Irish Military Online is in no way affiliated with the Irish Defence Forces. It is in no way sponsored or endorsed by the Irish Defence Forces or the Irish Government. Opinions expressed by the authors and contributors of this site are not necessarily those of the Defence Forces. If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
The surge to the reserve was a failure, hence loads of us are getting requests to come to the "Regular Reserve" days where we get paid substantial beer tokens for a day of briefings and catch up with the old pals.
That's not why it's being done - it's a trial of different methods of activation of the RR. Some are paid, some are expenses only, some are easy to get to and some are a pain. It's to measure different response rates and to decide future policy based on the results.
The surge to the reserve was a failure, hence loads of us are getting requests to come to the "Regular Reserve" days where we get paid substantial beer tokens for a day of briefings and catch up with the old pals.
Which was probably due to the TA being f@cked about so much
That's not why it's being done - it's a trial of different methods of activation of the RR. Some are paid, some are expenses only, some are easy to get to and some are a pain. It's to measure different response rates and to decide future policy based on the results.
You sound very busy with the RDF and that's great for you. But in reality, there's probably only around 50-80 reservists whose professional services the defence organisation are actually bothered about engaging or are simply commissioned yes-men, or both. Therefore if what you're doing is so valuable that they can feed you work 365 days a year, given the rank limitations in the RDF, I would suspect what you're worth to your employer is significantly more than what you're being paid by the DOD. That is of course assuming you get paid for what you do in uniform. Either way, it's a steal for the lads who were just as happy to abolish the RDF altogether.
There's a reason why Morpheus is part of a company that can't field a section, because they're at absolutely nothing of any substantive use. That's not to say that Morpheus and his comrades aren't ready, willing and able reservists, but if the organisation doesn't invest in the people, why should people invest themselves in the organisation?
I have no faith in the WP15 project teams to deliver anything positive for the RDF for a simple reason. If there are any reservists on the project teams, they are probably among the regularly engaged and no doubt satisfied reservists from the previously mentioned 50-80, and not someone from what's left of Morpheus' unit.
There's a reason why Morpheus is part of a company that can't field a section, because they're at absolutely nothing of any substantive use. That's not to say that Morpheus and his comrades aren't ready, willing and able reservists, but if the organisation doesn't invest in the people, why should people invest themselves in the organisation?
Morpheus' local organization well able to defend itself. I'm interested, for example, in what marketing efforts were done locally in that area to ensure people logged onto military.ie and signed up in the recent campaign - it was open for long enough to ensure several platoons worth were in the mix ; is that DOD's fault - it was well publicised I thought. and it was up to the local unit to ensure it was capitalized on by messaging appropriate to the locale .
Just because there is not many of us does not mean more are not needed - Right now I need particular special skillsets and I can't get them so if you want to transfer etc then why not ? Or is it about a personal need for something else or do you go where its needed . I've talked about this several times and Truck Driver echoed it.
I'm 31 years in, most in the Infantry.
As for investing in the people - take a look around and look at the sh1t deal the PDF get its fking horrendous
What on earth do you want from WP15 we spent ages hoping WP2000 would help and it was worth fk all
Single Force, recession and cut your cloth to get the job done did more to help the organization work together than it ever did
And with that attitude what positive thinking do you inspire in subordinates - given your handle I assume you are a Sir
Are we regularly engaged and no doubt satisfied ? Dunno ; I suppose we are engaged regularly at least . By the sound of it you want everyone to fall back into some sort of lazy soldier mentality where we don't push the boundaries of the possible and don't show value to the PDF - instead hold up some sort of "but we can offer some unquantifiable value if you pay us good dosh - and you should take our word "
well that hasnt happened despite very senior and smart senior RDF officers ( and FCA back in the day ) forcefully putting that very point over the last 30 years - so time for a change -
It is about making your self relevant. Doing your job within the unit to the best of your ability, giving ideas and running with them, contributing to your unit.
I do my job. I take a days holidays from work to take over Accomodiation etc prior to a weekend/week.
I'm not as available during the week as I should be to get the job done but nothing I can do about that.
we did campaign locally and we did advertise, that doesnt mean that joe public is interested - many are aware of the sh!t deal that the military get in ireland so for that reason a lot arent interested, i believe the numbers now are much higher than I had been initially told of, which is good news.
now unfortunately the next problem arises - who will train the new recruits? I'm heavily invested in other courses as are most of my NCO colleagues, and were all trying to get time to do SIC 2 -
if you do SIC 2 and have no leave left you cant train recruits. if you DONT do SIC 2 and hold onto leave - you STILL CANT train recruits.
Some of us may get lucky and get onto a SIC 2 run out of normal hours, if such a thing happens. but with small number of instructors locally and many of us committing to a different large career course and SIC 2 in the brigade, I worry that there will be nobody left at HQ to train the recruits.
Nevertheless the numbers are a bit more promising so i'm happier about that and its thanks to a small number of key people who have made the effort to make it happen.
Last edited by morpheus; 19 September 2017, 14:28.
"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."
Morph - I am 1000% percent behind this. Making people do SIc2 just to tick a box ( and believe you me I've listened to all the arguments here and elsewhere ) is the height of silly it is purely people who
Training Analysis Volume 1:
Time Available - there is no point doing SIC2 if you won't have any instructors at the end of it . Should have been done via distance learning.
Different argument to PT tests - do the training in your own time and pass the test - takes a morning outx2 no more.
I can't come in and instruct if the guy at my rank gets called away for work its loony, agree 1000%
we did campaign locally and we did advertise, that doesnt mean that joe public is interested - many are aware of the sh!t deal that the military get in ireland so for that reason a lot arent interested, i believe the numbers now are much higher than I had been initially told of, which is good news.
now unfortunately the next problem arises - who will train the new recruits? I'm heavily invested in other courses as are most of my NCO colleagues, and were all trying to get time to do SIC 2 -
if you do SIC 2 and have no leave left you cant train recruits. if you DONT do SIC 2 and hold onto leave - you STILL CANT train recruits.
Some of us may get lucky and get onto a SIC 2 run out of normal hours, if such a thing happens. but with small number of instructors locally and many of us committing to a different large career course and SIC 2 in the brigade, I worry that there will be nobody left at HQ to train the recruits.
Nevertheless the numbers are a bit more promising so i'm happier about that and its thanks to a small number of key people who have made the effort to make it happen.
It's a catch 22
Of course, in the scheme of things a large percentage of your NCOs in a coy could be 2 individuals. Although when it is an all RDF career course that you are referring to (assuming it's the one I'm thinking about) why are all the instructors coming from 1 unit?
With regard to SIC2, there is a proposed course over a number of weekends and a proposed course for next year which will be more RDF friendly (will still involve FTT however). The knock on effect of the SIC2 is no recruit instructors. My formation (which is relatively small currently has 5+ personnel who are SIC2 qualified). If necessary, nothing to stop the unit commander tasking PDF instructors.
We process personal data about users of our site, through the use of cookies and other technologies, to deliver our services, personalize advertising, and to analyze site activity. We may share certain information about our users with our advertising and analytics partners. For additional details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
By clicking "I AGREE" below, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our personal data processing and cookie practices as described therein. You also acknowledge that this forum may be hosted outside your country and you consent to the collection, storage, and processing of your data in the country where this forum is hosted.
Comment