Eh army questions.

estebancambias

Is there any particular amount of time I am obliged to stay in the army once I join? i.e 2 year period.


And what does the training detail? Long Hikes, extensive training with weapons? training our survival techniques?

Thanks

indough

I would imagine so, there is in most countries and I think its about a standard 2 - 2.5 years. That info must be online somewhere i'd say.

Are you looking to join the defence forces?

estebancambias

Yeah I am. I cant find anything about the time you must join up for. Just another thing where does the training take place? Ireland seems too small, and the landscape(from what I see in movies and read) does not seem to suit army training.

Dave!

I believe the term is 5 years in the Irish army

mikemac

estebancambias wrote:

Yeah I am. I cant find anything about the time you must join up for. Just another thing where does the training take place? Ireland seems too small, and the landscape(from what I see in movies and read) does not seem to suit army training.

Sure why we have some of the most varied landscapes in the world.
Nowhere else in Europe has anything like the Curragh or the Burren afaik.
River crossings, mountains treks, flat open land, you name a specific landscape you need for training and Ireland has it.

I'll let the experts here tell you where training takes place. I'm sure it's online already if you start searching.

kowloon

If memory serves correct you can opt out early if its not for you but after youre finished basic and assigned you have to buy out of your contract, am i correct on this one?

estebancambias

Thanks fpr the replies. Good points Micmclo. See my plan was to give it a year, and then go to college(if it's not for me). Something really intices me into joining the army, perhaps it's my idealistic view of being a hero, or the lure of using high tech weapons.

mikemac

Ah to be young, innocent and idealistic.

The grisly veterans here will soon put you straight on the realities. There's a thread on a typical week for a soldier a few pages back so be sure to read that. Good info!

NoQuarter

its 5 years first, its 30 euro to buy yourself out for the first 6 months while your training and after that its 300 euro to buy yourself out of the contract if its not for you!

training takes place is a few areas, in dublin cathal bruagh barracks in rathmines trains recruits and gormanstown in meath also, you could be sent anywhere its just luck of the draw!
any more questions just fire away!

estebancambias

Thanks very much. So like if I do 6 months and the leave, i will not be obliged to pay any fee? Just want to clear that up.

This might sound stupid, but does much of the training involve being out in the wildnerness(so to speak), as in places like micmclo mentioned.

NoQuarter

you will, if you complete the training youll have to pay 300 but if you leave durin training its only like 30 euro!
yeah training lasts 6 months and theres about a 2 week "ground phase" its basically living in forests and trenches for a week or so....

Hagar

estebancambias wrote:

Just another thing where does the training take place? Ireland seems too small, and the landscape(from what I see in movies and read) does not seem to suit army training.

I take it that if you are dependant on movies and reading for your knowledge of Ireland that you are not Irish, maybe not even resident in Ireland?

Maybe somebody else can fill in the blanks for me on this one.
Can non-resident non-nationals just join up? I have my doubts.

estebancambias

Ah ok, thanks for the help. Call me insane, but I presume you have been in the army?

estebancambias

No Hagar, I'm Irish, just in the movies(American) and books, army training is done in great big landscape in contrast to Ireland probably not having the same space.

Hagar

Thanks for clearing that up, the post just read funny.

Anyway, bigger armies will train in bigger spaces.The US Forces recruited 21,016 personnel in July 2007 alone, not counting recruitment in their reserve forces of 13,123 more bodies. That's quite a bit more than the whole IDF I believe.

They need a bit of space.

kowloon

300 quid!! Feck, i dont know what people complain about then.
In the company i work for if you get a training assignment the buy out is the cost of the training if you leave within the contract period (think its a year for most).
Usually comes to a minimum of a few grand.
Of course you can get around that by just getting fired

rednik

After you sign on you will be sent to a specific Barracks for recruit training this will most likely be Cathal Brugha Bks in Dublin. Most of your basic training will be conducted in the Bks. Fitness levels will be brought up to standard during training. Eventually you will be brought out on the ground which will be in the camp in the Glen of Imaal. Basic Trg will consist of square bashing,weapons training,map reading. On completion of trg you will be asked which unit you would like to go to although you will not be guaranteed to get the unit you want. Most recruits on completion of trg will go to the infantry.

