The Future of the Army Reserve - Discuss

[trellheim]

Base R5 is

6. To be eligible for enlistment, applicant’s must:-
(a) be not less than 17 years and not more than 35 years of age, provided, however,
that applicants in the following categories shall be eligible for enlistment:-
(i) former members of the Permanent Defence Force who have had not less
than one year’s full-time military service and who are not more than 40
years of age on offering themselves for enlistment;
(ii) former members of the Permanent Defence Force who, immediately prior
to discharge, held the rank of Sergeant or Petty Officer as appropriate or
higher non-commissioned rank and who are not more than 45 years of age
on offering themselves for enlistment;
(b) be of a medical standard as laid down from time to time by the Deputy Chief of
Staff (Support);
(c) be not less than 162.5 cm. (5ft 4in).

Recruitment is [ssh] rolling again on a limited basis.


PS for ex-PDF NCOs considering applying and worrying about Rank

17. All enlistments in the Reserve Defence Force for service shall be in the rank of private or
Seaman, provided, however, that a former enlisted person of the Permanent Defence Force or of the
Reserve of Men (First Line) to whom the provisions of subparagraph 6(b) of these Regulations
apply may be enlisted in the non-commissioned rank last held by them, or in the non-commissioned
army rank corresponding to the non-commissioned naval rank last held by them in the Permanent
Defence Force, or in the Reserve of Men (First Line) if a vacancy exists in Establishments for a
non-commissioned officer of such rank or, if such vacancy does not exist, in a lower noncommissioned
rank in which there is a vacancy.

. Do not worry about a vacancy existing at Sgt or Cpl level.

[ZULU]

That's why I would see the RDF coming in line to become something more mainstream and cost effective. And that would see it being centtralised.

Albeit at the expense of rural units, which as they say in Russia is Tough S**t if it does happen. But, it would be for the benefit of the organisation especially as the axe is supposedly falling on the numbers.

It would be the most efficient way of doing that.

Dail Answers 28th April 2010

Parliamentary Questions.

189. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Defence the number of parliamentary questions that have remained unanswered due to staff action to date in 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17255/10]

Minister for Defence (Deputy Tony Killeen): Due to staff on industrial action, a total of six parliamentary questions have not been answered with the required information to date. The Deputies concerned were advised that as a consequence of industrial action, the information sought could not be made available.



Dail Answers Thursday 29th April 2010

Defence Forces Reserve.

217. Deputy Ciarán Lynch asked the Minister for Defence the amount paid in allowances, over and above salary, to Permanent Defence Force personnel employed with the Reserve Defence Force and Slua Muirí for the years 2005 to 2009; the number of personnel in receipt of such allowances; the rate per mile per engine capacity as regards mileage allowances; the amount paid in mileage in each year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17583/10]

Minister for Defence (Deputy Tony Killeen): Personnel of the Permanent Defence Force (PDF) who are employed on administrative and training duties with the Reserve Defence Force (RDF) are paid an allowance to cover all expenses, (including subsistence) other than travelling expenses. The following table shows the total amounts paid for the years in question and the number of personnel who received the allowance.

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Amount paid €1.662m €1.612m €1.707m €1.787m €1.389m
Number of recipients* 487 440 447 437 432

(*Includes all personnel who received the allowance at any time during the year.)

Officers of the PDF who hold appointments with the RDF are paid a fixed annual motor car allowance and mileage allowance at the following rates:


Fixed Annual Motor Car Allowance

Effective Date Engine capacityup to 1200cc - between 1201 -1500cc - over 1500cc

1 January 2003 €1,982.61 €2,393.98 €2,429.10
1 July 2005 €1,982.61 €2,393.98 €2,592.89
1 July 2006 €1,982.61 €2,425.81 €2,630.39
5 March 2009 €1,486.96 €1,819.36 €1,984.24



The amounts paid by way of motor car and mileage allowances for the years in question are:

Year Amount paid in’000
2005 €829
2006 €639
2007 €702
2008 €637
2009 €423

.

Want to know why the Reserve hasn't been brought into central training locations?

Above is the answer. Its worth 3,000 euro a year each to cadre that have to travel out to rural units (thats if they do go there that is)

8,157,000 euro over 5 years to the select 450 odd cadre alone!


Jesus H Christ! Imagine what you could have done with the reserve if you had implemented the Integrated concept from the Re-Org.

F*ck me!. I really cant believe this shit.

[ZULU]

I think you'll find that 300 figure (hehe) is closer to 180 people as most of those that particpated in 07 repeated the programme in 08.

There are a lot of factors that made integration less successful than it should have been.

As well as a carrot, a stick needed to be applied across the whole organisation.

It doesn't help that any chance of evolving the RDF is hampered by vested interests in keeping the RDF as widespread and rural as possible.

If the reserve was centralised, then there would be a vast reduction in mileage.

If the reserve was centralised, then there would be a vast reduction in allowances.

Combine 8 million euro over 5 years with the annual RDF budget in a centralised reduced structure akin to the integrated reserve concept and the organisation would be unrecognisable from old.

It would provide in the region of 30-38 days paid training to personnel per year as well as funding capital investment in training/equipment and facilities.

[ZULU]

Oriel. THat 6000 figure is a complete myth that is held up at every opportunity to justify the 450 odd cadre positions.

The numbers attending paid training / receiving grat is the more realistic guage of strength.

2007 had 3500 approx.

2008 had 2,800 approx

2009 had 2,500 approx.

I will agree that those that sat on the fence lost an opportunity. Saying that though, 60-70% would not be worth the effort of training.

