Gordon Ramsay’s eldest son Jack joined the Royal Marines in 2019. What made him choose the military? Is Jack following in Dad’s steps? Was Gordon Ramsay in the military?
No – though Ramsay has publicly stated that he will support his son throughout his career and is very proud of him. Gordon moved out of his family home when he was 16 and after a failed soccer career, went straight into cooking. There were no stops in the military along the way.
Ramsay is very supportive of the troops, on both sides of the Atlantic, and has highlighted them on his shows on multiple occasions. Even having the opportunity to fly with the Royal Air Force in his home country of Scotland.
Mandatory Military Service
Luckily for Gordon Ramsay, the United Kingdom does not require mandatory military service. Perhaps it’s lucky for those of us who have been entertained by the celebrity chef over the years, or who have had a chance to eat one of his dishes.
There are approximately 50 countries around the world that have mandatory military service, most often it is for males over the age of 18, and some only require a year of service. Other countries, like the United States, don’t have a mandatory rule but do, however, collect all of the names of the males between 18-25 for a draft, in case more military service members are required.
History of the British Armed Forces
The British Armed Forces are made up of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force. If Gordon Ramsay was to have joined the military, it would be with the British as he’s a citizen of Scotland.
In 1707, the militaries of England and Scotland merged to become the military of the Kingdom of Great Britain. Through the years the British Armed Forces have played a major role in history. Early on the U.K.’s biggest rival countries were Spain, the Netherlands, and France.
They have participated in many prominent wars and conflicts over the years, including the Seven Years’ War, the Napoleonic Wars, the French Revolutionary Wars, the Suez Crisis, and more recently the Cold War, and the War on Terror in the Middle East.
Women in the British Armed Forces have been fully integrated since the early 1990s, and as of 2018, are allowed to apply for all roles, including the special forces.
MasterChef and the U.S. Forces
In 2014, during its fifth season, MasterChef had their biggest challenge up to that point. The contestants were to cook in makeshift kitchens out in the Mojave desert, in the middle of nowhere at the National Training Center in California.
As if that wasn’t daunting enough, the contestants’ task was to feed 500 hungry soldiers just getting back from two weeks out in the field. Perhaps the toughest part for the chefs was the gauntlet they were put through, to see some of what the soldiers had to endure during their training.
Support Through Cooking
It’s nice to see Gordon Ramsay being so supportive of the troops on both of the continents he calls home. He’s brought a lot of awareness to them, while also providing them with some great food. And, in the case of the episode of The F Word, he was able to teach members of the Royal Air Force how to cook great meals in a short amount of time, so that’s a skill they will be able to continue on.
Maybe the younger Ramsay will continue his father’s work by teaching the military how to cook. All of Ramsay’s children have been taught the life skill, whether it’s just to feed themselves, or to make a career out of it, like one of his daughters.