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The Future of the Army Reserve - Discuss

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  • Originally posted by koppiteal View Post
    Honest Opinions lads what do you think the findings will be
    Corps Units Highly Successful, Outside of this its hit or miss.

    SFC has worked in CIS, significant contributions to the DF and the Battlegroups.
    Squad look this way, i will give a full and complete demonstration on how to post.
    Type 1-2-3-4 fact check and POST

    Cryos

    Comment


    • Originally posted by cnn View Post
      Has there been any consensus or update in relation to wearing the CĂșltaca badge on DPM shirt, in terms of positioning, etc.

      I have seen all sorts to date.
      Why so. A9 is explicit.F***ed up but explicit.
      "Let us be clear about three facts. First, all battles and all wars are won in the end by the infantryman. Secondly, the infantryman always bears the brunt. His casualties are heavier, he suffers greater extremes of discomfort and fatigue than the other arms. Thirdly, the art of the infantryman is less stereotyped and far harder to acquire in modern war than that of any other arm." ------- Field Marshall Wavell, April 1945.

      Comment


      • To me there is a direct relationship between the success of the SFC in a particular unit and the ability of key RDF personnel to engage M-F

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        • Originally posted by apod View Post
          Why so. A9 is explicit.F***ed up but explicit.
          A9 is impossible, so much so that J1 issued guidance (which differs from A9)

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          • I agree. I see some people outside my CoC who ignore it but nearly everyone knows the score now, and TBH its actually not bad at all ; SD1 is straightforward . DPM shirts depending on the flag size can be a pain in the hole but all are doable ( read A9 and followup J1 guidance as stated by B20 ) . DPM smock no problem. Advise using velcro !


            With respect to findings I can only speak for my own experience

            1) SFC - Unit Commanders must set the tone , backed by their BSM or equivalent and the PDF C.S's .

            2) To be fair my experience has been that this has indeed been the case EXCEPT one case which I put below - read to the end pls

            3) On the RDF Side : responsibility given must be treated as such - each fkup takes 10 times as long to recover that trust ; we are our own worst enemy here . If you have a job given by the DF you can not just go home when you like it or when your civvie job starts - that is not what volunteer means . Enter into it with the correct mindset cos nothing will work otherwise . Every time we put effort in here it really pays off

            4) Ignorance is no defence understand on both sides that context and communication is everything, RDF and PDF find it very difficult to communicate in equivalent terms when both sides want to extract value , the units that have solved this problem shine out like beacons across the whole DF ( and there an inf unit or two in there not just corps, some of the corps are shockingly bad , Artys good for example , Tpt is good ) . Some real lessons to be picked up there

            5) RDF have limited value unless you have them fulltime or they can work remote ( nearly impossible but some niche areas manage ). RDF want to provide value but its only X days per year ; PDF do not think like this and it is difficult to get into the planning cycles - no fault on either side its part of context and communication

            6) Admin :
            1) Recruiting is in shite ; utter, utter shite . No words suffice. This is an ADMIN problem as there has never been a problem getting people in the barrack gate ; give us back control FFS it can hardly get worse. Understand that time is a factor : a lad who is not doing some training within quick time will soon head somewhere else ; you need to build camaraderie and unit spirit fast.

            2) Pay for RDF is the great shame of the world; PDF should hang their heads in shame ; if it was yer own pay you wouldn't let it happen ( Pay is frequently several weeks late, if it ever comes ) . If I could drive to the bank and withdraw the cash like we used to be able to do I could solve this in a day. I Might add that this problem has ONLY happened since the re-org

            3) Far, far behind those two

            i) Promotions - fk sake - yes CS4 is a limit - but the top-heavy nature of the force is killing it - put in place a proper structure

            ii) Bring grat back for heavens sake it costs nothing but all that petrol to get to barracks costs us money
            Last edited by trellheim; 30 April 2017, 16:43.
            "Are they trying to shoot down the other drone? "

            "No, they're trying to fly the tank"

            Comment


            • Originally posted by trellheim View Post
              6) Admin :
              1) Recruiting is in shite ; utter, utter shite . No words suffice. This is an ADMIN problem as there has never been a problem getting people in the barrack gate ; give us back control FFS it can hardly get worse. Understand that time is a factor : a lad who is not doing some training within quick time will soon head somewhere else ; you need to build camaraderie and unit spirit fast.
              Thing is the biggest single problem is the S/Clearance. I'm old enough to remember going to the local Collator to get the form stamped and that was that.

