Report: Stephen Tyler

THE ever-evolving nature of combat in Afghanistan has placed an increasing demand on the skills of the Armed Forces’ technical experts.

A proliferation of roadside bombs sits alongside regular small arms contacts at the top of the list of threats needing to be combated with equally cunning new kit.

Thankfully for those deployed in Helmand province, the British military employs scores of innovative men and women and a little-known project is ensuring that the conveyor belt of top-notch practical thinkers entering the Forces continues to tick over.

The Defence Technical Undergraduate Scheme (DTUS) pulls in the most promising hands-on students ahead of their university careers and churns out academically and professionally-polished young people ready to join each of the Armed Forces as well as the Civil Service.

DTUS has four squadrons covering students at six universities across the UK, including Thunderer Squadron, which is located in Southampton.

Based in a headquarters near to the city centre, Thunderer Squadron has 138 students on its books – 56 of them who have commited to join the Army after university – and five permanent military support staff.

Cdr Adrian Wheal (RN), Thunderer commanding officer, told Soldier that while those signed up for the DTUS experience do learn valuable military skills, the focus is more on personal development and leadership training than it is on digging
shell scrapes.

And the CO believes that the nature of combat in Afghanistan makes the need for first-class technicians across all three Services more important than ever before.

“It is designed to make their transition to full military life that much easier,” he said. “You need a technical grounding to be able to put together procedures to deal with the clever devices you face today and going into that kind of work would be extremely difficult without it.

“We work quite closely with the Officer Training Corps (OTC) here – they have been doing personal weapon tests for our guys for example – but our mission statements are quite different.

“We are looking after people who are committed to the Services with the assumption that they will undertake a military career. That’s quite different to an OTC which doesn’t recruit people in to the separate Services.”

DTUS detachments maintain a close relationship with the universities to ensure that the would-be officers enrolled on the scheme are up-to-date with their studies.

Southampton University is one of several on the south coast served by a dedicated military education committee which forms a solid link between the students’ academic and military endeavours.

Committee chairman Dr Neil Richardson said that the mix of military instruction, personal development and academic assistance helps to create well-rounded graduates who are a step ahead of their peers when it comes to starting full-time Service training.

“I think the value for money that this system provides also needs to be emphasised,” he added. “A lot of resources are being invested in these people but to subsidise what they do at such a small cost is remarkable.

“There is complete integration between the university and DTUS. The students’ marks are consistently very high and the university is committed to supporting military engagement.”

While the pressures on DTUS students are undoubtedly higher than those faced by their peers, the hard graft is certainly balanced out with some amazing perks.

Potential enrolees apply for the scheme before taking their A-Levels and attend the relevant Service’s officer selection course. Successful applicants receive a £4,000 bursary each year at university and draw training pay and a bounty through attending weekly evening meetings at DTUS HQ.

Students hoping to pursue an Army career are sponsored by one of the four technical corps – the Royal Engineers, Royal Logistic Corps, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and Royal Signals – and go on regular visits to relevant units.

A full programme of sport, adventurous training, battlefield tours and social events as well as deployments on exercises such as Medicine Man in Canada are also offered and OCdt Tom Murphy (pictured right) said the variety made being part of DTUS exciting and worthwhile.

“Our friends realise it takes up a lot of our time, but equally they know we get a lot out of it,” said the third year maths student. “In the summer when they’re off getting jobs, I’m going away sailing or on exercise to Canada. It takes commitment, but there are definitely a lot of perks.”

For more information on Thunderer Squadron and the DTUS scheme, visit www.thunderersquadron.mod.uk

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