Assessments 2012

[Mr. Tezza]

MOD: No Text speak.Fixed that for you.

Apologies for that, was a reply off my mobile...

Hopefully the ammo fairy visits, i'll be raging running around with empty cefo when a chest rig would have done the job.

Thats was the story when I went up there as enemy a few years ago, got 2 mags (not full) for the day, that was fun...

[Cryos]

Wont be there this year, work commitments :(

[Buck]

I will be there. Glad of the weeks training and the new format too!

[morpheus]

Your belief is incorrect.
Why is it the job of the PDF to correct individual's fieldcraft?

What I meant was that as there is a week this time, there is obviously a long run up to the exercise to iron out problems.

I assume that the PDF (not all PDF on this will be DS's or Assessors, Id assume there are cadre?) will have some involvement in ensuring that no RDF instructor gets a rush of sh*t to the head and decides to teach the troops their own SOPs and drills that they've made up outside of manuals etc due to them possibly being removed from "out on the ground" and tactics for an extended period of time (as can happen).

Id hope that whatever way the RDF command sees fit to standardise fieldcraft, drills, etc that it will be supervised and I assume (and f**king hope) will be corrected should someone do something wrong.

Look at it this way, we all know there are varying levels of knowledge and skills in the organisation, we need to correct that and I hope it will be addressed when we finally find out what the future of the RDF is....

in the meantime I can guarantee you that if I took a cross section of RDF members from random units around the country today and stood them in a field as a platoon, or even as sections and ran through SIA's or even PIA's that the level of knowledge on personal admin in the field and fieldcraft in general would osscilate wildly between very switched on to not having a clue. Yes this isnt a 3 stars fault its his instructors fault, however there would be variances in the same knowledge, ranging from right along the doctrine line to up the middle with smoke and over the top.... right up through the ranks because not everyone does it by the manual or even close to the manual.

THIS is the issue that needs to be addressed and if those instructing you are not being supervised and corrected themselves, well then whats the bloody point of it all?

[UniSol]

Yep I shall be there but in a support role.

[Hello Alaska]

THIS is the issue that needs to be addressed and if those instructing you are not being supervised and corrected themselves, well then whats the bloody point of it all?

All very much true.

However, you can only spend so much time correcting troops on their mistakes before you have to go and do the job.

Things like making sure you're in proper cover, crawling from firing position to firing position, running up the flank like your daysack is on fire, proper patrolling, obstacle crossing drills etc. is at the end of the day, all down to the individual soldier. I mean, it's stuff your taught as a Recruit and will do time and time again throughout your career. To not carry out the drills properly is down to pure laziness and not taking things too seriously.

Part of the problem is two fold IMO, one is that when conducting an Ex with blanks, if there's no TESS gear involved, having someone fire blanks is, well a bit underwhelming. You know the only way you'll be killed is if a DS decides you are. Two, is a lack of troops carrying realistic combat loads. Personally speaking, I know that I could do without stinging my mates with dragging me out of a contact while in CBA, fully packed Battlevest and a daysack with all manner of shit in it. In the same way that I could do without coming into contact on a recce patrol or CTR because running, crawling and generally moving at a fast pace in all that kit is a wee bit disheartening. However, if I was just rocking around in half packed CEFO... Well, **** it, life wouldn't be too bad.

Troops need to be reminded of the consequences of lazy drills. It won't be the NCO carrying a stretcher with 11 or 12 stone of human on it. It won't be the NCO dragging or carrying someone back to the CCP etc.

Excuses or "Well they're not getting enough instruction" can only go so far before people need to take responsibility for their own skills as a soldier.

[hptmurphy]

Its an assessment not a tutorial.

the OP ord should include everything that is being tested and should include all whats needed straight from what has been posted here by the likes of apod.

If your peeps can get somewhere near that load, so much the better.

If you have a crew you have no faith in, you might as well stay at home, an NCOs work load is heavy enough without the babysitting aspect.

Drills are only learned by repetition and having them right in the first place.

Anyone interfering while the assessment is being carried out should be reported having been told to fcuk off first regardless of rank.

DS staff are there to assess, not to interfere.

You know what is expected,take your time, plenty of tac aides, spread the work load amongst your men and manage them as opposed to try to take it on your self.

