The Future of the Army Reserve - Discuss

[DeV]

What percentage of the current RDF intakes are people heading straight to the PDF after passing out . I am seeing strong numbers. and good luck to them but for small recruit intakes its a big pity for the Reserve side.

And it even stated in the AdminO that RDF should be encouraged to join the PDF

[trellheim]

Sure - but correspondingly it's been made much harder to pass out now so very few get through and if 1/3rd go to PDF and you lose the other 1/3rd to natural attrition its obvious why numbers are and will continue to bump along the bottom

[Kieran Marum]

DAIL ANSWERS [11th Nov 2015] gave some data on the Defence Force Reserve and the future


Defence Forces Reserve

100. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Defence the number of applications received by his Department for recruitment to the Reserve Defence Force in 2015; the number of recruits who were offered membership; the reason others were unsuccessful; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39684/15]

Minister for Defence (Deputy Simon Coveney): I am informed by the military authorities that to date in 2015 the Defence Forces have completed, or are in the process of completing, the processing of 4,098 applications for the Reserve Defence Force. This figure includes 1,374 applications from the recruitment competition that commenced on 7 of September, 2015 and the remaining applications are from previous competitions. The 4,098 applications are broken down as follows:

-1,899 applications have been unsuccessful due to ineligible applications, withdrawal of applications or failure to turn up at the medical/fitness or interview stage,

-384 applications have been unsuccessful at the fitness, medical, interview or security clearance stages,

-344 people have been attested, and

-1,471 applications are in various stages of the recruitment process.

I believe that the Reserve Defence Force is an important asset to the State. I value the contribution of all of its members who volunteer their time and service so willingly and I am fully committed to its ongoing and future development in line with the developmental path set out in the White Paper.


Defence Forces Reserve

101. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Defence given the low levels of participation in the Reserve Defence Force, if he will instigate a national recruitment drive; if he will use national and social media in this campaign; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39685/15]

Minister for Defence (Deputy Simon Coveney): I am informed by the military authorities that the 2015 recruitment competition for the Reserve Defence Force commenced on 7 of September, 2015. This competition remains open to applicants and there is no fixed closing date. According to the military authorities, there have been 1,374 applications received so far. I am further informed by the military authorities that advertisements announcing the opening of this competition were placed in a large number of regional newspapers and that notification of the competition remains on the Defence Forces’ website and the Defence Forces’ FaceBook page.

[The real Jack]

Honestly whenever I open this thread the first thing I always say to myself is "What future?", I only had the time for a few wkends and a 4 day course this year and a few parade nights. Unless I manage to find a course to do in jan I won't be able to any FTT next year either unless its some exclusively wkend thing. So I'll most likely go non effective or I'll try to get a leave of absence. We've a new CO that's really putting the effort in but at every opportunity the Army just never fail to let you down, ****ing around with dates and moving goalposts, etc , etc. With recruits it's a return of the bear island years where all effort is expended on recruits and no effort is made for the trained bods who are just forgotten about.

[trellheim]

Problem 1 : Dates set down must be adhered to . In fairness a lot of this is the RDF's fault as well.

[The real Jack]

Problem 1 : Dates set down must be adhered to . In fairness a lot of this is the RDF's fault as well.

I tend to ignore the RDF elements of the COC to avoid part time ****ups to reduce the date changing but I've travelled to ITs, conferences and courses on too many occasions to find out that they've been scrubbed on short notice.

[Archimedes]

-1,471 applications are in various stages of the recruitment process.

Minister for Defence (Deputy Simon Coveney): I am informed by the military authorities that the 2015 recruitment competition for the Reserve Defence Force commenced on 7 of September, 2015. This competition remains open to applicants and there is no fixed closing date. According to the military authorities, there have been 1,374 applications received so far.

If there are 1471 in the process and 1374 new applications, that suggests that there are 97 individuals still awaiting a decision on whether or not they can join more than 12 months after applying. I realise that security clearance is a very important aspect of the process but do the powers that be really expect young motivated individuals to join in any meaningful numbers when they are forced to wait so long for an answer?

[DFox]

Thanks to all the posters regarding the RDF, you have opened my eyes with a wealth of info. I applied for the RDF around 3 weeks ago and received an email back to say they would be in touch in due course. I would like to be part of the future of the RDF, however, given the response above of 1471 applications in the process and 1374 new applications (going by the date of the Parliamentary Question, I am counted in that), I would really appreciate hearing what you think my chances of joining are soon as I turn 35 at the end of February 2016? Am I correct in saying that even if nothing has happened before my 35th birthday, it doesn't matter as I applied when I was 34 and do you think there is actually any plans to go to the next stage anytime soon for Dublin? Thanks again to all and I would really appreciate your responses. I hope I have posted this in the right place too... after all, it is the future of the RDF I hope to be part of Cheers.

[Auldsod]

One of the big ongoing issues for the RDF it seems is the lack of privates and junior NCOs in most units. Does this mean that any 3 stars who complete a Pots course are pretty much guaranteed promotion to corporal in their unit so long as that vacancy exists?

[Bravo20]

Probably but not necessarily. The DOD looks at the total strength v's establishment of NCOs across the RDF. So vacant Cpl positions may be taken by supernumery Sgts and Senior NCOs. Though the gap is so big now it is likely even when you add back the supernumeries there will be plenty of positions for people to be promoted into.

[DeV]

Thanks to all the posters regarding the RDF, you have opened my eyes with a wealth of info. I applied for the RDF around 3 weeks ago and received an email back to say they would be in touch in due course. I would like to be part of the future of the RDF, however, given the response above of 1471 applications in the process and 1374 new applications (going by the date of the Parliamentary Question, I am counted in that), I would really appreciate hearing what you think my chances of joining are soon as I turn 35 at the end of February 2016? Am I correct in saying that even if nothing has happened before my 35th birthday, it doesn't matter as I applied when I was 34 and do you think there is actually any plans to go to the next stage anytime soon for Dublin? Thanks again to all and I would really appreciate your responses. I hope I have posted this in the right place too... after all, it is the future of the RDF I hope to be part of Cheers.

Get in touch with the relevant manpower office/unit

[Bam Bam]

The blockage is at the Sgt rank.

[DeV]

The blockage is at the Sgt rank.

and above

[AC182]

The over strength at sgt and senior levels is unfortunately not uniform.
in some units, where there is a large number of vacancies, they cannot fill them due to overstrength for the rdf as a whole.
this prevents advancement of privates, thereby limiting intake of new recruits/privates.

[trellheim]

But people seem unwilling to deal with the harsh problems; everyone at those ranks seem to think they aren't part of the problem.