Acting the eejit

[coffee]

the south are are a load of bollix, promotion on last day of course, course comds reports anyone? no didnt think so.

[concussion]

Second last actually

[ZULU]

the south are are a load of bollix, promotion on last day of course, course comds reports anyone? no didnt think so.

Have to agree with you. If you pass the course it should not mean you get automatically promoted. Course Cmdrs reports and the abilities of the student during the course has to be taken into account, not to mention unit vacancies.

The course this year was 'Approaching' the level of what is needed but is still below the standard required if the Army reserve are going to play on the pitch with the PDF.

People were on the course from the start with:

only a years servcie,
had never fired the GPMG,
had never participated in a tactical excercise,
had difficulty stripping and assembling the Steyr and naming of parts,
who's drill was below instructor standard,
who had no concept of admin in the field and weapon responsibility,
and who were physically and mentally not strong enough to be 3*s let alone NCO's.

I instructed on parts of this years course and I would not have signed off on any of the students from what I experienced, bar one I might consider giving a chance to to prove themselves.

People who know who I am, know I'm a hard ass. Its still no excuse for personal skills, attitude and ability being absent let alone deficient

[happenin]

the south are are a load of bollix, promotion on last day of course, course comds reports anyone? no didnt think so.

They weren't promoted for gods sake. Stop blowin it up. It was purely ceremonial so the GOC could have something to do when he came down. Same thing happened on my pots but i didn't get promoted for 6 months and had to hand back the stripes when the goc left.
No one gets promoted on a course. Not even in the south.

[coffee]

so they were wearing strips, in a sense fakeing their promotions so as to enable the GOC to inspect them? why couldnt they be inspected as 3stars on a pots course, which is what they are?where is the problem?

[concussion]

They were inspected as 3* by the GOC and then presented with their stripes. However, they were allowed to wear them until the end of the course.

[ZULU]

They shouldn't be wearing them or handed them until the final reveiw of their performance was conducted and their promotion was published in RO's. At the end of my POTS course, there was awards for top 3 in the class but no hint of rank insignia.

After a few months, I and another friend (Different Pots Course) were called into the OC's room, were we were briefed of our performance and shown our names published in RO's to be promoted. We then were sent to the Q and we signed for rank insignia to be issued.

It meant a hell of a lot more to me that way than I would imagine being handed stripes at the end of a course, that I might have only survived, let alone passed.

[Viking]

There are enough course on going both within the RDF and PDF to commit one facility to that role. Some where with large dining facilities, class rooms and accomadation with a gym a decent size square and a resident security company would be ideal,

All of the above would be properly manned with agood aid post and hospital near by, outside large bks and within accessible driving distances to make it easier for persons attending weekend modules of course.

I know it seems abit idealitic but the army isn't that big that somewhere suitable could be allocated.

Again I would suggest Clonmel , with some modifications ...or again somehwere similar if any one has ideas.

In the West Castlebar was suggested. It has all the requirements that you listed and is convenient for all W Bde locations. However nothing has happened. Since then Mullingar was also mentioned, with similar progress made. At the end of the day we see things through the eyes of RDF instructors, while the decision makers see things drastically differently.

Before brigade recruit training can be successful, refresher courses need to be run (compulsary) for all instructors that want to go on them to make sure they're all teaching the exact same thing... otherwise... back to where we were....

Our unit tried that a few years ago. All NCOs who wanted a camp had to attend 3 MOI weekends. Result – not enough instructors qualified, and the requirement was dropped. However, even with the small numbers that did complete the weekends, it did improve the level of knowledge on camp.

Maybe we should leave the running of this organisation to the 3*s and the Cpls.

I couldn’t see them being any worse then the current “officers” and the cadre.

[Docman]

the south are are a load of bollix, promotion on last day of course, course comds reports anyone? no didnt think so.

I was involved with that Cse.

There were no promotions on last day of the cse, or the second last or any other day.

All course reports and results had been completed before the last day as is the norm on any course. All that should be done is to transfer results to another form (can't remember the name) so that results can then be sent out to the students units. Based upon those results, the units can then have that student promoted. Takes a while. Definitely doesn't happen during the course.

Don't listen to rumours - You know how bad they are in the army!

[Jereth]

They really got it tough tis year. More so than last year. They dropped like flies. Leaving only the fittest and most deserving behind to collect their stripes.

Although I can only go on what I'm hearing through the grapevine, that's what I heard.
One thing I heard about this course slightly worried me, though...
Out of the large numbers who started the S BDE course, 14 made it to the 2-week FTT and 11 passed out. I'd assume all those who made it to the course had a fairly resonable level of fitness to start with,

[Edited by Mod]

And I must laugh at everyone sayin' enjoy it, I understand that both last years and this years students all had to be talked into continuing with the course and that most simply broke down at some point...?
Nevermind that every single person seems to HATE it...

[concussion]

In fairness to those who completed the course, it wasn't their idea that the GOC should come and present their stripes. That, and being allowed to wear their stripes after the ceremony, was something decided by the higher-ups. Zulu has made some good observations about the basic skills of a lot of the students - there were a lot there who didn't have a clue, technically or tactically, about how to be 3*'s let alone potential NCO's. This problem is down to units not preparing them whatsoever for the course and it showed. The fitness at the start was a joke - after the first test they had 8 weeks to improve yet only 5 students attained a grade 3 the second time round.

The 11 that finished however, did have the fitness, ability and attitude to pass the course and will hopefully go back to their units as competant and enthusiastic corporals. There were plenty of trips to the medics, strained muscles, blisters, the ususal but no-one needed a de-fibrillator.

But it was still harder last year

[Barry]

And I must laugh at everyone sayin' enjoy it, I understand that both last years and this years students all had to be talked into continuing with the course and that most simply broke down at some point...?
Nevermind that every single person seems to HATE it...

A PNCO course isn't meant to be pleasant or easy, and I seriously doubt anybody enjoys it at the time, but students shouldn't have to be talked into staying. If they don't want the stripes enough to be able to motivate themselves to get through the course, do you seriously think that when they return to their units they'll be able to motivate themselves as instructors and leaders?

[DeV]

If they are wearing the rank markings & having been promoted they are impersonating an NCO - end of!

[johnny no stars]

If they don't want the stripes enough to be able to motivate themselves to get through the course, do you seriously think that when they return to their units they'll be able to motivate themselves as instructors and leaders?

No, they'll probably be like the rest of us and have to be talked into staying at all

[Barry]

If they are wearing the rank markings & having been promoted they are impersonating an NCO - end of!

Where are the PAs when you need them?!