It was a very cold winter evening in Southampton, Jim Brown was walking home from a day at college. He was in his last year of school, and he hoped to join the armed forces on departure. He had already handed in his application forms and was going to attend the Army Officers Selection Board. During this course, he would have to undertake command tasks, write essays of current affairs and take interviews with staff officers. Jim isn't the kind of person who likes to express himself; he is a shy and selfless lad. During his time at school, he didn't have anyone to talk to because everyone was either going to be a 'psychologist' or a 'lawyer'. He was the only one in his school who generally wanted to join the army.
Jim was inspired to join the army by his father, Mark, who had served in the armed forces for thirty eight years. In Jim's eyes, his father was a hero, one that should be respected and honoured by all that pass him. Jim and his Father were not only 'father and son', but were best mates. Mark would always take his son down to the chippy every Sunday and get him a large cod with a big bag of chips to go with it. 'You know what son?' Mark would say, 'When I'm grey and old, I'll look back at the times me and you had together and think to myself, what great fun I had with my boy Jim'. Of all the mates the old man had made, Jim was the best of them all.
Jim's mother, Karen was a very kind and loving soul; She only wanted what was best for her children, which was for them to grow up and live a happy life, doing the things that they enjoyed. She was a very good swimmer; she swam at national standard, and the second her children were born, she made a promise to herself that she would teach them to swim as soon as possible. Karen, like her husband, had served in the army, but in the signals corps. She was a radio communications operator on base, which meant that she would have been keeping tuned into the whereabouts and demands of the troops out in the field.
Jim had an older brother called Billy and a younger sister called Nikki. His older brother, Billy, had joined the Royal Navy at the age of nineteen, and spent four years working as an engineer on HMS Vanguard, a ballistic missile submarine. There, he would make sure that the engines were running smoothly, so if the Vanguard was called into action, there would be no malfunctions. His younger sister, Nikki, was fifteen years old, and she wanted to be a combat medic, but she knew that her father, Mark wouldn't want to lose all of his children to the armed forces, so she told him she wanted to be a nurse. Nikki had very good grades in her assessments, in fact, she was the top of her class. She was a lot like her mother, very kind and thoughtful, putting others before herself.
Jim was a Sergeant in the Army Cadet Force, and was liked by all the cadets in his detachment. He represented the ACF at many occasions, had the best shot in the county and was one of those NCOs that anyone could talk to, whether they're a newly promoted sergeant to a newly recruited cadet. Last year, he was awarded the 'County Commandant's Commendation' for his achievements and dedication to the force. He hopes that he can use the skills that he has learnt from the organisation in the future.
Because of Jim's whole family being in the armed forces, he made it his duty not to let them down! He was .going to work hard, get his A levels and go for the AOSB (Army Officers Selection Board) and hopefully smash it, then go to Sandhurst Academy for the Basic Officers Training.
