Sandhurst Military College takes aim at posh image by seeking recruits from all backgrounds
The Sun's Defence Editor David Willetts meets three recruits from the new breed of officer cadets at the Royal Military Academy
THE world’s most famous military college is on a mission to change its image after 200 years.
Sandhurst is no longer the bastion of the privileged few, with commanders seeking talent from all backgrounds.
Of 567 UK cadets who began the 44-week training this year, 310 came from state schools. Brigadier Bill Wright, who commands the college, said: “Sandhurst is open, and the Army is absolutely open.”
Defence Editor David Willetts meets three recruits from the new breed of officer cadets at the Royal Military Academy.
'I dropped out, now I aim to pass out from Sandhurst'
REBECCA SMITH was staring into the abyss seven years ago.
Kicked out of home and her college, she was penniless and alone, sleeping rough in her home town of Grimsby aged 20.
Fast forward to today and life could not be more different.
She is a student at Sandhurst, walking the same hallowed halls in Berkshire trodden by Winston Churchill and princes William and Harry.
Proudly displaying the tattoos that betray her humble beginnings, Rebecca, above, said: “Without the Army, my life would have panned out differently – and not in a positive way.
“I’ve gone from being stuck in the gutter to ending up in one of the most prestigious military academies in the world.”
Rebecca’s fortunes were transformed thanks to a desperate decision less than a decade ago.
After getting good GCSE grades, she fell in with the wrong crowd at college and life began spiralling out of control.
She said: “I left school, got into the wrong circle and ended up getting thrown out of the family home. It was a broken home.
“There was a period of time when I had nowhere to live – begging, going to the council, couch surfing, sleeping in cars, sleeping rough. I had reached an all-time low.
“I pushed everything away. I made wrong decisions and was digging myself a deeper hole. I couldn’t find a way out. One day I said, ‘Enough is enough. I either carry on where I’m going or I do something drastic’.”
She walked into an Army careers office and joined the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
Later, she was attached to the Royal Tank Regiment and became an expert on Challenger 2 tanks, rising to the rank of corporal.
One day Rebecca impressed a senior officer so much with a presentation he called her into his office.
She added: “He said he thought there was potential there to go through Sandhurst. For me and my background, getting to corporal and doing the job I was doing, I’d already exceeded my own expectations.
“For somebody to say there’s more potential, I saw that as something I couldn’t pass up.”
‘It’s moving towards what you can do, not where you’re from’
JACK NODEN went to a state school and had sessions with a speech therapist to follow his dream.
The 23-year-old from Trowbridge, Wilts, overcame a childhood stammer so he could learn to “lead from the front” at Sandhurst.
Jack, whose mum is a childminder and dad a lorry driver, said: “My father had to leave school at 14 because he had to work.
“When my parents came here with me for our first day, they saw this was special. This isn’t usually their thing, but I’m not the only one in my position. It is moving more towards what you can do, not where you are from.
“Do you feel you can lead from the front, have you got integrity, can you stick to the values of the Army?
“If so, it doesn’t matter if you’re not fed with a silver spoon and from the upper classes. They want you.”
‘Wild mix of people, but it’s made very clear you are all the same’
AFTER his dad died in a plane crash, Zack Wardell was raised single-handedly by his mum.
He was three when the former RAF jet pilot was performing at an air show for British Aerospace in Slovakia and the tragedy happened.
Zack, from Kirkham, Lancs, said: “I’ve got three older brothers, so for all of us that’s been the cornerstone of what we’ve had to deal with.”
The 22-year-old, above, admits Sandhurst is still a tradition for some families that don’t share his type of background. But he says it makes no difference, even when fellow cadets talk about playing polo and their stables at home.
He said: “You get through selection, strip down, get your overalls and a name tag and that’s you.
“It is a wild mix of people who have come from nothing and those who come from privilege.
“But it’s made very clear: You are all the same.”
- To apply to Sandhurst, see .