A good 2 ic and a good signaller will keep you out of the shit.Don't let events overtake you, slow it all down to a pace that you can cope with,

Army SIA competition a few years back the winning team took an hour and a half to put in the attack, but had it done by the numbers.

Don't let DS staff rush you, its your OP run it at your pace.

You may not be able to get your hands on all the gucci kit you might think you need but then again who ever has enough.

My opinion a lot of this assessment and how it works or dosen't is down to the DS, making sure they do what they are supposed to do will reflect on how people perform.

Any one on the sidelines watching DS trying to fcuk people about should report it.Guys are under enough pressure any bit of assistance is welcome.

Was there as security element a few years back my self and saw the DS at work . Play fair and do the job.

[Vamp369]

Its also important to be flexible with regards to SIA's and PIA's. No enemy force will act as a text book case, adapt to the situation at hand and if you see a chance for exploitation, use it, even if its far from the attacking norms.

[Goldie fish]

I remember taking great pleasure in clearing a DS who was trying to rush my O Group. "Don't interrupt me , sir" I said in the low tone I was once famous (locally) for. "Who do you think you are?" he says. "The Person in charge"- sez I.
All objectives were achieved, and we made it back to the RV in plenty of time, and transport wasn't even late.
Know your job, and the man above, and below you. You never know when you may have to do either.

[Bravo20]

I assume that the PDF (not all PDF on this will be DS's or Assessors, Id assume there are cadre?)

Of course no PDF has EVER had a rush of blood to their head. As regards to Cadre, you mean you want PDF rejects who are at least 10 years behind the latest doctrine in tactics to DS the troops. If that is what you want expect plenty of up the middle with smoke then.

[almaza]

As regards to Cadre, you mean you want PDF rejects who are at least 10 years behind the latest doctrine in tactics to DS the troops. If that is what you want expect plenty of up the middle with smoke then.

PDF rejects? You mean serving professional soldiers who probably have spent more time on overseas service than you will ever have in the rdf.

[apod]

The people who SHOULD DS the assessments are serving PDF Infantry Capts and Sgts.They are both in a position to have the latest TTP's and doctrine and having assessed PDF Exercises know HOW to DS.

BTW: Cadre staff,whilst sometimes a little behind the curve are NOT PDF rejects.Those in the RDF whilst bemoaning the cadre staff conveniently forget how much behind the scenes work they do.All the admin etc.So the RDF NCO's and Officers don't have too so ye can concentrate on the training side.A little bit of respect would go a long way here.No matter how useless you THINK they are.

[Cryos]

BTW: Cadre staff,whilst sometimes a little behind the curve are NOT PDF rejects.Those in the RDF whilst bemoaning the cadre staff conveniently forget how much behind the scenes work they do.All the admin etc.So the RDF NCO's and Officers don't have too so ye can concentrate on the training side.A little bit of respect would go a long way here.No matter how useless you THINK they are.

Here here, Many Kudos to the Cadre who make it all work behind the scenes;

[trellheim]

While not demeaning the committed members of the Cadre the lack of rotation of enlisted cadre cannot be viewed as anything other than a problem, as their skills need to be kept up-to-date and relevant to keep them useful at the job . Another issue is .. I don't really want to call it Stockholm syndrome but more a cynicism or crystallization and it's very hard to defeat this after a couple of years , and it's another argument for rotation to keep enthusiasm/drive and general drive-on spirit which is another important thing to come over from the PDF. I should finally add that command of an RDF major element should be a required stop en route to Lt. Col. and it should happen ASAP on promotion to Comdt so that you can see early what it can deliver and what the issues are. An easy route for the NCOs would be to make it a requirement for CS and CQ as welll. With the de-ruralization of the Reserve this should be much more politically acceptable than previously.

[Vamp369]

The people who SHOULD DS the assessments are serving PDF Infantry Capts and Sgts.They are both in a position to have the latest TTP's and doctrine and having assessed PDF Exercises know HOW to DS.

Although they may know all about the new doctrine, thats no good on an assessment. New TTP's need to be passed on first before they can be assessed. It wouldn't be hard to have all NCO's and officers come in on a Sat/Sun/full weekend once a year to get the info and then implement it into training