I thought due to my enlisted status that I might be able to contribute to this subject. As I am US, not UK, deductions may not cross over completely.



An Analysis of Captain John Watson: Healer/Killer in His Majesty’s Service

When discussing the military service of BBC's John Watson, we will find ourselves sometimes unable to stick with just BBC source material, because the show's Show don't Tell nature leave us limited in concrete facts about his time abroad.

Here is what we know about John Watson's military service taken at his word, with himself as a primary source:

>He attained the rank of Captain
>He served with the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers
>He carries a military ID
>He stands at parade rest
>He properly salutes
>He is a crack shot
>He fires an (illegal) British Army L9A1 Browning unmodified.
>He was deployed to Afghanistan
>He was shot in the shoulder
>He was medically discharged

Here are some things we can infer from context of the BBC series:

>He has PTSD
>Due to age and time line of education and military promotion, he most likely joined the Army after finishing his medical training, which rules out commissioning paths that allow joint university-military schooling
>He was a surgeon

Here are some things we can infer from RAMC traditions and Army Customs and Courtesies

>He was not allowed to use his weapon in anything other than self-defense.
>He saluted with his hand rather than his Sword, when in his Service Uniform
>He was referred to as Sir, or CPT Watson, not Dr.
>As an officer, he carried both a rifle and a pistol

Here are just a few of the things that we don't know about John's service

>Which commissioning path he chose. We can make one of several guesses however.
-He could have enlisted as a regular soldier, served time as a medic, and then petitioned his Commanding Officer for the right to go before an Army Officer Selection Board, and then once being selected, gone through training modules and leadership courses until his commissioning.
-He could have enlisted as a regular officer, petitioning his Army Careers Adviser to send him before an Army Officer Selection Board, and then gone through training modules and leadership courses until his commissioning
-He could have joined as a Territorial regular soldier or officer, and done the above while serving in a part-time capacity while working as a Doctor or finishing his civilian medical training, completing modules in short bursts and on the weekends, or
-MOST LIKELY he could have direct commissioned as a Professionally Qualified Officer by submitting his CV to the Army Careers Information Office, attending a two day ASOB Briefing, a 2.5 day ASOB Board, and gone on to attend a Professionally Qualified Officer's Commissioning Course at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst for ten weeks.
-IF KEEPING WITH ACD CANON that he was an Assistant Surgeon, he commissioned as a Warrant Officer, though if he had, he would not be a CPT, but a WO, addressed as Sir or Chief
>How long he served, and at which FOB. ACD indicates that he didn't serve very long before being injured.
>Whether he served in joint service operations, though common sense points to yes
>Whether he was attached to a unit, or served under a Medical Regiment. Both are possible. If he did serve with a Medical Regiment, the most likely is 2 Medical Regiment, as it served in the Helmand Province with attachments to Kandahar and Kabul during a time that aligns with Watson's timeline
>At what level his medical expertise was utilized, though Surgeon or Assistant Surgeon seems likely
>What kind of discharge he was given, though Honorable is likely
>Under what circumstances he was shot, and YMMV on this
>Whether he engaged and/or killed the enemy, or was just very good at firing a weapon
>If he spent his time FOB side until being medivac'd out to the casualties, or if he went on patrols with squad attachments, or both or neither.
>How bad his PTSD is, and under what circumstances he acquired it.

What the BBC series got correct about his service:

>Where he served. Fridge horror and brilliance all in one, that ACD Canon had him serving in Afghanistan, and with a modern update, he is able to again, because we're still freaking there! Seriously, even though we are supposed to be withdrawing, my unit, my friends' units, and Watson's supposed Regiment are all preparing for 2014 deployments (yay us!)
>The uniforms, insofar as I can tell
>HoB depicted the process of entering a restricted military base as consistent with installation access SOPs
>The salute. An improperly depicted salute drives a service member crazy.
>TAMP-type mental heath services for soldiers involuntarily separated from the service. May not have been mandatory, but certainly would have been offered.

What the BBC series got wrong about his service.

>The Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers. He could not have served with this Regiment because it was dismantled in 1968. In the US Army, once a decorated unit is dismantled, it can sometimes evolve into a unit with a different name, but still claim the customs and victories of the parent unit. This may be the case with Watson's unit. Most likely it's a nod to ACD Canon, which also lends credibility to the theory that Watson was attached to the unit, because the FNF was an infantry unit, not a medical unit. An attachment like this would have put Watson down range and in danger much more often than being assigned only to a medical unit.
>Watson's weapon. While a Glock looks like a Browning, and is similar in parts, they are not the same weapon and anyone with a knowledge of weaponry can spot this almost immediately.
>Watson's military ID looks more like an American CAC card (it's vertical!) than a British Army Mod 90 (a horizontal card!)
>His level of poverty. Unless this Watson also had a gambling problem, he would have come home with a fat bank account. Tax free combat and hazard pay, allowances and other bonuses means an Army Officer comes home with a good chunk of money.
>Army Pension. Watson wouldn't get an Army Pension until reaching retirement age. Instead, he'd be getting disability.

I will add more as I think of more. You are welcome to add Wild Mass Guessing, ask questions that I will try to answer, offer corrections or additional deductions, or simply spam the thread with pics.

Last edited by just_tea_thanks (March 4, 2013 10:46 pm)