Joinin the RDF in two weeks.Need a bit of advice

DarkMuse

I'm planning on joining in the next two weeks.Getting all excited about it but I was looking at the medical requirements online and I can do all the fitness easily.

Like I can do the push ups in half the time needed and the situps with a bit to spare too.I play rugby and look after myself so Im in good shape and I have no medical conditions.

But I saw they look at body mass index,I weigh 65kilograms or 10.25 stone and Im 5"11 pushin on 6ft so I know Im fairly light but I never considered this a problem as its very handy when jumping in lineouts for rugby.
Ive been reading up on it and a healthy bmi is between 18.5 and 25,im just under 20 but the conditions that Ive read on a website say they look for between 20 and 25.

I was just wondering how strictly they enforce this,my bmi at the moment is about 19.5 so Im thinking I should be ok,like with being that out surely if I just keep myself away from the bathroom for the day I should pull it off.

What do ye think??

Also if it is a must any recomendations on how to put on about half a stone at short notice in a healthy way,I dont want a half a stone right on my gut like.:)

Oh I should prob mention I just turned 17 at the start of December.

Thanks in advance for being so helpful

Conway89

Steyr

Your confusing all of the above with the fitness tests for the Regular Army ( PDF ) to join the Army Reserve ( RDF ) all you need to do is pass a basic medical, and hearing examination and thats it, no fitness test for the Army Reserve if thats what your going for.

DarkMuse

Steyr wrote:

Your confusing all of the above with the fitness tests for the Regular Army ( PDF ) to join the Army Reserve ( RDF ) all you need to do is pass a basic medical, and hearing examination and thats it, no fitness test for the Army Reserve if thats what your going for.

Oh thats great so, I thought that was the RDF exam.

Thanks a lot,

DarkMuse

Steyr

Just pass the basic medical, be reasonably fit, not hard of hearing and drug free and your a shoe in, Let us know how you get on as im in it for the past 6 years and current.

DarkMuse

Steyr wrote:

Just pass the basic medical, be reasonably fit, not hard of hearing and drug free and your a shoe in, Let us know how you get on as im in it for the past 6 years and current.

I should be ok so I think cos Im in good shape,look after myself like and never had a problem with my hearing.Talking to some lads I know in it,3*privates and Ill probably be going up next tuesday night so Ill leave ya know how I get on

aido_2006

lol enjoy bagger life!!

cork1

i would probably be interested in joining as well but i heard that soon they might strat send members of the rdf overseas which i have no intention of doing.if this comes in does anybody know if it will be optional?

Steyr

Thats to do with the Integrated Reserve, it would be up to you if you wanted to stay in the Reserve or sign up for the Integrated Reserve to Integrate with your PDF Counterparts and be trained by them to serve with them at home and away, if you do decide to go to the IR and serve then when your time is up you can rejoin your Original RDF Unit.

Bam Bam

If you want to join the RDF you have to accept the fact you may be called upon to go overseaes or go active at very short notice, should the DF need you to.

muletide

Bam Bam wrote:

If you want to join the RDF you have to accept the fact you may be called upon to go overseaes or go active at very short notice, should the DF need you to.

What !!! Where did you get that idea. Any reserve deployment overseas will be signalled well in advance and it aint going to happen for a long time. Unless you meant to type PDF.

oglaigh

Bam Bam wrote:

If you want to join the RDF you have to accept the fact you may be called upon to go overseaes or go active at very short notice, should the DF need you to.

Complete and utter crap. Overseas duty is voluntary even for the PDF, don`t know where you got that from.

generalmiaow

Bam Bam wrote:

If you want to join the RDF you have to accept the fact you may be called upon to go overseaes or go active at very short notice, should the DF need you to.

Not unless we go to war he won't!

OP The medical test for the RDF is grand. More people actually have problems with the hearing test, I remember a couple lads who had ear wax problems and had to get syringed out first. As for the medical, there's one bit that you mightn't expect though!! :rolleyes: I'll let you find out for yourself about that one!!

sunnyjim

Bam Bam wrote:

If you want to join the RDF you have to accept the fact you may be called upon to go overseaes or go active at very short notice, should the DF need you to.

Pray tell Bam Bam, are you taking the piss?

Or are you just making a show of yourself and the rest of the lads based in swords?

BigDuffman

sunnyjim wrote:

Pray tell Bam Bam, are you taking the piss?

Or are you just making a show of yourself and the rest of the lads based in swords?

Im sure what Bam Bam meant is not that the reserve is expected to be ready to jump into the breech at any given moment... but joining up with the attitude that I dont want to do any real work wont get you very far!

And the lads in swords are a lovely bunch leave them alone!

Hagar

It's over a month since you said you were joining in two weeks.
Any update? How did it go? Did you join after all?

