Tjobbe (pronounced – Chobba), is 22, he lives just outside Banbury in Oxfordshire where he was born. Previously he lived in Holland for some eight years and Denmark for a year. He's a qualified chef but has given that up and is just starting a web design company.

What made you decide to do this? Did you have any regrets after having said yes?

On ITV one night I saw an ad asking for volunteers and noted the phone number down. The next day I left my details on the answer phone and I had a call back minutes later asking me to complete an online application form. I did this straight away, half an hour after that they phoned me asking me to come down to London the next day for an interview. This went well enough for me to get accepted, so it all happened really quickly!

Yes, I was really worried wondering what I had let myself in for before I went in. In fact I even wanted to quit before I went but thought I had best give it a go! With hindsight I'm glad I did.

Where was the camp? What were your first impressions on seeing it? What was the accommodation like?

The camp was on Salisbury Plain. It was an original 1950’s camp called New Zealand Farm Camp. It had been used for storage before they renovated it for the program.

When I first got there I couldn’t believe how isolated it was. There would be absolutely no chance of escaping as we where right in the middle of a live firing range with bombs going off daily.

The “Billets” as the rooms are called weren’t luxurious but at least it was dry and windproof. I’m not saying it was warm, three blankets didn’t stop you from shivering at night. Fifteen to a room was hard to begin with as I am a light sleeper but after a days work you fall into bed and get up at 06:15 without waking up in between!

What were the low points? Were there any highs?

I trained relatively hard before the program. Every day or so I would jog three to four miles and was really pleased with myself (Lost half a stone in 5 weeks!). As soon as I put a pair of the DMS boots on however, my legs weren’t having none of it. I struggled physically for the first three weeks despite doing all that training which really got me down. We did a four mile route march and I was, shall we say, shagged. My legs where killing me after just one mile and I had the biggest blisters in the platoon. Corporal Nauyokas got stuck into me big style saying I had let the team down because I was at the back. It hurt all the way throughout the march but I didn't stop. I knew I couldn’t have given anymore but he didn’t want to know. That night he saw my blisters and the look on his face just said it all. Then I could tell that he knew then I had put 110% in. Never before have I felt so bad after giving my best.

The best point was the passing out parade. The mornings rehearsals where appalling but the real thing was brilliant. It couldn’t have gone any better in my wildest dreams. After the final word of command “Montgomery platoon: DISS-MISSED” we sprinted for our families. It was raining and my hobnailed or “ammunition” boots where really slippery. I stopped running twenty feet from my dad and just slid towards him for the rest of the way. It was a very special moment for me to be re-united with my dad who has been there for me at all times.

Is it as hard for the recruits as it is made out to be on the program?

It was tough. Tougher for some more than others. Personally I found the physical activities really difficult and it wasn’t till late in week three that I started seeing the benefits.

You really did learn that when you where knackered beyond belief you would have to push a lot harder, not a little bit harder but a lot harder!

In the first week we had a basic fitness test, I did a mile run in 8 minutes and 56 seconds. Over a 2 minute period I did 14 press ups. In the same time I managed 37 sit ups. I weighed 12 stone. On the penultimate day we did the same test, I did the mile run in 6 minutes, had lost 11 LBS, did 57 press ups and 76 sit ups. A slight improvement you might say!

Tell me about your fellow recruits and the staff. Any you particularly got on/didn't get on with?

The staff where really tough on us for most of the time. They kept building you up and bringing you down. When they where nice you really looked up and respected them, they really are the epitome of idols, everyone looked up to them. They all had their own personality / leadership style but all had one goal, to turn us into trained soldiers!

Did you feel like you were on a TV program or in an army camp?

It was hard not to ignore the wall mounted cameras (ornaments as we called them) and the camera crews (ghosts). After a few days you got used to them. A lot of people played up to the cameras all the way through the show and it was quite pathetic really but you just have to get on with it in the end. I started off by thinking it was a show but then I was struggling because I had that mind set. Corporal Murray had said you have to think like soldiers and after week one I did. That made it a lot easier for me to cope and get through it.

Would you say you have learnt anything about yourself and others?

I learnt so much about myself. Going in there, I went in there having been pretty lazy all my life. I have come out with determination to succeed. What exactly it has done for me I still don’t know but I feel much better about myself. Now I have bags of confidence, something I’ve never really had. Now I know a lot of my weaknesses and how to overcome my fears. To give an example, I’m bloody petrified of heights to the point I feel physically sick when I’m frightened. On the obstacle course I managed to put mind over matter which was a massive personal achievement for me.

Respect for others and tolerance are other things I have learnt. When people getting things wrong or cocked things up I used to get really annoyed. This was also the case if I felt people were just being thick. Now I realise that was because I used to think I was better than anyone else. Now I know that everyone has their strong and weak points and are maybe bad at one thing but amazing at others.

How does it feel now that it is all over?

In a word, weird. Whilst we where in there time went very quickly. We had a lot of things to do on a daily basis. After a few days it seemed like we had been in there a month and after the four weeks it seemed like four months. Looking back on it now it was over in a flash!

I will really miss the camp, the staff and the friendship I have with my new friends. Also the daily routine and socialising we did there.

Would you do it again? Recommend it to others?

I’d do it again tomorrow. Not join the army but I would definitely want to relive the experience I’ve had, nothing in my life so far compares to it. It was the toughest mental and physical thing I have ever done but at the same time the most rewarding. Never before have I felt so proud of myself. I’d recommend it to everyone.

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