PUTTEN, THE NETHERLANDS – While many UK university students are more used to dancing late into the night, some are getting up before dawn to train part-time with the British Army.
Esme Beckly, 21, spends most of her time reading English literature, but she is also one of around 1,400 young people who join the University Officer Training Corps (UOTC) every year. The scheme, which is run at over 50 universities, sees undergraduate students undertake 38 annual days of Army training alongside their degree. In return, they receive a nominal £1,600 a year, new skills and a potential career path.
The goal for the military is to have a ready group of potential UK officers in case war breaks out. This has become increasingly important as fighting continues in Ukraine and violence flares in the Middle East.
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“Before I came to university, I was dead set against joining the Army. Full stop. I didn’t want anything to do with it,” Beckly told The i Paper during exercises in the Netherlands this month. “I didn’t want to die in a warzone.”
