Just matriculated and don’t know what you want to do? Or have you just graduated and don’t know what you want to do? Ever given the military some thought? Well – if you answered yes to any of those questions, you’ve come to the right place!
In this article, we are going to briefly introduce you to what the South African military is involved in and what to expect, how to sign up and what career opportunities there are for military personnel.
What to Expect
The South African NationalDefence Force (SANDF) is the umbrella body for all other military fields in South Africa: Land, Air, Sea and Health. If you want to apply to any of the aforementioned fields of the SANDF, it is advised that you meet the following criteria:
- You are a South African citizen
- You are 18 years of age or older
- You have no criminal record
- You have completed or are currently completing your National Senior Certificate
- You are not in a relationship
- You are physically healthy and fit to join the SANDF
- You are mentally healthy and fit to join the SANDF
South African military training involves rigorous and intensive physical, mental and strategic training. A typical day would be as follows:
- Early wake up followed by a room and uniform inspection
- Physical training session: running, climbing, crawling, self-defense
- Mental and weapons training sessions
- Strategic training: how to use maps, radios, etc.
- Physical training
- End of day
If you want to join any field of the SANDF we advise that you are prepared to spend extended periods of time away from home, family, and friends. If you want to read more about the SANDF before joining, you can do so here.
How to sign up
As mentioned earlier, there are many fields within the South African military that you can join. However, the SANDF advises that you first complete the two-year training via the Military Skills Development System (MSDS). The MSDS is a programme that aims to make more South African citizens deployment-ready, in case that day ever arrives. Therefore, the MSDS programme provides basic but relatively extensive training and is a great stepping-stone to begin your military career. You can get the MSDS application form online. This two-year orientation training will effectively prepare you for further and more intensive and focused military employment – be it in the land, air, sea or health fields of the South African military.
Career opportunities
The South African military offers numerous areas of employment and having military experience is imperative for employment. Across all of the fields of the SANDF, there are varying areas of employment and a few of these include:
- Active soldiers
- Helicopter pilots
- Strategic planners
- Leadership roles
- HR
- Communications
For those who have military experience and want to look elsewhere for private work, there are also a lot of options. From private contracting to heading up armed response units, the options are endless.
You can surf the net for military-related job opportunities on any of these three websites:
If a military job is what you seek and is your true calling; get online, get qualified, get serving and get protecting!
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The opportunity to serve your country is waiting for you – why not take it?!