              The Garda clearance is now centralised within the Vetting Bureau and that isn't going to change. E-vetting is abolutely brilliant, all being ok, from the time the organisation sends your initial paper form to AGS, you'll get the online form, sent it it in, be cleared and the info back with the organisation within max 3 weeks.

              The delays are when the person fills out the paper form to getting to AGS and then from the time AGS get back to the DF. Some on the General Staff needs to address it (to the benefit of both PDF and RDF), my suggestion get a few RDF officers and NCOs into J2 for a few weeks.

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              • A recent poll of most of my mates who would see a lot of the intake

                A huge percentage of our intake into the RDF is going straight to the PDF after a very short period ; while I can't deny them their career choice it is savage for us given the extended recruiting timeline.
                "Are they trying to shoot down the other drone? "

                "No, they're trying to fly the tank"

                Comment


                • Originally posted by trellheim View Post
                  A recent poll of most of my mates who would see a lot of the intake

                  A huge percentage of our intake into the RDF is going straight to the PDF after a very short period ; while I can't deny them their career choice it is savage for us given the extended recruiting timeline.
                  Nothing new there. Retention has always been the issue.

                  My argument being the RDF needed a new target audience and mechanisms to improve retention but the DF never seized the opportunity.

                  12 years on from the integration plan of 2005 and they still haven't copped on.
                  Covid 19 is not over ....it's still very real..Hand Hygiene, Social Distancing and Masks.. keep safe

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                  • 18 years old, unemployed or part-time employed and wants to join the regulars but applies to the RDF first. In reality they should never be recruited by the RDF.

                    Ideally you want someone in full-time employment and/or with no desire to join the regular forces.
                    It is only by contemplation of the incompetent that we can appreciate the difficulties and accomplishments of the competent.

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                    • I don't see the downside in it, I see the positive. Someone who meets the criteria and is eligible and willing for RDF service should be inducted, indeed if they are going to join the PDF they should be qualified by extension to join the RDF.

                      PDF recruit instructors can tell on Day 1 who is already able to march, who knows his ranks, who will later have already done TOETS, etc. This gives a positive impression among the PDF cadre of the ability of the RDF to train potential PDF recruits and cadets. Yes, the RDF is losing them but they (generally) have only been there for a few months, or a year. Its not really a loss more like a temporary body who was going to leave anyway being properly prepared for the real thing, and RDF members who now have an extra contact in the PDF.

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                      • Yeah but that comes back to employment protection or some other benefit to employee (grat?) or employer doesn't it?
                        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


                        • In the past it wasn't too much of an issue but with recruitment and strength so low.... It's a race to survive

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                          • After 31 years of looking at this, FCA and RDF have always taken the well-trodden path to the PDF GS and Cadets ; only on Wednesday I found an old mate in the AC from 1988 when we were all in the 20th in Griffith.

                            My point, such as it is, is that the percentage of those attested into the RDF , going permanent, is an order of magnitude higher than pre-2012 .

                            Given the long recruiting timeframe this is an absolutely savage blow right into the heart of the RDF
                            "Are they trying to shoot down the other drone? "

                            "No, they're trying to fly the tank"

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                            • In fairness, it has always been the way. A lot of us joined the reserves at a time when we would have preferred to join the PDF, and been better suited for it. We were young un- or barely- employed and would have benefitted for five years in uniform. RDF would have been a natural progression for many of us after that.
                              At that time of greater unemployment, I think a rolling system of short stint non-renewable service enlistments (say three years) would have solved the age profile, provided employment for a few thousand and -if coupled with a more coherent reserve policy of recruiting as many of these as could be got into the second-line reserve after, transformed the entire Defence Forces.
                              Oh well, bygones.

                              Comment


                              • Anything to be said for just hitting the reset button on the whole thing? Move across those active at the moment and dump all those supernummary?

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