Can single mothers join the army? How would training work?

Hi, this is a great question. Yes single mothers can join the army, and this is not as uncommon as you may think. The issue is the 14wk basic training as you cannot live out. There are wknds that you will be able to get away but you'd need childcare cover for the duration of your basic training. During Phase 1 training you would also need to make sure you had a childcare plan in place but depending on the capbadge / job you are looking to join would depend on how much you'd need to rely on your childcare backup. The Army now is one of the Times Top 100 Jobs for parents - obviously you get govn funding for childcare (nursery) and the MOD now provide free Wrap Around Childcare which is amazing (quite often when kids leave nursery it's actually more expensive to put them in b'fast and afterschool care than it is a whole day in nursery). I have a good friend who joined the army (44 wks officer basic training) as a single mother - she just had some incredible childcare support over that time. It's a hard slog initially but well worth it. I wasn't a parent when i joined the army - i got pregnant 3mths after my phase 1 training (she is now 16) so have basically had a child my entire army career and i've had longer holidays than most of my civi friends, access to nursery have varied but there will always be a childminder or someone to help on the patch, you are entitled to cheaper rented accommodation through the army, a 'usual' working week we tend to finish at lunchtime on a Friday so you can do early pick up (save money!) for childcare etc etc. Basically there's lots of pros. The hardest parts are if you are on exercise (frequency of this will depend on your job choice!) and making sure you have a childcare plan in place as much as possible.

If I wanted to join RMP for example, and I did the 14 weeks, I saw online there’s another training course which is 24 weeks. Would I need the childcare for the 24 weeks too? And would there be much of a break between the 14 weeks and 24 weeks?

Hi, your initial 14 weeks is basic training and that's learning how to be a soldier, during the 24 weeks you will learn how to be a Royal Mil Police officer - it is not as intense as the initial 14 wks but there may be wknds where you'd have to work and there would be an element of exercise (ie overnight). You would certainly need an element of childcare cover (more than just wrap around childcare / nursery) as the working hours initially would vary. Once you get through that it's far more routine (ie you could just use nursery, childminder, b'fast / afterschool clubs if req etc). If you email: [email protected]
They will have an RMP soldier working within the CET (Corps Engagement Team) who will be able to really answer your questions and may be able to get a current timetable for Phase 2 so you can see what's involved and the sort of childcare plan you might need to have. From a friend who joined from the civi police, she said RMP has been far better in terms of flexibility (if that also helps). Please keep in touch on here if you don't get any joy from them. Good luck.

Forgot to add there's usually between a 2 - 4+ wk break between Phase 1 and 2 training.