are also fortunate that our family is all over the UK and we don't have any 'roots' as such. Army life is very affordable in terms of housing, and the GDMO salary is quite generous, so living off one salary while my husband moves jobs hasn't been an issue.
Saying that, I have plenty of colleagues who have partners with less flexible jobs/careers, and they do make it work, but they do find the postings process can be more stressful, and some colleagues have done their GDMO time and then decided to leave to try and make things easier (though they are in the minority, most people stay in the Army after GDMO).
My advice would be, by all means hope you get a particular posting, but be prepared to work elsewhere. The more flexible you are, the more you will enjoy it.
Tuesday, June 9, 2020