DarkMuse

generalmiaow wrote:

Not unless we go to war he won't!

OP The medical test for the RDF is grand. More people actually have problems with the hearing test, I remember a couple lads who had ear wax problems and had to get syringed out first. As for the medical, there's one bit that you mightn't expect though!! :rolleyes: I'll let you find out for yourself about that one!!

Oh??Sounds intruiging:rolleyes:

Hagar wrote:

It's over a month since you said you were joining in two weeks.
Any update? How did it go? Did you join after all?

I tried actually but my local barracks is full up at the moment, I was talking to a couple of the lads I know up there and I'm just waiting now for a space to open and I'll definatly be going up:D

xXOdysseyXx

generalmiaow wrote:

I'll let you find out for yourself about that one!!

Hehe, I was told my medical exam is in about 2 weeks, they said I'd be "warned" two weeks in advance, I wonder what they mean by that... And I already know what to expect, what's the term again, drop & cough? Should be tons of fun :eek:

Kevin. B

xXOdysseyXx wrote:

Hehe, I was told my medical exam is in about 2 weeks, they said I'd be "warned" two weeks in advance, I wonder what they mean by that... And I already know what to expect, what's the term again, drop & cough? Should be tons of fun :eek:

Nah, I jsust dropped for about a second and that was it...

When I was sworn in I swore to serve the Irish Government and to jump when told to do so. I'm sure they have the right to send you overseas if they wish for, but the likelyhood of that is about ine is 650billion.

Even overseas service for the PDF is voluntary...

Sputnik

Even overseas service for the PDF is voluntary...

Not anymore it isn't.

There's still some lads on the older contracts but anyone sworn in in the last six years or so doesn't have a choice in the matter. If their told their going overseas then their going.

Bam Bam

I did say "Should the DF need you to"

Should the DF need you to jump through a ring of fire, they will order you to jump.

Remember whether Reserve or Permanent, you are a number to the army and if they need you somewhere, they'll send you.

Joining the RDF with the idea of "It'll never happen to us" ain't a good thing and you may be in for a rude suprise in the future.

As for plenty of warning for a call up. I doubt that. Many TA units in the UK have only gotten 2 weeks warning that they were going overseas.

In that two weeks you have to both get your personal affairs in order, inform your boss and all the time getting army admin and medical checks out of the way.

I would say that a reserve call up in Ireland would be short notice.

arybvtcw0eolkf

The Defence Forces can detail anyone for oversea's service, even us guys on the old contract. The difference is the older guys can not be detailed for a peace enforcement mission.

It usually takes about four weeks to 'form up', so no one here on this forum is going to get detailed at short notice. Even in a PDF unit its unlikely to happen, unless your specialised in some area and then your likely to be given some nice acting rank to make the trip more attactive, acting paid.

Someone compared the RDF to the Brits TA, no comparison my friend. Most of you might have heard the good old ''hurry up and wait'' saying in the barracks?. Well nothing, absolutely not a thing moves fast in the Irish army. It takes a month to get your personal admin, medicals, LIFE tests etc out of the way. Plus the T.A. moves as a unit, we don't!. We 'form up' a unit, which is then stood down at the end of the trip. Anyone here who's been oversea's might remember their units 'laying up of the colours', thats when the unit is officially stood down (approx 6 months after we're home).

Haircuts, the RDF, bollickings etc.(refererring to an earlier thread) Well, the RDF isn't like the PDF where a soldier can be detailed or charged for being untidy. RDF units have to work hard at keeping the lads interested and motivated, start bollicking everyone and throwing charge sheets around and your gonna start losing bodies PDQ.

Sputnik

The Defence Forces can detail anyone for oversea's service, even us guys on the old contract. The difference is the older guys can not be detailed for a peace enforcement mission.

I stand corrected.

King Ludvig

Lets be honest, the standard of training the RDF gets is nowhere near good enough to be sending them abroad on peacekeeping missions. Right now the RDF arent allowed to go overseas even if they wanted, you must be PDF.

RDF will only see any real "action" if world war three was to break out or if Ireland was invaded.

Cato

well correct me if im wrong but wasent the RDF in the news the other day and werent they saying that RDF will now have to go on overseas missions? and they were doing some big training excercise to prepare for it.

Or was that just an attemt to keep the army in the news for some political reason?

King Ludvig

No definatly not. It must have being about a different army. Then again maybe it was the Intergrated Reserve? Id be interested in finding out more about that if anyone knows

eroo

King Ludvig wrote: »

No definatly not. It must have being about a different army. Then again maybe it was the Intergrated Reserve? Id be interested in finding out more about that if anyone knows

No it was RDF.Eastern Brigade took part..over 400 involved.

miss no stars

King Ludvig, just who exactly do you think you are and how long have you been in the RDF/PDF?

