Reserve Defence Forces Recruitment Questions

KwackerJack

Does anyone know if the Mullingar RDF (54RAR) are still training in Mullingar or have they been disbanded??

I can see on searches that accommodation was being sought but also rural units being disbanded.

I am an ex member from the 9th FAR and would like to rejoin if possible.

Thanks

wildfowler94

gone for the moment mate.

KwackerJack

wildfowler94 wrote: »

gone for the moment mate.

OK thanks for the reply, I've lost contact with former members after working away from home and the news online is conflicting.

Ireland is no longer Ireland I'm afraid :mad:

wildfowler94

yeah mate I know what you mean, I know for fact theres officers who dont even know what the outcome for units will be.

KwackerJack

wildfowler94 wrote: »

yeah mate I know what you mean, I know for fact theres officers who dont even know what the outcome for units will be.

Disbanding a nations reserve force is ludicrous...I'm 28 this June and thinks of going across the pond. Age limit is 33 while its 24 here :rolleyes:

A disgrace that at my age I have to leave home to join a foreign army

goldie fish

It hasn't been disbanded, just amalgamated with PDF parent units.

wildfowler94

Yes but no word on when this will be fully completed theres no recruitment and those in dont know who will be retained.

time lord

One of their B.S's said they had been stood down until April.

dasa29

Hi Kwacker Jack i am an nco with 54RAR and was in the 9FAR as well, send me a pm and i will try and answer any questions you have.

SplitCartridge

There's RDF elements to be in Mullingar post-reorg. Not artillery though. Infantry I think.

Shatter has said that when they know the numbers of effective members in the RDF they will recruit if necessary to maintain the levels that they want (Somewhere around the 3800 mark I think). A huge amount of members requested discharge or just didn't return forms for this re-org, thus making them non-effective. (I'm basing that on people that I know that are RDFers and what they've told me about their units). Hang around. There will be recruitment either this year or next.

KwackerJack

Shatter needs to come down a notch and live in the real world

The amount of men and women who devoted there lives to the RDF and then for it to be 'throw' to one side.

Thanks dasa29 will do.

goldie fish

KwackerJack wrote: »

Shatter needs to come down a notch and live in the real world

The amount of men and women who devoted there lives to the RDF and then for it to be 'throw' to one side.

Thanks dasa29 will do.

To be fair it's something that's been discussed to death. The new arrangement is a far more realistic one for the numbers that actually turn up regularly. No point in having 8000 well intentioned people when only 3500 of them only manage to attend annual training.

It was on the cards long before shatter became minister, and would probably have happened in 2005 if it wasn't for every local gombeen td demanding that they keep their local sluagh hall or outpost, with scant regard to its practicality, or usefulness.

No point in having a reserve unit if their only function is to attend shooting competitions, march at paddys day and round off the year with a well intentioned overnight exercise of section in attack at annual camp. It serves no military purpose, particularly when budgets are tight.

Phaidi1

I have wanted to join the RDF for a while now, but between the public service embargo, restructuring etc etc I haven't been able to. Does anyone know if the restructuring is near completed, or if there is even a point in trying to join anytime soon with all the cuts due to occur to the RDF?

Cheers!

goldie fish

Come back in august. There should be a clearer picture by then.

donegaldude

as goldie says, no point yet as they haven't a clue what to do with the people they have nevermind try and bring more in.

Phaidi1

That's grand, Thanks!

mcko

Sorry to tell you but there is no recruiting in 2013, it is the fault or the Army Reserve having to many on their books.when they fall below establishment then it will commence. Still you never know , things can and do change.

Morpheus

mcko wrote: »

Sorry to tell you but there is no recruiting in 2013, it is the fault or the Army Reserve having to many on their books.when they fall below establishment then it will commence. Still you never know , things can and do change.

Fault of the military authorities and department of defence for not administering or organising the army reserve properly to remove non effectives from the establishment. Those IN the army reserve have no control over it.

mcko

Morpheus wrote: »

Fault of the military authorities and department of defence for not administering or organising the army reserve properly to remove non effectives from the establishment. Those IN the army reserve have no control over it.

Sorry didn't mean to imply it was the fault of the people in the reserve rather the Army high command.

roadmaster

I am not sure if i should post here but i didnt want to open a new thread and its a question for the mullingar lads. I was in mullingar this morning for a meeting and i noticed a air corps heilcopter landing in the barracks. Is the barracks still operational in mullingar?

wildfowler94

Its still Department Of Defence Property, although not operational it may be used for training :cool:

Yitzhak Rabin

It was being used for a training ex.

roadmaster

I was wondering what was going on. The aw 139 is lot larger then you would think. Anything to distract me from work

Morpheus

And fun to be flown around in, especially with the doors open!

Morpheus

[MOD]Please direct all RESERVE recruitment questions to this thread.[/MOD]

Stabshauptmann

No reserve recruitment in 2013 aside...

I couldn't find out detail on DF website - how many days do you have to commit a year in the RDF?
I'm wondering how many weekends, and how many camps. The RDF is something I'd be interested in, but I have a full time job and going away for a 7 day camp would be difficult.

goldie fish

Forget it so.

Morpheus

There are new KPIs which, if you don't achieve them, you will be ejected from the force.

One of these will be the expectation to attend at least 1 period of 7 days uninterrupted full time training per annum.

Just asking, but what full time job won't allow you to take off the relevant days? given that most jobs require you present 5 days per week or a max number of hours per week you should potentially only require 5 days annual leave off?Ive a full time job and have managed it for 8 years including some courses that required up to 3 full weeks training in one year.

