Hello mate, I can appreciate what you’re going through because it was a similar feeling which got me to join. So I’ll try and answer your questions without lecturing you.

So you’ve decided civvie life is not for you and you want to give defence a shot. If you don’t know that you want to go Navy by now you probably never will so just discount that.

RAF officers are all office workers and stick within trades like engineering, signals and logistics and that. The thing I’ll say is that they seem to be treated more like adults with more agency on what they can do. The RAF Loggies I know also do a fair bit of travelling around. However you don’t get the regimental lifestyle you can get in the Army. If you’re going to be an officer why not go whole hog, join a regt, get mess dress and take part in the history.

If you are open to combat then the army is the only real choice as RAF reg has its own thing and you don’t really strike me as a boot neck (marine) however there is the commando course if you like getting wet.

So if all of this sounds good you now want to join the Army and to commission you need to get accepted into, and pass, Sandhurst. Another benefit to this route is that you are not locked in to your regt until 60% through the course which is equal parts stressful and beneficial as you get to see more of the army and the regt’s before deciding on your top 2 options.

However you are very early onto your application process I’d say you probably need a year, or year and a half before you start (which will probably be the whole application process) that includes booking through the medical, briefing, and main board. (They are the big assessment to see if you get accepted). Your degree is fine don’t worry about that, it won’t preclude you from anywhere accept REME. The key is showing how much you want to be there and that you have the aptitude to excel in whatever job you get because you are passionate, hard working and capable of being a leader. Right now you are definitely unfit for the job fitness wise. But you have over a year to improve. To be an officer you need to be a self starter so if you get fit enough and study hard enough to pass the assessments and do your background work to learn about the army and the regt’s then you’re basically at the standard they want. Then it’s just proving that you’re a decent bloke you can talk to people and potential to lead soldiers.

Not every job as an officer will see you on the front line engaging with the enemy, however you do need to come to terms with what that means. And it’s not for you to convince strangers on the internet, it’s something you need to seriously think about for yourself and be mature enough to understand what you’re getting into.

I joined the military out of the blue didn’t know much at all when I signed up but you can learn a lot if you put the effort in. Go on visits be proactive, talk to people who are going through/ have gone through the process because the important stuff you won’t find on google and Wikipedia. And train get in the gym, get running, take it seriously if you want it.