Parsley

micmclo wrote:

Sure why we have some of the most varied landscapes in the world.
Nowhere else in Europe has anything like the Curragh or the Burren afaik.
River crossings, mountains treks, flat open land, you name a specific landscape you need for training and Ireland has it.

Em, pretty much every country in Europe except Belgium and the Netherlands have a more varied landscape than us... Look at the Alps, the Pyrenees, Scandinavia, Andalucia, the Black Forest, Sierra Nevada, Bavaria......

The Burren is unique but there are a lot more interesting places in Europe. Like Norway for example. The Curragh is only a plain.

sor10

is is true that the army will pay for a course like basic computer skills or something, and if u do complete some courses would your salary go up????

NoQuarter

yeah ive actually just left the army after 4 years, it could be possible to get them to pay for a computer course but it wont be at all easy! and it wouldnt make your pay go up either! they have funds set aside for stuff like that but how ta get access to them is the problem, as for the landscape thing, we have plenty of forests and fields to play soldier in so theres no shortage of that, and ya may not think we have big mountains like the alps but try walk up them with a backpack on your back and its a different story!

ex_infantry man

king-stew wrote:

you will, if you complete the training youll have to pay 300 but if you leave durin training its only like 30 euro!
yeah training lasts 6 months and theres about a 2 week "ground phase" its basically living in forests and trenches for a week or so....

its actually seven months now they extended the 2-3* course by an extra month

ex_infantry man

sor10 wrote:

is is true that the army will pay for a course like basic computer skills or something, and if u do complete some courses would your salary go up????

your salary will go up every year on the date you were attested but to be honest with ya the money aint that good i am earning twice the amount now then i was when was in the army as a sales rep

rednik

The more courses you do which the Dept of Defence pay for the more it will cost you to leave. You can do educational courses, computer courses etc but in the end if you decide to leave early you will end up paying more to buy yourself out.

arybvtcw0eolkf

sor10 wrote:

is is true that the army will pay for a course like basic computer skills or something, and if u do complete some courses would your salary go up????

Depending on the course. But these day's the CIS corp are pushing alot of computer course's with the added attraction of tech pay at the end.

Alot of courses in the D.F.'s qualify for tech pay.

Listen, the Defence Forces can be a brilliant building block for a young lad who has left school early. Its just getting onto the first step of the ladder, but don't listen to the loser who has done a few year's in and left with a sour taste, usually they were wasters while in.

Even if you don't want to go down the CIS route, other corp units are open to you. From M.T. driver (tech pay) where you can qualify with all your driver's licence right up to artic to motor mechanic. To the Engineers where you can gain a trade.

The Defence Forces can be a very positive and rewarding career, just don't expect the D.F. to take you by the hand through your career. Work hard, keep the right attitude and the rewards will come.

NoQuarter

oh yeah and your on barrack guard saturday.....

mate id honestly advise ya to take a "losers" advice and not join because its crap really, the wages are low compared to whats outside, i recently spoke to a fella who was in the army 26 years and he was only on 750 quid, now that is terrible, even if yaa were on tech 6 for the time and effort ya put into gettin that ya could be clearin a grand on civvy street easy.

of all my mates in the army id say only 20 percent are happy with it, the honest truth is we clean toilets every day, in autumn youll be sweeping up leaves an all, that is no word of a lie....

i would have been better off bein a waster because they get better treatment, its the good lads that end up caught for all the exercises and dodgey duties because their safe bets.

as i said in one of my other posts its only my opinion so do what ya want but a smart lad is wasted in the army, a monkey could do that job.....

arybvtcw0eolkf

king-stew wrote:

as i said in one of my other posts its only my opinion so do what ya want but a smart lad is wasted in the army, a monkey could do that job.....

Do what job?, the army has a whole host of jobs on offer.

Of course a monkey could sweep leaves and clean toilets, no problem there. But a monkey couldn't hold a tech six appointment. So I guess your a monkey then?.

rednik

Army life does not suit everyone this is why they give an opt out before final selection. Personally I recommend you give it a go and if it's not for you, well at least you have tried. The life is varied and you will get out of it what you put in. It can be boring but what job is'nt. There's no guarantee you will get in. As previous poster says there are many different areas in the army where you can work and trades to learn. Good luck whatever you decide.

