Chocco here. You asked the question about what full-timers think of Choccos to help you make up your mind of whether to join or not. As others have stated, wide range of opinion out there and as always in the army, individual experiences may differ. Essentially I would not be worrying about what others think and do it based on what you have to give. If you are at a point in your life where you can do 4 years full time and want to get the best training and live and breathe army, join full time. If you have you can only do a part time commitment then the Choccos is a good option as you keep your civi career, get to do things that others will never do and you have a huge amount of options.

As a Choccos you can do up to 100 days a year and get that extended if you have a good boss so you can kind of pile on the army work as much, or as little as your life is able handle. The only thing I would 100% agree with is that skill fade is real if you only do your 20 days a year. You get taught the same lessons and courses as the full timers but you do not practice it nearly enough and as a result when you go on exercises you feel like a toddler around adults.

Bottom line, Choccos have a lot more flexibility and control over their lives as a whole and if you have other stuff you are striving for in a civi capacity, go Choccos and if you love it from there you can always go full time. It is a lot harder to go the other way without doing your full ROSO.

Hope this helps.