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The Future of the Army Reserve - Discuss

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  • I believe it has been set up to fail.

    I agree 100% but it won't be to the detriment of anyone in the PDF if it does.
    Covid 19 is not over ....it's still very real..Hand Hygiene, Social Distancing and Masks.. keep safe

    Comment


    • Originally posted by Buck View Post
      I think my point wasn't clear enough. Apologies!

      I was trying to say that we can't move forward because some people are stuck in nineteen and eighty six. I got asked by the same person who made most of the above comments "what I thought of the 'new army'" and when I said I was looking forward to a bit of a challenge, he rolled his eyes and walked away. All well and good reminiscing but when one wants it to go back to the "good old days" we're going to have a problem
      I really wish people like that would just **** off out the gate and never come back.

      Comment


      • Originally posted by Fridge Magnet View Post
        I really wish people like that would just **** off out the gate and never come back.
        Tell me about it man. You should have heard the sighs from some when fitness tests were announced. A couple said that they reckoned they'd seen the best of it. They didn't mean it from getting man days and courses, they meant it from a having the craic POV
        I knew a simple soldier boy.....
        Who grinned at life in empty joy,
        Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
        And whistled early with the lark.

        In winter trenches, cowed and glum,
        With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
        He put a bullet through his brain.
        And no one spoke of him again.

        You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
        Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
        Sneak home and pray you'll never know
        The hell where youth and laughter go.

        Comment


        • Originally posted by Buck View Post
          Tell me about it man. You should have heard the sighs from some when fitness tests were announced. A couple said that they reckoned they'd seen the best of it. They didn't mean it from getting man days and courses, they meant it from a having the craic POV
          The sooner those folks are gone, the better. It's no different than the lads in the PDF who'll sit in the mess at lunchtime and go on and on and on about how shit the job is, how stupid this or that is and so on.

          They're bad for morale, they're taking up a vacancy which could easily be filled by someone who wants to be there and they have no place in this organisation.

          Comment


          • Originally posted by Fridge Magnet View Post
            The sooner those folks are gone, the better. It's no different than the lads in the PDF who'll sit in the mess at lunchtime and go on and on and on about how shit the job is, how stupid this or that is and so on.

            They're bad for morale, they're taking up a vacancy which could easily be filled by someone who wants to be there and they have no place in this organisation.
            Exactly. On the whole my unit is excellent but there are a couple. I'm sure everywhere is the same; PDF, RDF, Northern, Southern etc.
            I knew a simple soldier boy.....
            Who grinned at life in empty joy,
            Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
            And whistled early with the lark.

            In winter trenches, cowed and glum,
            With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
            He put a bullet through his brain.
            And no one spoke of him again.

            You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
            Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
            Sneak home and pray you'll never know
            The hell where youth and laughter go.

            Comment


            • A wise PDF Comdt once said "There's an @$$hole in every class".
              "It is a general popular error to imagine that loudest complainers for the public to be the most anxious for it's welfare" Edmund Burke

              Comment


              • Originally posted by Come-quickly View Post
                A wise PDF Comdt once said "There's an @$$hole in every class".
                An extension to that. "If you have not figured out who the a$$hole is yet, then it's probably you."


                Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing.

                Comment


                • I am also starting to believe that it's being set up to fail, but I'll hang in there for now and see what happens.
                  If at first you don't succeed, then call in an airstrike.

                  Comment


                  • Lads, will ye please stop feeling sorry for yourselves in the reserve. This message doesn't go to all posters on this forum, but certainly a lot of you. Quit whining and go for a run or something.

                    Some points to take into consideration...

                    > The Defence Forces needs a reserve. They know the ball is in the government court when it comes to the future of the reserve after the 3 year mark. Its in their interest to shake up the reserve into something useful. They know that. The plan for the next 3 years shows that that is whats going to happen.

