Andy Dinsdale – What attracted me to join the Navy

I had no idea what I wanted to do. I remember at the time thinking, I played a lot of football, so as always you know I wanted to be a Professional Footballer ‘cos everyone did but recognised quite early on nowhere near good enough. I wanted to be, ‘cos you know in the ‘70s and ‘80s, the space race was on, so I wanted to be a Pilot or an Astronaut and didn’t do any of those. So no, I think the Forces was … again you’re interested at the end of my ‘A’ Levels, I was getting towards the end of the ‘A’ Levels, I just remember thinking back at the time I’d just had enough of school.

I just wanted to stop school and look around, you know, what are the options? Quite a lot of my friends from school, some of them that didn’t go on to ‘A’ Levels ‘cos that wasn’t compulsory, ended up doing Building, Plumbing and those kinds of things. Painting and Decorating but I got off to ‘A’ Levels and you know, I thought as I was half way through it, University just isn’t for me, I’ve had enough of that, so looking round and ended up doing joining as an Apprentice. Joined the Navy as an Apprentice and it was really just, I guess if I’m talking to my son now, because I didn’t know what to be, but I did know I didn’t want to go to University.

I’d always enjoyed Engineering and I guess for me, looking around the options for Engineering. The Navy as one of the three Services, were offering what looked on paper to be one of the best Apprenticeships, and I did look at the Army and the Air Force as well, but joining as what was then called an Artificer Apprentice, was certainly from my perspective as an 18-year old, something that was going to give me a good career in the long term, whatever it was that I decided to do, so I think it was the offer from the Navy was an Apprenticeship and seeing the world and things like that as well.

So, it was a mix of … I think it was predominantly the quality of what was offered in terms of the training, and some going around and seeing the world, but I think it was more the training and the Engineering that attracted me than seeing the world.