This is true, however this goes back to when they used to hate them during Vietnam.
If there are any ticket inspectors just show them.
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My MOD Civil Servant ID card had a photo of a Microchip on it !!
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Mine arrived this morning. I applied for it using the details of my regular service only and did not mention any cadet service at all. It took about a week from the online application to dropping through the door. Iām not sure what, if any, benefit it will be but I think itās worth having.
I did get a veterans Railcard - given the price of train travel itās useful, and Iāve had a couple of freebie upgrades from the train crew and station staff over the last couple of years.
One all the way from Berwick to Londonā¦
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Iāve just renewed mine. Even using it just once a year to go either to my office or to London more than covers the cost of it.
Never had any bloody upgrades thoughā¦
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worth noting I applied for both the card and badge and was declined for both. This was advertised online that cadets services staff were eligible but as a former Fg Off VRT (T) I was told this week told we are not. So donāt waste your time.
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I think you may mean the Defence Discount Card or some similar saving scheme open to veterans and cadet forces.
Veterans card is for those with Regular or Reserve service, not cadet forces the specific scheme being discussed here is linked in the first post and does not mention cadet forces being eligible.
The purpose is not discounts but as a form of proof to ensure correct help and support with things like health services and access to support from forces charities.
For the government to desperately try and be seen to be giving a hoot about veteranās affairs by actually doing something rather than just paying them lip service as itās an election yearā¦ (Fixed that for you!)
I guess a benefit is that people are talking about veterans, thatās something of a positive, possibly, if you had to find one. And I guess people in shops will start to see āveteranā rather than just ādefenceā. Exactly the same discount, itās a meaningless bit of plastic for that, but it does by osmosis keep āveteranā in peopleās conscience.
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Why would you be eligible? Even under the very generous criteria of 1 days basic training as VR(T) you would not count as a veteran.
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You mean a week at ATF didnāt count as training for the armed forces!?
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Likely the sort of person who considers themselves āex-RAFā, having only been a CFAV. There are quite a few people with that mentality, up to and including thinking that āveteranā applies to them.
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Iām a veteran of RAFAC / RAF 
. Can I have a Railcard for that? Should be bloody free tbh.
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Seeing someone with only VR(T) āserviceā applying for a Veterans Card is up there among some of the Waltiest excrement Iāve seen.
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As RAFVR(T) we were classed as reserves - I was very proud tobe associated with thr RAFVR.
Look at just how far have we seperated from our āparentā service !!
Without call up liability and or any meaningful amount of trainingā¦
In the context of eligibility as a veteran, āassociated withā doesnāt really cut it.
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Whilst I would completely support retention of the rights to RAFVR(T) post-nominals, in an honorary capacity (as the SCC / CCF(RN) has established a precedent for this), such a technicality doesnāt make one a veteran. Iād say exactly the same for RAFVR(UAS) and, indeed, Rory Stewartās gap year commission.
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The word veteran is already misused to such an extent that we might as well give up anyway.
Does 3 years as a slip jockey in Aldershot really make you a āVeteranā, your in about as much danger as the bloke from Serco standing next to you.
You could argue OC (Inner London Hell Hole) Sqn is a more dangerous role than being a blanket stacker in Lossie.
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There are some grey areas with this definition though. As an example, RPAS pilots are in no danger at all, but they do suffer some psychological impacts of being in a warzone one minute and in the āreal worldā just by stepping out of the door (a friend of mine in the regs studied this as part of his MSc).
So do they count as veterans or not?
Personally, I donāt agree with the official definition and didnāt dare consider myself a veteran until Iād been deployed on ops. I use the term ācombat veteranā when Iām being really picky.
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