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The Future of the Army Reserve - Discuss

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  • Well my lot is under 70% strength of which less than half are effective against their KPIs. The lads who are unemployed or students have milled through man days given the demand for RDF resources, so much so that some won't be available for camp having already hit the 28 man day cap, whereas nearly 2/3rds of my lot have yet to do one single man day.

    Just because someone does a man day, doesn't mean they've achieved any training objective either.

    The average might well be 13.7 man days per man when accounting for those who did man days, but when compared against the establishment of the RDF (which was apparently over-subscribed for a while), it means that across the RDF the average is 5.8 man days.

    I'd wager that the breakdown of those man days is the vast majority of those effective Reservists are barely clearing up to 7 man days for a camp, those on or running career courses doing about 14-21 man days, and a cohort of the unemployed, students, old and bolds applying for or manufacturing every man day that they can possibly avail of accumulating around 28-42 man days each.

    Had we retained the grat, we'd have a far better understanding of how many Reservists are actually effective. These stats mean that even if you only did one man day, you're in the stats. By the 2013 figures, it assumes that about 57% of the RDF is ineffective; I'd bet that figure is higher.

    Does this make the RDF look better on paper? Yes, sort of, but it doesn't address the problems of retention, insufficient remuneration and incentive or the lack of support for Reservists and their employers to meet the demands beset the RDF. It's masking the perpetuation of a lot of problems that haven't been adequately addressed, and should the same figures come under further scrutiny or analysis, it could easily be used to build another case for abolition in the 2016 VFM review.

    Comment


    • Swifty for minister!
      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


      • I have to say we seem to be blessed in the unit I am in with an extremely open and committed PDF side of the house and enough really good Reservists to make their faith seem rewarded.

        That said I'm increasingly frustrated by our self inflicted injuries, there are a lot of mostly senior bods that just don't want to let go of the way things were and are singularly stunningly ineffective in managing admin tasks that could easily be the remit of a 17k pa school leaver in civvy street. Trying to get anything done is wading into a morass of shrugs and excuses, people that I consider friends have disappointed me with their 'aw sure' attitude.

        A lot of the inefficiency the reserve suffers and all of the failure to make the necessary shift in ethos stems from these holdouts, who usually take advantage of the fact that we are overstaffed at their paygrade and that their seniors are far too hands on to let them/force them do their own jobs.

        Whatever about problems with employment protection and the financial side of things, these are acts and attitudes that are hurting the reserve from within and it's driving me nuts.
        "It is a general popular error to imagine that loudest complainers for the public to be the most anxious for it's welfare" Edmund Burke

        Comment


        • I know we aren't but you and I could be in the same unit, C-Q.
          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


          • Originally posted by Come-quickly View Post
            That said I'm increasingly frustrated by our self inflicted injuries, there are a lot of mostly senior bods that just don't want to let go of the way things were and are singularly stunningly ineffective in managing admin tasks that could easily be the remit of a 17k pa school leaver in civvy street. Trying to get anything done is wading into a morass of shrugs and excuses, people that I consider friends have disappointed me with their 'aw sure' attitude.
            But look at it another way.

            The reorg threw a lot of hard working people on the scrap heap - some didn't get appointments and some didn't even get a unit for a long time. A lot of the time wasters, through seniority, got appointments. I knew some of the good guys, killed themselves after the 2005 reorg to try and make something of the RDF, fought the naysayers and the wasters only to see everything flushed down the toilet in 2013. Now the wasters that they pushed out of the way are back in charge and years of hard work are gone - Are you really surprised that they aren't willing to put in the effort, especially given that it is the appointment holder who will get the credit? An appointment holder who will have no problem screwing you over to make them look like they are doing something. I know one really good guy, junior officer, who is on his 4th or 5th occasion of watching tons of hard work going down the toilet - 2005 reorg, 2013 reorg, Integration, etc. This year he decided he had had enough and decided that spending time with his family was more important than wasting it in the RDF (his words). And I don't blame him for that attitude.

            "Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again"

            I saw recently on a platoon level exercise - 1 Lt in charge of the Platoon and 5 in support. They may have done nothing but it looked good on their report - especially with promotions coming up.
            Last edited by madden; 7 July 2014, 17:24.

            Comment


            • fought the naysayers and the wasters only to see everything flushed down the toilet in 2013. Now the wasters that they pushed out of the way are back in charge and years of hard work are gone - Are you really surprised that they aren't willing to put in the effort, especially given that it is the appointment holder who will get the credit? An appointment holder who will have no problem screwing you over to make them look like they are doing something. I know one really good guy, junior officer, who is on his 4th or 5th occasion of watching tons of hard work going down the toilet - 2005 reorg, 2013 reorg, Integration, etc.
              From my point of view we are getting all the resource and assistance we want whenever we can fit it in. There is mandays available BUT you need to factor it in. For example those recruits are coming on stream soon and need training .... and I don't want the lag who hasn't bothered to come in yet to be the trainer. There is a gigantic programme of work, recruits aside that we can see has a pull-through on the UNIT's effectiveness, not just the RDF element. Not a big one, and we could be zapped tomorrow, but I hope it is positive.
              "Are they trying to shoot down the other drone? "

