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Can anyone tell me the criteria for Officer selection in the new RDF? Is it based more on civilian (eg management or business) skills or track record in the RDF? Our selections are coming up and I’m curious how the brass will select the next crop.
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"Why, it appears that we appointed all of our worst generals to command the armies and we appointed all of our best generals to edit the newspapers. I mean, I found by reading a newspaper that these editor generals saw all of the defects plainly from the start but didn't tell me until it was too late. I'm willing to yield my place to these best generals and I'll do my best for the cause by editing a newspaper"
Gen. Robert E. Lee -
You mean Army Reserve don't you. RDF is AR and NSR combined!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -
I presume they are not all that different? But yes, primarily the Army Reserve."Why, it appears that we appointed all of our worst generals to command the armies and we appointed all of our best generals to edit the newspapers. I mean, I found by reading a newspaper that these editor generals saw all of the defects plainly from the start but didn't tell me until it was too late. I'm willing to yield my place to these best generals and I'll do my best for the cause by editing a newspaper"
Gen. Robert E. LeeComment
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Originally posted by Viking View Post
Eeeney meeeney mineey MOThings fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere***
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.Comment
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Changes from unit to unit. Some units base it on gender, nepotism, drinking ability, being one of the Lads. Others base it on ability, leadership, committment and know-how. Some base it on a mixture.Originally posted by Viking View Post
The Interview should cut out some of the crud but rarely gets much. However the new Pot Officers Cse is a completely new beast and has a tendency of getting rid of all but the most dedicated.
Personally, I believe that Civilian Managements skills are a poor indication of a good officer. Officers should be Leaders first.Comment
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And civilian managers are...........
Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing.Comment
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Was talking to a PDF Lieutenant who got a Cadetship when I was on duties last week and when asked about the hardships of Cadetship training he replied-Originally posted by Docman View Post
''One of the hardest things is training to be a leader, because your the person your men look to for leadership and direction. Then you get commissioned and realise they only listen to their Sergeant...''
But I agree with your point...Comment
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???.... Managers???? Definately not leaders. Have seen many good managers who were crap leaders and vice versa.Originally posted by Goldie fish View PostComment
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Somebody once told me it was the same criteria i.e drunken cabbage throwing. as PDF potential NCO."Are they trying to shoot down the other drone? "
"No, they're trying to fly the tank"Comment
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Woo Hoo, finally moderated!!!!! In that select band of people who speak their mind instead of being sheep!Comment
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AFIK in a certain unit the system is
Post is "promised" to an individual for one of the reasons above.
The post is advertised.
All other contenders are discouraged from applying so that the interviewers have no choice but to send the candidate forward.
But I thought under the new regime (the RDF) that officers were now part of the officers corps and after commissioning took a posting which may or may not be back to their original unit???Last edited by luchi; 21 October 2007, 23:54.Without supplies no army is brave.
—Frederick the Great,
Instructions to his Generals, 1747
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This hasn't changed AFAIK.
After commissioning you are gazetted to a particular unit. Usually [ but not always ] this is the same unit you were just discharged as an NCO from.
An example of this 'rara avis in mano' might be an NCO commissioned from the Medics without being a Doctor or Dentist - there is no room for him on the est of his unit so arrangements are made to post him somewhere else and then do an on-attachment somewhere else. There is no problem with this."Are they trying to shoot down the other drone? "
"No, they're trying to fly the tank"Comment
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In my day we were told that most officers had their brains scrambled by lead poisoning from the new cap badge they got.Originally posted by spudula
BQs & SMs (being the tough MFs that they were) were immune to the effects of the Lead poisoning.... and bullets.
But seriously, there is no set down criteria for Officer selection that I know of other than the basics - must be Cpl rank or higher etc etc.Comment
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The only criteria laid down is that you have to be an NCO.
The Unit will submit a list of potential candidates there will be an interview process at Bde level.
As regards to the intial selection at Unit level, this varies from unit to unit and depends on the number of potential candidates, vacancies etc.
Usually the Coy Commander has the initial say, the unit CO will probably interview prospective candidates to make sure they are not complete muppets. If there are a lot of potential candidates an interview process may be initiated (this was the case in the 20 Bn in the early nineties where generally there would be 7 or 8 potential candidates and the Bn was only allowed to submit 2 or 3 names, however the number of potential candidates has dropped in recent years)
There is an interview at Bde level, I do not know what criteria they use. I suspect that their decision is based on the requirements in each unit balanced against the number of places available for the brigade.
In my opinion it is not a very transparent system and could be subject to abuse.Comment
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From my experience[considerable] of working in industry, I do hope that ones civilian skills are NOT taken into account when selecting people for officer courses.Originally posted by Goldie fish View Post
My experience of Irish management is that they frequently display zero leadership skills and almost 100% bullying skills.
There again some of the Victorian ideals still apparent in the Irish DF may well find these types suitable."We will hold out until our last bullet is spent. Could do with some whiskey"
Radio transmission, siege of Jadotville DR Congo. September 1961.
Illegitimi non carborundumComment
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