Can you join at 16 then commission at 18? Thinking of joining at 16 as an MP but wanting to be a pilot as well

Hi Blake,

Thanks for your question. You can certainly join at 16 but there's no guarantee that you'd be able to comission at 18. If you join as a soldier you will need to be recommended for commissioning by your chain of command. This wouldn't normally happen until you are out of training and into your unit. For example: I have a couple of soldiers who joined at 16 and are only just getting their recommendations now at ages 20 and 21.

In terms of joining as a pilot. You can join as an officer pilot, do Sandhurst and then go straight into flying. Or you can join as a soldier and then elect to try for the pilots' course. The soldier route takes a bit longer as you need to be a LCpl before you can be recommended. This is normally 3/4 years after joining your unit - so if you joined at 16, the earliest you could get recommended would be roughly age 21/22.

I hope that makes sense. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Have a nice weekend,
Maddie