Categories: Careers & Job Searching

The Royal Marine Commando Recruitment Process

I have just finished my recruitment process for the Royal Marines! This guide will help you succeed when it comes to your recruitment process. The whole process will take place over four to five months!

So look no further, here is a perfect guide to your green beret.

Day One

The second you decide to become a Royal Marine you need to get out training, you will have to put a lot of effort in to your training and work on your endurance. For those of you who want to look “big” this doesn’t mean anything in the Royal Marines, it’s all about your endurance, you can look like an animal but you might not be able to smash out 30 press ups… Royal Marine press ups at that!

From the day you begin the recruitment process you will have around three months to train for your PJFT (pre joining fitness test) we will talk more about this later.

Presentation Day

To start off, you will first have to phone the Royal Marine recruitment office: 08456 001444. After a short chat with a recruitment officer he will tell you the next available date for a Royal Marine presentation. Once you book your date you will be expected to turn up at your nearest AFCO (Armed forces careers office) for the presentation on the date scheduled. You will be allowed to bring one person with you to this presentation day.

The presentation consists of a video & in my case, an Officer talking about the Marines & the Navy. After it finishes you will be handed a small folder with everything you need to fill out and send off to start your recruitment process!

First step over guys.

Filling out the forms

You will be instructed by your Careers Officer on how to fill out your forms. Once you get them sent away you will be asked to come back and sit your psychometric test!

The Psychometric Test

Your Psychometric test will take place over roughly an hour with four different sections, for the Royal Marines you will need at least 50% to pass! However if you score less then 10/30 for your Math/English sections it’s an automatic fail.

IT IS IMPORTANT YOU PASS, IF YOU FAIL IT IS A 12 MONTH WAIT FOR RESIT

These questions are not difficult, but you are battling against the clock.

You will receive your results on the day & if you passed then well done, it’s on to your eye test!

The Eye Test

You will receive a free voucher for an eye test at your local Boots branch. You will go in to the opticians, they will do a few eye tests & you will find out if you are eligible on the day.

If you are eligible it’s on to your medical!

The Medical

Before the medical you will be required to fill out a sheet with all your medical history & family medical history.

You will get a time and date for your medical, it should be at a health center.

It will consist of a urine test, hearing test & body examination.

The urine test is simple, pee in a cup, hand the cup over.
The hearing test: You will put ear phones on and you have to click a buzzer every time you hear a “Beep.”
The body examination will consist of you stripping down naked. So make sure you’re comfortable. The Doctor will examine your body from head to toe, make sure everything is in working order, he may ask you to perform some basic exercises as well, for me it was frog jumps across floor, commando crawl & 5 press ups. He will also go over your medical history & take your blood pressure.

After you pass the medical you will be eligible for your PJFT – Pre joining fitness test

Your PJFT

You will be asked to schedule your PJFT at a local health club. The PJFT consists of two 1.5 mile runs.
The first 1.5 miles is to be completed in 12:30
The second 1.5 miles is to be completed in 10:00
These are both on an incline of 2% on a treadmill

You will not be allowed music on the treadmill, you will be allowed water. The health club staff will make sure you’re fine & check up on you every few minutes. He/she will also time it so that they can be there for when the 12:30/10:00 finishes.

The shame of giving up is worse than the pain of persistence

You will know if you have passed or failed, if you fail you will have another two chances. If you pass your AFCO will be notified and you will be able to progress to your interview.

Selection Interview

The selection interview is challenging, you must brush up on your knowledge of the Marines. The Officer will ask you questions about family, school, upbringing, chores, jobs, everything about you! Be prepared & get ready with your knowledge.

The Acquaint Day

You will be given a date for your day. On the day you will usually make your way to your AFCO early in the morning & they will arrange transport to the location.

This was my timetable for the day:

0809 – train from Stirling – Arr Arbroath 0923 (Meet minibus in car park)
1030 – introduction
1100 – change in to sports kit
1105 – royal marine 3 mile run (1.5 miles in 12m 30s & 1.5 miles in under 10m 30s)
1200 – shower and change
1215 – brief on commando training/realities of/lunch
1245 – gym test 1/bleep test
1400 – shower and change
1405 – course debrief
1500 – transit to departure points (rail/road)

Everything is pretty much self explanatory apart for the gym test & bleep test.
The gym test consists of press ups, sit ups & pull ups
For a max score on all three you will need:
Press ups – 60
Sit ups – 80
Pull ups – 6
All need strict form and full reps

Your bleep test has a max score of level 13.

If your recruitment officer deems you eligible for your PRMC then you will be given a date to sit your PRMC – Potential Royal Marines Course.