NoQuarter

Mairt wrote:

Do what job?, the army has a whole host of jobs on offer.

Of course a monkey could sweep leaves and clean toilets, no problem there. But a monkey couldn't hold a tech six appointment. So I guess your a monkey then?.

theres plenty of monkeys holding tech 6 appointments!
theres no educational requirements to join the army and if your patient enough and stupid enough to remain as an infantry private for more than a handful of years then yes you have a chance of getting an apprenticship or whatever, not by merit but by number(which is exactly what you are in the army, just a number) so therefore any moron could and does end up in these appointments!

i relalise it doesnt suit everyone but saying youll get out what you put in just isnt true, a lot of it is just being in the right place at the right time too....

i havent left the army with a sour taste like someone said, i left on good terms but im just trying to give the OP the info that i would have like before i joined instead of lookin at the DF adds on TV and getting a completely wrong impression!

The facts are that you dont get a free choice where to go after training, at max youll have a choice of 3 units, my platoon only had 1 choice, as a private in a battalion youll be cleaning other peoples crap daily and pickin up smoke butts and plenty more menial jobs, if you decide to try promotion, once your an NCO in the battalion youve twice as hard a job to get out of it. most of the lads get less respect that the worst criminals by an abundance of NCO's with the "god complex". everyone complains all day every day, your superiors would have a go at ya for complaining and their even worse than privates, just not in front of them!

for sure life outside the battalion is different and there might even be something to challenge your brain, god forbid, but getting out seems almost like a lottery most of the time, and the wages are still not worth it....
theres so many good lads leaving at the moments somethings not right but of course theres always plenty of fresh faces to come in...

to the original poster, there is the chance of joining and gettin very lucky and getting out of the battalion fast(as in 3 years) and having a decent career(still no good wages though) but those are the facts of todays army mate, and as i said unfortunatly their no word of a lie!

rednik

As you can see there are a lot of different opinions on army life and as I said it's not for everyone. I retired in May this year after 25yrs service. Personally I got a lot out of the army worked hard and enjoyed most of the time. I saw many wasters promoted in every unit but I also saw many good people filling the right positions. You will find this situation in most large organisations.

ex_infantry man

king-stew wrote:

oh yeah and your on barrack guard saturday.....

mate id honestly advise ya to take a "losers" advice and not join because its crap really, the wages are low compared to whats outside, i recently spoke to a fella who was in the army 26 years and he was only on 750 quid, now that is terrible, even if yaa were on tech 6 for the time and effort ya put into gettin that ya could be clearin a grand on civvy street easy.

of all my mates in the army id say only 20 percent are happy with it, the honest truth is we clean toilets every day, in autumn youll be sweeping up leaves an all, that is no word of a lie....

i would have been better off bein a waster because they get better treatment, its the good lads that end up caught for all the exercises and dodgey duties because their safe bets.

as i said in one of my other posts its only my opinion so do what ya want but a smart lad is wasted in the army, a monkey could do that job.....

i can back this up 100% the army is load of ****e and u can get better out on civvy street where ya actually work for the day for your better pay and not being told to hide in locker room for the day by the sgt because he has nothing for ya to do, that aint a life, i got banned for having a discussion like this before and to be honest its the truth the irish army they hurry up to wait!!! think of it this way you have to put up with seven months of training and bull**** from some arsehole of an nco with chip on his shoulder and power gone to his head and a platoon commander who is just fresh from the cadet collage in the curragh who also has power surge to his head and as punishment for someone else fecking up there will be daily essays given out something like 20 pages on the inside of a golf ball personally i preferred the press ups, then when it all over and done with ur just playing poker with the rest of the lads on the lines, i,m glad i left and have been putting young lads from tramore off joining it since!

ex_infantry man

rednik wrote:

Army life does not suit everyone this is why they give an opt out before final selection. Personally I recommend you give it a go and if it's not for you, well at least you have tried. The life is varied and you will get out of it what you put in. It can be boring but what job is'nt. There's no guarantee you will get in. As previous poster says there are many different areas in the army where you can work and trades to learn. Good luck whatever you decide.

any course from what i,ve come across in me short time in the army was always given to a corporal before a private or a certain arsehole cpl office clerk in sp coy 3rd inf bn if he did,nt like ya would dump ur application and it would never see the commandants desk at all