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

              Comment


              • SAS
                Establishment = what we should have
                Effective Strength = people who met requirements/KPIs in previous year
                Non-Effective Strength = people who failed to meet above who haven't been retaken on effective strength/discharged
                Strength = effective + non effective strengths

                2005-2013, establishment was 9692

                2011 (per mandays being required to be effective):
                Est 9692
                Str 5220
                Eff Str 4554
                Personnel who completed mandays 2788
                Mandays used 30176
                Received grat 2010

                Some completed 1 manday, some 28+ mandays, average 10.8 mandays



                The new establishment was 4554 and the KPIs included doing at least 7 mandays

                You are right, we were a bit over est and some did 1 some did 42 mandays

                But what we are saying is that the absolute best case is eff Str is 40% of est

                Comment


                • This year he decided he had had enough and decided that spending time with his family was more important than wasting it in the RDF (his words). And I don't blame him for that attitude.
                  I had come to that conclusion by the end of 2009 having given 17 years and watched it all stagnate from 2005 on.

                  A lot of the inefficiency the reserve suffers and all of the failure to make the necessary shift in ethos stems from these holdouts, who usually take advantage of the fact that we are overstaffed at their paygrade and that their seniors are far too hands on to let them/force them do their own jobs.
                  Spot on.

                  The 2005 re org failed to off load a shed load of NCOs, but did away with their appointments, which effectually ground promotion to a halt, the system for selecting officers depends on those who can give the time as opposed to the most able.

                  Now the recruitment pool has been reduced by the reduction in Barracks and removal of units areas that were always traditional FCA recruiting areas now have no activity at all thus reducing the numbers available for recruiting.

                  Employment protection etc. are now even further away than they ever were,having limited access to what the reserves are actually doing I can't offer an opinion where the whole thing is going.
                  Covid 19 is not over ....it's still very real..Hand Hygiene, Social Distancing and Masks.. keep safe

                  Comment


                  • Originally posted by madden View Post
                    This year he decided he had had enough and decided that spending time with his family was more important than wasting it in the RDF (his words). And I don't blame him for that attitude.
                    Originally posted by hptmurphy View Post
                    I had come to that conclusion by the end of 2009 having given 17 years and watched it all stagnate from 2005 on.
                    I came to that conclusion myself recently - one of the hardest decisions I've ever made, but after 10 years service I walked away.

                    Comment


                    • The main issue with us isn't resources or training (we're getting all we can handle at the moment) or the PDF parent unit (they're class at fitting us in) but the SNCO's and SnrO's who can't do fitness tests 'cause there's no doctor available to do medicals at the moment. Meaning those who are the unfittest (by no means ALL of our SNCO's and SnrO's are like this - some of our best bods are SNCO's and SnrO's) get to hang around. I use unfittest in the physical sense and in the for duty sense.
                      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


                      • Medicals are a problem across the DF
                        "Are they trying to shoot down the other drone? "

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

                        Comment


                        • Sorry Trell, fat fingers!
                          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


                          • Originally posted by Barry View Post
                            I came to that conclusion myself recently - one of the hardest decisions I've ever made, but after 10 years service I walked away.
                            I'm the same. This close (holds up thumb and forefinger) to pulling the plug on it myself.
                            If at first you don't succeed, then call in an airstrike.

                            Comment


                            • Originally posted by hptmurphy View Post
                              I had come to that conclusion by the end of 2009 having given 17 years and watched it all stagnate from 2005 on.
                              Don't know why but the backbone of JNCOs (and privates) in my coy left around 2000. Maybe it was just the natural wastage.

                              Why did the 2005 reorg fail?
                              Poor communication
                              Didn't improve standards
                              Didn't centralise training

                              More to the point, the decisions taken in the puzzle palaces


                              Originally posted by Buck View Post
                              The main issue with us isn't resources or training (we're getting all we can handle at the moment) or the PDF parent unit (they're class at fitting us in) but the SNCO's and SnrO's who can't do fitness tests 'cause there's no doctor available to do medicals at the moment. Meaning those who are the unfittest (by no means ALL of our SNCO's and SnrO's are like this - some of our best bods are SNCO's and SnrO's) get to hang around. I use unfittest in the physical sense and in the for duty sense.
                              Originally posted by trellheim View Post
                              Medicals are a problem across the DF
                              They are and they aren't.

                              The problem is the PDF have to make it up as they go along because:
                              (A) they don't know how to handle us
                              (B). R5 hasn't been amended

                              I had no problem getting a medical.... Over 2 half days during the week.. Oh and then and 2 visits (again during the week) for jabs!

                              Buck, it just means they fail to meet 2 KPIs (medical and fitness), those under 40 who pass their fitness test (without doing their medical) still fail to meet their KPIs as all RDF have to do a medical.

                              Comment


                              • Originally posted by Tyler Durden View Post
                                I'm the same. This close (holds up thumb and forefinger) to pulling the plug on it myself.
                                I had my request for discharge filled in

                                My problem is that my very small unit parades periodically, 3 bad things will have happened but 1 good thing (that brings back the buzz)

                                Comment

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