The Royal Navy - Specific Questions

SBS are, I think, more drawn from the ranks of the Royal Marines. Leaving that aside, if he hasn't passed through Dartmouth at some point he is going to be a non-commisioned officer. British forces do not receive medals for getting injured. Seems likely he would served the Falklands campaign so he would got something for that.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/mos...medal-Britains-military-awards-explained.html

I find google advanced very valuable when doing research. It's easy to use Be nice to find someone hear who I familiar too, I'm sure.

Pennguin said:

The character in question was born in 1959 in a suburb of Glasgow. He joined the Royal Navy (I believe that's the appropriate name for it) at 16, with his parents' permission, in 1975. At 18, he began training for the Special Boat Service (SBS). He worked with the SBS until 1985, when he left the Royal Navy at the age of 26.

Does that sound feasible?
What rank might he be if he was on the fast track to promotion and excellence?
Is there a "standard issue" set of weapons for sailors in the Royal Navy?
What kinds of medals might he receive for injuries or acts of valor? I'm not looking for him to get a VC, just the equivalent of Purple Hearts and medals for valor in combat.

Click to expand...

If the Royal Navy is anything like the U.S. Navy, (and I bet it is) the small arms training the average sailor receives is minimal, at best, and weapons are not routinely issued except to certain watch standers on duty. And then the weapon "belongs to that post" more than anything.

Now, once he is SBS, that's different, but for regular sailors small arms aren't part of their job and they receive very little training and access to them.

Pennguin said:

The character in question was born in 1959 in a suburb of Glasgow. He joined the Royal Navy (I believe that's the appropriate name for it) at 16, with his parents' permission, in 1975. At 18, he began training for the Special Boat Service (SBS). He worked with the SBS until 1985, when he left the Royal Navy at the age of 26.

Does that sound feasible?
What rank might he be if he was on the fast track to promotion and excellence?
Is there a "standard issue" set of weapons for sailors in the Royal Navy?
What kinds of medals might he receive for injuries or acts of valor? I'm not looking for him to get a VC, just the equivalent of Purple Hearts and medals for valor in combat.

Click to expand...

The problem I have is his starting SBS training at 18. I understand by having him join at 16 you have him meet the "must have served two years service" requirement. But, he'd still be at least two years younger than the mimimum age of the other candidates who would typically enlist at 18 and serve until they were 20 before applying for SBS. That just seems too much "child prodigy-ish"

The young age and your having him come in from Royal Navy instead of Royal Marines just makes him so much a "special snowflake" that it threatens my suspension of disbelief. Does he have a lightning bolt scar on his forehead too? Because he sure seems like "The chosen one" so far.

While your scenario is technically possible, it's not really plausible, in my opinion.

Btw, the wiki page for SBS isn't bad, if you haven't looked at it yet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Boat_Service

Btw, the wiki page for SBS isn't bad, if you haven't looked at it yet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Boat_Service

And here's a Facebook group that would be a good place to ask.

https://www.facebook.com/britainssmallwars

There's actually quite a lot of difference between the training in the Royal Navy and in the US Navy.

This site is about the weapons used by Marines: http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/the-equipment/commando/weapons

This site is for the Navy's Warfare Training School: http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/our-org...d/maritime-warfare-school-training-activities

Here's snippets from a book about small-arms training in the Navy:https://books.google.co.uk/books?id...small arms training in the royal navy&f=false

This is the Royal Navy's own online research archive: http://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk/

And this is a list of some of the acronyms used which you definitely need, if you don't have it already: http://www.nmrn.org.uk/research/service-record-abbreviations