Is it possible to serve for a short period of time?

Hi, thanks for the question. The only way to really 'try before you buy' is as a Reservist as you can dip in and out of army life to an extent. If you join either as an officer or soldier you would usually serve as a minimum 4 years (this includes training (Phase 1 and 2)). During your basic training (phase 1) there is a time period that you are able to leave once this lapses you have to complete the 4 years due to the cost in training you and putting you through an apprenticeship / degree. I hope that helps. If you are currently a Reservist you could ask for a secondment to your Regular counterpart if that's the trade / capbadge you'd be interested in. There are plenty of individuals who join directly Reserves to Regulars and dependent on where they join they will keep their rank - this was quite popular during COVID when we had a spike of Reserve to Regular transfers. There could be an opportunity to be involved in the various Operations currently both in the UK and around the world where you could go for a few months depending on the commitment. If you're a Reservist now i would definitely engage with your RCMO or XO and see what they could do for you.