Reserves to be allowed join Army on Kosovo-style peacekeeping duties. Indo.

[sparks]

no way will this come to pass in 5-6 years, 10 may be poss.

[trellheim]

Step 1 to making this a reality : Get out, Get Fit and pass the PT tests.

( I wouldn't pass them now but by camp I expect to be able to)


Step 2 : Get the rest of your unit through Phase I. You might then have someone you know when you're doing your work-up training.


If that's not for you then why are you here ?

[Loque]

The press release was quite specific :
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The Department says that, as well as being a major morale booster, if a situation arose where there was difficulty getting the numbers for a tour of duty abroad, it would be very beneficial to have the Army Reserve to draw upon.

While this had never been an issue in the permanent Defence Forces before, allowing reserves serve abroad would be especially beneficial where he or she had special skills in the area of mechanics, ordnance disposal or medical expertise.

"If we had a shortage, we could dip into the reserves, particularly in the skilled areas," the Department spokesman said. "There are times when specific skills can be hard to find, for example a dentist or a doctor. It can be hard to get a medic to serve overseas."
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There is no clear mention of general service opportunities.
Raising the standard of fitness in the RDF is something that should be done. Passing a PT alone is not enough of a reason to send a reservist abroad, there is an abundance of trained and fit personnel in the PDF. Why would the army waste time and money having to train a reserve when they have PDF personnel available ?

[LordFlash]

I have to say that at the end of the day they have enough fit and tough killers, what they will be looking for are skilled personell.

So while it is indeed a good idea to keep the fitness at a high, it might be more beneficial to learn a trade if you plan on UN duties.

However, as has been said many times before, this is all 6 to 10 years down the line.
Many of us on the board will no longer be in service or even in fit state for service.

[trellheim]

No... perhaps you missed the point.

Unless it can be shown that we can keep to the standard, and PT is one of the few skills (for want of a word) that can be practiced without much time in barracks - then what hope at all is there.

You'll go to fill a slot that needs skills - that's true - but it's true for all.

It's Step 1. Not Steps 128-342. The basics.

[LordFlash]

Yea, I know.
However with the integrated units the PDF will get to know and work closely with RDF personell, hopefully dispelling the myth of the A-Team watching, mustashe donning gun-mad soldier wannabe.
Unless of course it's true.... which I'm confident it's not.

Anybody here have a moustashe or watch the A-team??
Do any of you look like this:

[Loque]

I watch Airwolf instead!

[LordFlash]

Close enough.....

[Loque]

Only joking LordFlash, Stargate: SG-1 is more my style and no i don't have a mustashe!

[LordFlash]

Was only messing with you Loque.
The picture is of Sgt Mike Watt (TA), a charactor from the comedy SPACED made by channel 4.

He is very funny, bit of a funny stereotype TA soldier.
While comedies like "Spaced" and "the office" are great, they have a good laugh at the expence of the TA,... something that does never get old, and does nothing for our (reserve forces) immage.

Can't complain though, cos I laugh at it myself.

I have met more than a few who do match the stereotype in the RDF.
But a far larger number seem to made of far better stuff and I'm confident that once they start mixing with the PDF they will get on just fine together.

[Loque]

Oh yeah I know the one you're talking about, I was watching that the other night. That character (funny though the picture didn't appear on my browser!) is very funny and over-the-top, brings walkie-talkies with him everwhere and wears combats and dpms (reminds me of John Goodman's character in "The Big Labowski"). There was a show on BBC about the TA, I think it was called The Preston Front, I never saw it but a few of my RDF buddies said it was good. I think that integration will give all those Rambos out there a serious reality check, hopefully then we will achieve cohesion with the PDF effectively.

[Groundhog]

I' all in favour of reservists going on overseas missions. What else are reservists for after all?

Most of the problems of the reserve can be sorted out by the eradication of the separate armies mentality. Might knock some of the Walter Mitty syndrome out of some and the muppet/cowboy attitude out of others.

The chain of command thing is going to be a major stumbling block though. I cannot see any PDF person, who spends almost a year training to get to the exalted rank of private, willingly accepting orders from someone who has potentially done a massive 2 months full time training to get to senior nco rank. Put bluntly most reservists aren't qualified.

On the subject of tradesmen. I served an apprenticeship as an electrician before joining the army. There was another spark in my recruit pln, two carpenters, a plasterer and two mechanics. Not one of us is considered qualified by the army because we did not serve an army apprenticeship and we are all infantrymen. Similarly drivers. I had a 154 in the FCA but couldn't transfer it to the PDF due to red tape and a civvy licence doesn't qualify you to drive an army vehicle. I know a man who had a HGV licence who had to go on a drivers course. So the army just misuses it's available resources.

[Lost Watchdog]

Grunts a go-go

A big part of the Aussie troops in Timor are now reservists, indeed the commitment could not be maintained without reservists. The biggest requirement is for riflemen (women) cos that where the Aussie army is most undermaned. I talked to one reservist who actually turned down as trip to Timor, "too boring" say he. Oh to have such an option

[Loque]

Groundhog, what you have said highlights one thing that is wrong with the army. It wastes it's resources regarding skills and qualifications. The RDF seem to have the same problem. I'm a qualified technician and recently got my degree in engineering making me an engineer, this is usless to me in the RDF, I've read that bit in R5 regarding qualifications but it's seldom acted upon. The army really need to start updating their records regarding people's qualifications and then start to see which qualifications count and where they can be utilised. Lost Watchdog, I have a cousin who served with the Aussie army in Timor, I think he was working as a comms operator, he said he was extremely bored and just sat in an office all day. He also told me that the Aussie reserve are really well equiped, almost better equiped than the regulars.