I was there on that exercise and I was there when they told us on it that the purpose was to assess the level of the reserve so that they knew what needed to be worked on and that there are hopes for the RDF to serve overseas in the very near future, the prerequisite for which will be having completed integration training. Knowing what needs to be improved on gives them a good idea what to include in integration training.

Mate, the D Res was "gobsmacked" at the actual level of training within the reserve from what he saw last weekend. Lemme guess, got to recruit camp and decided it wasn't rambo enough?


For those who are interested, a link to the clip played on RTE news of ex: http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0302/defence_av.html

minidazzler

King Ludvig wrote: »

Lets be honest, the standard of training the RDF gets is nowhere near good enough to be sending them abroad on peacekeeping missions. Right now the RDF arent allowed to go overseas even if they wanted, you must be PDF.

RDF will only see any real "action" if world war three was to break out or if Ireland was invaded.

As RDF (RESERVES) we are not designed to be as Good as the PDF but we are designed to be trainable to PDF level quicker than other people.

Saying that from what I have heard of Last Weekend the Dub Units aren't half as bad as I have seen them do for basic duties. (congrats all round)

twinytwo

K im planning on joining the.. well i should say applying for the cadets when i finish college..Is it actually worth joining the RDF.. Do the actually take things seriously.. training and stuff?

Lockstep

twinytwo wrote: »

K im planning on joining the.. well i should say applying for the cadets when i finish college..Is it actually worth joining the RDF.. Do the actually take things seriously.. training and stuff?

It really depends on your unit. I've only been in about a month or so and my unit isn't very serious, calling NCO's by their first name and so forth. I'd have liked a bit more formality and so on but the training I do seems pretty good to me.

That said, some of the other corps I've seen seem very professional, it all seems to depend on the NCOs from what I can see.


If your planning on joining the cadets, it will give you a better sense of what to expect as you will do drilling and shooting etc.

Riddle101

DarkMuse wrote: »

Oh??Sounds intruiging:rolleyes:



I tried actually but my local barracks is full up at the moment, I was talking to a couple of the lads I know up there and I'm just waiting now for a space to open and I'll definatly be going up:D

What Barracks are you near is your near Cathal Brugah then you should try the 2nd Air Defence we're very low in numbers and always looking for more.

BigDuffman

kickoutthejams wrote: »

It really depends on your unit. I've only been in about a month or so and my unit isn't very serious, calling NCO's by their first name and so forth. I'd have liked a bit more formality and so on but the training I do seems pretty good to me.
.

Christ on a bike man you cant be serious...I know our country cousins can be lax with the discipline, but thats just silly.

In our company the recruits cannot look directly at an NCO without getting hopped off, never mind call them by their first name!

King Ludvig

miss no stars wrote: »

King Ludvig, just who exactly do you think you are and how long have you been in the RDF/PDF?

I was there on that exercise and I was there when they told us on it that the purpose was to assess the level of the reserve so that they knew what needed to be worked on and that there are hopes for the RDF to serve overseas in the very near future, the prerequisite for which will be having completed integration training. Knowing what needs to be improved on gives them a good idea what to include in integration training.

Mate, the D Res was "gobsmacked" at the actual level of training within the reserve from what he saw last weekend. Lemme guess, got to recruit camp and decided it wasn't rambo enough?


For those who are interested, a link to the clip played on RTE news of ex: http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0302/defence_av.html

Hi, sorry if I have come across as arrogent or offensive to anyone. Ive been in the RDF for almost a year, only sworn in about a month though (things go very slow in my unit lol). Basically Im a puny recuit and nothing more. I know my place in the food chain.

I was just making the point that in my opinion, the RDF arent good enough to be sent overseas. Im takeing that from my own experiences anyway as a lot of the recruits in my unit are a joke and undiseplined! The NCO's could loose some weight too.

Clearly however from the previous posts, there are some highly trained units, who are good enough to go overseas. Fair play to them, I hope after a few years Ill be as good as them.

Im very proud to hear we have 400 going overseas. Thats for posting that video BTW.

Riddle101

King Ludvig wrote: »

Hi, sorry if I have come across as arrogent or offensive to anyone. Ive been in the RDF for almost a year, only sworn in about a month though (things go very slow in my unit lol). Basically Im a puny recuit and nothing more. I know my place in the food chain.

I was just making the point that in my opinion, the RDF arent good enough to be sent overseas. Im takeing that from my own experiences anyway as a lot of the recruits in my unit are a joke and undiseplined! The NCO's could loose some weight too.

Clearly however from the previous posts, there are some highly trained units, who are good enough to go overseas. Fair play to them, I hope after a few years Ill be as good as them.

Im very proud to hear we have 400 going overseas. Thats for posting that video BTW.