                    > The aul wasters are not a problem. They will not last more than a year or two. They will either discharge and walk away from the organization, or they will end up failing the impending fitness tests that will be happening after this year of fitness surveying. They're sickening and a pain to deal with and they waste valuable spaces in platoons, squadrons and batteries, but just be thankful that they won't stick it out for 3 years, because they won't be able to/won't be aloud to.

                    > They are replaceable, and the Minister for Defence has already explained multiple times that as numbers drop those gaps will be filled. And who's going to fill them? Young, enthusiastic, mouldable members of the public, and it will be in your court as the relatively older members of the reserve to mould them into proper reserve soldiers, not overly negative people who think their existence as a force is always going to be a fight with that hand that feeds you.

                    > Its not so bleak from the PDF side. They need you. Things look like the reserve is being willed to fail. But that is incorrect. It is being willed to pull its socks up and lose a few pounds. There is no conceivable way in which that will be easy. Can you imagine being a high ranking general in charge of an army of regulars and reservists. You're reserve force is generally not very useful. You'e told, in 3 years, you better have it useful, or its being scrapped, and also, your regular force is being cut, oh and also, you still have to do all those jobs that you did before hand. What are you going to do? You're going to consolidate your assets, and invest in training. Both of which have happened. Its not nice, but if you don't like it, sign for discharge because there's many out there waiting to get in and travel and put in the effort.

                    > If the reserve pulls its socks up and is in this time, 3 years from now, having large amounts of its members drawn to go on ex's with their PDF counterparts, and they are not sh!te, neither the government nor the military authorities will want to throw that away. They will want to use it. Despite the Jim Corr styled opinions of 'its alll politics maaaan'.

                    > Remember the goals you're aiming for

                    - Short Term - Get fit, get active, get your skills and drills up, be able to hold your own in your appointment/rank position on an exercise full of professional soldiers who have served years as full timers and have seen active service in places such as Liberia, and Lebanon, and have taken place in extremely strenuous and challenging operations such as Op EUFOR Chad/CAR. (That sounds challenging but if you put in a bit of work its do-able)

                    - Medium Term - Lead. Let the more junior members know that despite the much spouted crap, there is a future for the reserve. And accommodate enthusiasm in the ranks. Train in new members as the 'lads club' crew eventually discharge because they don't want to do actual army stuff.

                    - Long Term - Maintain those soldering skills and abilities in yourself, and those below you, and who knows, 3 years down the line, and after the government has to go for another bailout, they might be forced to see the financial benefit in drawing from a pool of reservists to bulk up numbers for oversea's tours, and might just legislate for job protection for reservists. Worst case scenario, they'll still keep the RDF to draw from for exercises. Its still there for you as members to practice the most enjoyable basics of soldiering in the various corps's of the Irish Army.


                    I'm not having a go at everyone in the RDF on this site, but some of your attitudes drive me mad. Spend less time whining online and go to the gym or read over some of your TAMs.

                    The more you tell yourself its willed to fail, the more it will fail. Remember that.


                    Rant over. Hope I didn't offend. I just dislike negativity. Especially public negativity from members of a force that actually has a relatively bright future as long as its member pull up their socks.
                    SWEAT SAVES BLOOD

                    Comment


                    • [QUOTE=Chasseur-Alpin;395258]I'm not having a go at everyone in the RDF on this site, but some of your attitudes drive me mad. Spend less time whining online and go to the gym or read over some of your TAMs.
                      QUOTE]

                      C-A, have a look at the some of the most prolific posters on this site - they are not current members of the RDF and therefore will have no input into the future of the Reserve. In any event it's only a handful of RDF members that post on this site.

                      Your points are well made. Yes, the RDF does need a big change. But the PDF has to get involved in the nitty/gritty of how the RDF works in order to effect the change.

                      You mentioned the gym. As a by the way one of the NCOs in my Unit did the RDF PTL. He wanted to start Unit training for the ITs, went to get use of the gym and was told by the officer in charge of the gym: "RDF, no way". So to avoid all the nonsense we have IT sessions in a public park with no hours accruing.
                      I'm not a number, I'm a free man.
                      Who is number 1?

