26 years an Lgv Trainer:
andrewjh009:
Just curious do the army do the driving tests in the same way the DSA do or is it basically just a check list NVQ style off road. One agency said to me co’s prefer civilian passes as apposed to ex military passes.
The army examiners are trained at cardington just the same as the DSA examiners and the test should be conducted exactly the same…
The army examiner instructors are trained at/by Cardington, to be precise. The examiners course, or DDE (Delegated/Defence Driving Examiner depending on which Master Driver you speak with) to give it its correct title, is held at Leconfield, Specialist Driver Training Wing.
The NVQ comment made me laugh - that’s a prime candidate for the ‘My Mate Said’ Award!! The military examiners course is exactly the same as the Cardington course except for the last week (all about testing disabled drivers and using adapted vehicles) which is not needed by the military.
What I will add, and not many people know this, is that it’s not just a case of the MoD always following Cardington’s lead, quite the opposite sometimes! For example, Cardington took a lead from the MoD when they were researching the ‘new’ motorbike test, last time around it was changed.
BTW, when the Drivers CPC was being researched, the MoD’s Familiarisation Package was closely looked at and (supposedly) some of the MoD’s practises were adopted. Military drivers have always had in-depth instruction with regard to the likes of loading and restraint, vehicle checks and driver maintenance, recovery/self-recovery and drivers hours. Yep, military drivers are subjected to drivers hours regulations, albeit worded slightly differently. All MoD drivers (including Cat B i.e. L/Rovers), with regard to Drivers Hours Legislation, will comply with the spirit of the law. The reason for the wording ‘spirit’ rather than ‘letter’ [of the law] is to allow the MoD to retain an option to operate outside of this legislation in times of war or national emergency. I can assure you that this would only happen as an absolute last resort and even in operational theatres there are drivers hours restrictions in place.
As for the comments regarding reversing, banksman etc, I’m sure that they’re true but you do get ‘weak links’ in all walks of life and all areas of transport. There is also the problem of skill-fade if a driver, due to posting or whatever, is no longer regularly operating that type/class of vehicle, or indeed any piece of equipment/military hardware. Hopefully, if a military driver has any inkling that he may want to pursue a driving carer after his military one, he will at least try to keep his hand in with refresher training or better still, some agency work.
To potential employers I would say, don’t write-off the (ex mil) bloke before he’s even started; take a bit of time to look at what he has done in the past, give him a bit of refresher training (personal development, if you will) and 99% of the time you’ll end up with a hard working, disciplined, reliable and quality employee.
- lots of ex-squaddies on there as well 
as past experience most ex forces cant due to them always havin a banks-man