Unfortunately you get a few bad eggs everywhere, especially in the PDF/RDF but TBH there are some RDF guys out there that work just as hard as the PDF and i'm sure they could handle what the PDF can throw

steyr fan

Bam Bam wrote: »

I did say "Should the DF need you to"

Should the DF need you to jump through a ring of fire, they will order you to jump.

Remember whether Reserve or Permanent, you are a number to the army and if they need you somewhere, they'll send you.

Joining the RDF with the idea of "It'll never happen to us" ain't a good thing and you may be in for a rude suprise in the future.

As for plenty of warning for a call up. I doubt that. Many TA units in the UK have only gotten 2 weeks warning that they were going overseas.

In that two weeks you have to both get your personal affairs in order, inform your boss and all the time getting army admin and medical checks out of the way.

I would say that a reserve call up in Ireland would be short notice.

Interesting link the the TA & employers. www.sabre.mod.uk

minidazzler

twinytwo wrote: »

K im planning on joining the.. well i should say applying for the cadets when i finish college..Is it actually worth joining the RDF.. Do the actually take things seriously.. training and stuff?

That Depends on when you finish college really.

What age are you?

If you are a first year I say go for it. If you are a final year dont bother because you will be much older than anyone else.

Also Decide first what unit you want.

Infantry (From what I have seen...Boring time they have)

Artillery (I am from Cork too and this is my Unit. Great Craic and my NCO's treat the recruits very seriously. They are sound but they are willing to give a bollicking. You wont get near the Big Guns until early September at best)

Cav (you wont get near the Vehicles for ages.)

Transport (Same as Cav)

Medics (Good lessons that can be used in every day situations)

Engineers( Dont know much about them really sorry)

Naval Reserve. (Learn to rie Knots and Fight fires.)



Anyway If you decide to join Arty then come up any Tuesday night (preferably very soon) at 8 o clock.

Bring your Birth Cert, 2 passport Photo's and yourself.

I advise joining with a friend as well to make it easier.


[/SHAMELESS RECRUITING]

Lockstep

minidazzler wrote: »

That Depends on when you finish college really.

What age are you?

If you are a first year I say go for it. If you are a final year dont bother because you will be much older than anyone else.

Also Decide first what unit you want.

Infantry (From what I have seen...Boring time they have)

Artillery (I am from Cork too and this is my Unit. Great Craic and my NCO's treat the recruits very seriously. They are sound but they are willing to give a bollicking. You wont get near the Big Guns until early September at best)

Cav (you wont get near the Vehicles for ages.)

Transport (Same as Cav)

Medics (Good lessons that can be used in every day situations)

Engineers( Dont know much about them really sorry)

Naval Reserve. (Learn to rie Knots and Fight fires.)



Anyway If you decide to join Arty then come up any Tuesday night (preferably very soon) at 8 o clock.

Bring your Birth Cert, 2 passport Photo's and yourself.

I advise joining with a friend as well to make it easier.


[/SHAMELESS RECRUITING]

Forgot the military police!


Yeah, I would have liked my unit to be a bit more formal. I'm doing an arts degree so I get enough unstructed mayhem in my life.


A friend of mine in transport described my unit before I joined as a group of girls giggling and guys trying to get off with them.


Don't get me wrong, I love the reserves, but I'd have liked my unit to be a bit more serious.

Cato

NO signals unit in RDF?

Dirty Dave

miss no stars wrote: »

Mate, the D Res was "gobsmacked" at the actual level of training within the reserve from what he saw last weekend. Lemme guess, got to recruit camp and decided it wasn't rambo enough?

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0302/defence_av.html

Gobsmacked good or gobsmacked bad? And whats the D Res?

Left the RDF a few years ago myself, just wondering how much the training has improved.

TimTim

Cato wrote: »

NO signals unit in RDF?

I know there is 62nd CIS in Cathal Brugha barracks. I'm sure there are other ones around the country but no idea about them

Riddle101

TimTim wrote: »

I know there is 62nd CIS in Cathal Brugha barracks. I'm sure there are other ones around the country but no idea about them

I almost applied for the CIS but ended up in 2nd Air Defence instead, never been happier to be honest

eroo

Infantry is the best unit..

miss no stars

Dirty Dave wrote: »

Gobsmacked good or gobsmacked bad? And whats the D Res?

Left the RDF a few years ago myself, just wondering how much the training has improved.

From what I hear of the old days it has improved. Gobsmacked good, though I wasn't there when he said it so.. I may be wrong but that's what we were told by the officers on parade. D Res is the Director of Reserve (the boss).

minidazzler

Cato wrote: »

NO signals unit in RDF?

There is a Sigs and MP;'s Forgot about them. Will be fixed Now.