                      Comment


                      • You mentioned the gym. As a by the way one of the NCOs in my Unit did the RDF PTL. He wanted to start Unit training for the ITs, went to get use of the gym and was told by the officer in charge of the gym: "RDF, no way". So to avoid all the nonsense we have IT sessions in a public park with no hours accruing.
                        Your mate is wrong.

                        Its no gym WITHOUT a PTI

                        most RDF lads can only make gym later in the day (jobs, college) most PTIs are gone home at that stage and a PTL cannot be a gym instructor. Already enquired. If I can get to the gym during normal "office hours" I can use it for free as all members of the DF are automatically members by default. check the regs, make a call to RDF HQ. put up a query on FB on RDFRA's website - if you are a member, make the RA work for you and then get back to us all.
                        "He is an enemy officer taken in battle and entitled to fair treatment."
                        "No, sir. He's a sergeant, and they don't deserve no respect at all, sir. I should know. They're cunning and artful, if they're any good. I wouldn't mind if he was an officer, sir. But sergeants are clever."

                        Comment


                        • C-A thats a very interesting post that makes a lot of assumptions.

                          I have yet to meet a single member of the PDF that thinks they need a reserve.

                          Also in my unit all the posts have been filled with the same old faces. To down.
                          The same guys that you only see on camp.
                          The same guys that never go NE because it's their mates running the show.
                          The same PDF guys, although no longer called cadre, are still hanging around doing the same what ever they do.

                          Nothing has changed, so why do you expect things to be different next year?

                          Comment


                          • Originally posted by The Prisoner View Post
                            ...You mentioned the gym. As a by the way one of the NCOs in my Unit did the RDF PTL. He wanted to start Unit training for the ITs, went to get use of the gym and was told by the officer in charge of the gym: "RDF, no way". So to avoid all the nonsense we have IT sessions in a public park with no hours accruing.
                            Prisoner, you already know what the story is regarding the DFTC gym, as I previously told you MY experience there.
                            Conversation went something like this (one of the two NCOs I spoke to that day is now Coy Sgt of the School and an extremely approachable guy):

                            "Hi, I am a Reservist, can I use the facility ?"

                            "Can you prove you are a Reservist ?"
                            (I WAS able to there and then, as I had a RDFRA card in my wallet - obviously if you are NOT in RDFRA, you will have to prove by
                            alternative means)

                            "Yep, that's fine, but you can't use the weights unless you have received instruction on same and have a program from one of the PTIs here"

                            That was autumn 2009, and I've been using the facility on a reasonably regualr basis since
                            Very approachable lads in the School of Fitness...

                            Hmmm, I might approach them and put your issue to them and see what THEIR slant is on it....
                            "Well, stone me! We've had cocaine, bribery and Arsenal scoring two goals at home. But just when you thought there were truly no surprises left in football, Vinnie Jones turns out to be an international player!" (Jimmy Greaves)!"

                            Comment


                            • Morpheus - no need to shout. I'm relaying the story as I was told it by the PTL. It was a request to use the shower facilities, not the weights or other equipment.

                              TD - again no need to shout. I have no recollection of you telling me that story. But if you did it's probably filed away with all your other "Sgt in the Sqn" stories
                              I'm not a number, I'm a free man.
                              Who is number 1?

                              Comment


                              • Originally posted by The Prisoner View Post
                                Morpheus - no need to shout. I'm relaying the story as I was told it by the PTL. It was a request to use the shower facilities, not the weights or other equipment.

                                TD - again no need to shout. I have no recollection of you telling me that story. But if you did it's probably filed away with all your other "Sgt in the Sqn" stories
                                If it was during the opening hours of the gym, there's no issue with RDF troops using it, especially just using the showers.

                                However, if the PTL was looking to open the gym himself, there's not a hope of it happening. Only PTI's can draw the keys and they run the show when it comes to the gym.

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