The barracks weren't exactly comfortable in the raf, when we were at army bases for exercises or training it felt like going back to the Ritz afterwards.
I suppose the thing with armed forces pay is that everything is done for you and taken from your pay. Accommodation is fairly negligible as I recall, the biggest cost was for mess fees for food which was a couple hundred I think?
Apart from any bills you create yourself there is nothing else to pay. We all lived like drunken kings for a week, maybe two and after spending literally every penny we had you never had to worry about rent, bills or food just eating in the mess every meal and sneaking fruit and sandwiches in our pockets because it's an offence to take food out of the mess and there's always a jobsworth who'd like to pull you up over an apple.
Trouble is that as many have found I left the forces with literally no idea how to pay bills, how council tax works, how to budget. I can't blame the forces completely obviously but there's a complete culture change when you leave. I was only in just under 5 years and didn't have any social problems readjusting however like prison, it's a similar it's a different world with structure, rules and regs. I can very easily see how someone doing the full 22 could feel completely isolated and uncertain about life in civvy street, there was no support offered when I left, I hope this is something that has been rectified these days.
