PDF-Life less ordinary??

[dezziec]

hi everyone,

anyone care to share their experience in the PDF??--i mean while i know that the adds on tv and such promote it as a life less ordinary as a kind of marketing ploy i also cant help thinking that there has to be some or at least a little truth to the statement....or am i totally wrong on this one? is it not what some of you expected it to be like?

As you can tell i havent even enlisted yet but im giving it some serious thought at the moment and im 23 so theres not an awful lot of time left for me to make my mind up before i cross the age limit for recruitment!

[Infantry Sandbag]

To be honest i can't say much abou7t this except what i've heard because i'm RDF not PDF but in my opinion, it is definatly a life less ordinary. I mean taking one of my friends who made the jump from RDF to PDF, would you consider gettin up early and i mean early in the morning, sorting your gear into a nissan, getting mounted with a rifle and following the gardai doing bank escorts as being a normal working day.

And did you not watch the program on tuesday about the irish troops overseas in liberia. I would not consider what they do ordinary.

I'm sure some aspects of being in the PDF could be seen as mundane but i doubt thats the case, in short a life in the PDF is a Life less ordinary, in my view anyway.

[hptmurphy]

Depends on what you want from life.Its definetly less ordinary than more jobsIts no longer a vaiable long term career with the removal of pensions but can provide a lot more stimulation than some carreers.

A lot of people can give insights but only you can decide what the job holds for you.

[dezziec]

Life less ord

I did actually see tuesday nights program of the PDF on the UN missions (excellent insight into the runnings of things) and thats exactly what i would consider a life less ordinary i agree with you on that totally...but is it the case that after a certain period of time you can choose to go overseas or is it possible that you might enlist and be stuck doing the "mundane" tasks that ive heard about??

by the way while we're on the subject does anyone know where you can get career advice on enlisting ? Ive given the matter serious thought so far but its obviously a big step to take signing up and while i know that its ultimately my choice on whether i do or not I wont allow myself to be naive in any way on what im getting myself into!!

thanx for the replies so far

[Bam Bam]

http://www.military.ie/careers/armycond.htm

[Itchy]

Nearly sure I asked this before but does anyone know how much it is to buyout?

If you know a figure thats great but a "it changes with length of service" answer is not helpful...

[Ex-soldier]

Then I guess you are not going to get a helpful answer....

[p.dougal]

Im a bit stuck for time and havent realy read replys.

I finished my frist week of 3* star training in PDF and so far my 4year RDF experiance havent compared to that one week never mind 4months recruit training.

There is alot of waiting involved fair enough. But the add doesnt even capture the life of a recriut or 2*. But as im told time and time again does be another waster do course after course after course and make your life intresting.

I love my life!!

[apod]

pdf REAL life:90% routine and boredom,10% getting to do what you joined for.If you can deal with the boring barrack routine in between trips overseas ,courses and never ending dutie you will survive.If you cant dont even consider joining.

[herr flick]

The routine described above by apod is only typical if you let it be! There are so many course available to people now that you could spend the whole year doing courses and not being around baracks at all. There is so much to do within the DF , and so few people apply. I personally spend the better half of 5-6 monthe shooting, with Rifle teams, and sniper compitions. Helping out on other courses is another option for the relief of boredom. I always help out on the YE RECCE courses at BN level. Anything you can do to amuse(apart from the biblical sense!) yourself should be given the chance. Courses are there to be used. Diving,canoeing, assualt pioneer,confidence training, or try helping out on the recruits course when they are on their tactical phase. You may recieve sneeres from the usual sh** Heads and the typical comments expected of them. But HEY I dident join to associate with the likes of them.So c'mon you people, Get involved, start doing things for yourself , and dont always wait around until the big green machine tells you that they have something for you to do.

[The Sultan]

Probably the best thing he has ever said.

[Steamy Window]

and now he's gone...for what?

[dezziec]

..

Well its taken a while but thanx for the insight...Im still considering joining myself but ive a while to think it over still....I'll be honest though that was the first encouraging post ive read about getting involved!

[apod]

Good point herr flick but i was talking about normal routine.I dont know anyone who spends all their time on courses.However i do agree with about getting of your arse and grtting involved but for some reason the army knocks down guys like that .You know the "your all army " brigade who never get involved themselves.

[herr flick]

.You know the "your all army " brigade who never get involved themselves.

I agree with you 100% apod. In fact you have just echoed a point I have already made in the "Hassle in Uniform" Thread.