Reservists have to wake up to the fact that it takes hard graft to get to a position to approach acceptable standards against professional soldiers. That means physical training 4-5 times a week. Studying of tactical and technical resources 2-3 times a week, coupled with developing a professional attitude to what the job entails.

However as has been demonstrated over the past several years the reluctance of the PDF to place even fitness tests as a pre qualifier for recruitment into the RDF coupled to the resistance to even this measure from the senior element of the RDF makes for a complete waste of time and money

[Goldie fish]

How many TDs who otherwise would have never heard of the RDF, cried and wailed at the mere suggestion that their local centre was to be closed down.

[Border Bunny]

How many TDs who otherwise would have never heard of the RDF, cried and wailed at the mere suggestion that their local centre was to be closed down.

The only reason a TD would be up in arms about a local hall closing is if one or more RDF members went crying to him about a hall closer.

[ODIN]

Integration was good in principle, but did not work. Different PDF units implemented it in different ways and as such the results varied widely both in and between the brigades. There was also a lack of support for integration within the RDF.

My personal opinion on what has gone wrong with the RDF is pretty much after the Re Org, nothing changed bar the name on the door. The same failed leaders were still in positions of authority, the same drinking camp mentality remained, with the lack of change at the top, what was going to change in the RDF as a whole.

What was needed should have started simply with yearly mandatory Life Tests, ARPs using the same tables as the PDF and a rapid replacement of people who were not up to scratch in all leadership positions. I feel that this should have been done before Integration was implemented as it would have, in my mind at least, provided the numbers for proper integration.

Instead, here we are 5 years on from the Re Org, and in many units, the situation is extremely bad and morale is even worse. The RDF has not shown itself to have any military or civic value, and did not reinvent from being the FCA. Is the RDF good value for money? I have to say no. And after 8 years of involvement in the Reserve, I feel that I have just about had enough, my mojo is gone, and the sad thing is I am not alone.

We have been failed by our leaders, we have been failed by RDFRA, at this point all I want to know is am I wasting my time. I would appreciate if DRes or the CoS would have the decency to say what is on the cards for the RDF so I can find some other way to fill my spare time.

[00martz00]

jaysus iv only just got into the rdf and all this negative talk about its future has me worried!

[ZULU]

jaysus iv only just got into the rdf and all this negative talk about its future has me worried!

And what are your imprssions so far of the training you are receiving?

[00martz00]

so far im fairly happy with the training im recieving and i find it really interesting only thing is that i have nothing to compare it to if you know what i mean.

[Jungle]

This is a very interesting discussion; we went through a similar period in the 90s, when we reduced CF manning following the end of the cold war (what some referred to as the Peace Dividend). We went as far as creating some "10/90" Battalions in the early 90s, manned by 10% RegF Soldiers and 90% ResF. The experiment failed, and in 1996 the 10/90 Battalions were returned to the RegF order of battle as Light Infantry Battalions with a Para capability.

ANIMOSITY IN THE RANKS

During the thirty years following Korea, the regular force occupied the place of
prominence while the militia languished on the sidelines with no clearly defined role or
opportunity to perform the tasks for which they trained. In 1987, the government
attempted to address the situation by releasing a White Paper that embraced the
concept of Total Force. The White Paper spoke about one army and proposed an
experiment in which some battalions and regiments would be regular/reserve amalgams,
having specific, order-of-battle related roles in a rejuvenated CF. Thus was born the
10/90 Battalion. Indeed, the promise implicit in the proposal was soon realized when
reservists found themselves on the front-line at Oka and actively supporting Operation
FRICTION. But thirty years of high-readiness training within the regular force only
highlighted the discrepancy between regular and reserve soldiers, and few remained
convinced of the concept.

We have since returned to the traditional post-WW2 (Canadian) role for the Reserves: individual augmentation to the RegF. Every Cdn Task Force deploying has a proportion of ResF Soldiers; these Soldiers are integrated during pre-deployment trg, serve with the unit overseas and are returned to their parent ResF unit after end-of-tour admin and leave.

On our upcoming depl to Afg, there is a composite ResF platoon tasked with Defence & Security on one of our installations, plus individual augmentees to most units of the Task Force.
Some skills are mostly resident in the ResF, like CIMIC and PSYOPS, and the ResF have stood up INT and Movements coys recently.
This arrangement seems to be working for us.

[ODIN]

Does the RDF even have a mission statement??

[concussion]

Augmentation/reinforcement of the PDF, provision of logistical support, provision of armed escort...blah blah blah

No-one seems to know how to actually get us to the level where we can accomplish these roles however.

[ODIN]

Trinidad and Tobago's Reserve's mission statement

"To be a highly professional, well trained combat ready force that will respond effectively in support of our regular forces and the national community"

Short and sweet

The Canadian version

The Army Reserve is the part-time component to the Canadian Army and it has three roles

* Existing Reserve units are the framework or structure the Army would use to mobilize or expand the Army should the nation ever need to respond to a large crisis as in the World Wars.
* Located in hundreds of communities across Canada, Canadians connect with their Army through the Army Reserve.
* The Army Reserve augments the professional Army by providing soldiers, units or specialists to the Canadian Forces.

[Border Bunny]

Does the RDF even have a mission statement??

This is from military.ie

Tasks are assigned to the RDF to support the PDF in fulfilling these roles. These include:

•Augmentation/reinforcement of the PDF.
•Provision of logistic support.
•Provision of armed escorts.
•Augmentation of Naval Service on fishery protection patrols.
•Staffing of Military Posts during periods of PDF deployment.
•Radiological Monitoring.
•Ceremonial Duties at national and local events.