TomRooney

Would ex permanent defence force members be able to join the RDF, I understand an ex Permanent Defence force member could go in at the same rank they left the PDF, in that instance they wouldn't be required to attend recruit training so would it be possible for an ex PDF member to join this year?

goldie fish

No, not until after October this year. On paper there is surplus people per appointment. They cannot take new people until there are vacancies.

Morpheus

goldie fish wrote: »

No, not until after October this year. On paper there is surplus people per appointment. They cannot take new people until there are vacancies.

Whats happening in October that means we can recruit afterwards? Genuine question, not being a smartar$e.

goldie fish

By then everyone will have attended annual training. It will be easier to tell who is NE and who isn't.

faithy2013

hi could yhuu tell me if the R.D.F on the 1st of october because a man out off the r.d.f told me they were but ii couldn be sure if they are .. some people are saying diff if yhuu ahave any info for me on the dates they are recruiting could yhuu get back to me as soon as you can thanks .....
and what would you need to bring in to the recruitment.. .. !!!

Morpheus

Reserve Defence Forces - Naval Service Reserve - depending on where you live, are supposedly recruiting - this was mentioned last week on boards - I cannot verify that its true, others may be able to.

The rest of the reserve defence forces are not recruiting at this time.

No word has been given on when this will be reinstated.

So if you want infantry, cavalry, CIS, transport, artillery, medics etc you will have to wait probably until some time next year if at all.

ace86

faithy2013 wrote: »

hi could yhuu tell me if the R.D.F on the 1st of october because a man out off the r.d.f told me they were but ii couldn be sure if they are .. some people are saying diff if yhuu ahave any info for me on the dates they are recruiting could yhuu get back to me as soon as you can thanks .....
and what would you need to bring in to the recruitment.. .. !!!

The best thing you can do is call to your nearest Rdf or Pdf Barracks and ask for the person in charge about recruting into the Organisation.You can bring along your Birth Cert and your Driving Licence or Passport and that should be sufficient. If there is no recruiting they will take your name and put it on a list and contact you when a vacancy arises.My personal opinion is there will be no recruitment for a few years bcos of the numbers that are there after the Re-Org that has just taken place, and also the state of the country with army barracks closing and financial cost and running of installations.

mcko

Naval Service Reserve allowed to recruit up to establishment so small numbers involved, Army Reserve not allowed at the moment.
There was a RDF Unit commanders meeting in the Curragh last Sat, might be more info from this.

djflawless

Sorry if ive posted in the wrong thread.
But im having bother trying to locate my nearest Rdf base
Ive contacted 3 different manpower offices with no joy as to where it is.
Im living in laois and im trying to locate for possible recruitment.or at least get my name in
thanks in advance

brennan10

Hi,

I'm new to boards here and after some info.

I'm living in Clontarf, aged 31 and have being wanting to join the RDF for some time now. I checked out the relevant military.ie website and looked under the RDF section. I phoned up cathal Brugha barracks in rathmines (7th Btn) to get information on whether recruitment is to occur in the near future. Something may be in the pipeline and been told to look out for media announments in the near future. In relation to been cleared by the gards how long does the process normally take and can I try to complete this process prior to joining or do I just have to wait on the say so??

Any info would be gratefully appreciated.

mcko

At the moment the NSR are allowed to recruit, at the moment Army HR are in talks with the NS about running an ad campaign in the press and recruiting like they do for the PDF interviews ect, nothing finalised yet.
Hope this helps.i would think it is the future for the AR as well.

brennan10

Thanks Mcko for that...do you think is it better to join the NSR rather than the RDF as it may be easier to join? Also is there any requirements that differ between the two for enlistment? Thanks.

goldie fish

Only you can decide which is better to join. DO you want to be a Naval Reservist or an Army Reservist. Nobody can make that decision for you. They will advise you based on their own experience, but that will be their personal opinion, nothing more.

It's like asking which taste better, apples or oranges?

brennan10

thanks, I get what your saying but to be honest the RDF has always interested me moreso. I was orginally a member of the RDF in the 28th Btn in Donegal 13 years ago for a short time but ended up having to be discharged due to having to relocate for college in Dublin. I have always wanted to rejoin again and now feel is the right time to do so as I only have a few more years left before age limit hits. Are you in the service yourself?

goldie fish

Retired.

mcko

goldie fish wrote: »

Retired.

The NSR is a great organization that allows you to see and do things peole in the AR may not do, I have gone on over seas trips on ships been to the US for St Patricks Day gone on patrol with the Aer Corps.
It's really diverse from shooting guns to sailing yachts to driving ships, it's all there for you.
It's not better than the AR just different.

c-90

The army reserve offer many experiences not on offer to nsr pers. also.

I never understand people wanting or having an interest in both the army and navy, they're 2 completely different jobs/hobbies bar minor trivial similarities (marching, shouting, styre).

If you like boats n hoes, go navy

If you like machine guns and carrying things with your body, go army.

No brainer.

brennan10

What's the story with the Garda clearance at the moment? Can I give the releveant garda unit closest to me and start the process on prior to joining the RDF or do I have to wait until I know i'm accepted in the RDF to start that? I have heard that RDF recruitment may happen in Jan '14 in certain dublin units but nothing is certain. I would hold off concerning the Garda clearance but I know the process can take up to three months so thinking of getting ahead. I don't have a record and have nothing to worry about but is what i'm saying possible? any advice on this?? Thanks in advance...

mcko

Garda security clearance only gets sent off when you apply to join,ie when they recruit.
The AR will only recruit when they go below 4000 pers, at the moment they are up at 4500.
The NSR is currnently training on the GPMG and will roll out to all units shortly.

KwackerJack

Okay this thread escalated into something completely different very quickly

Anyway. Any word on the RDF returning to Mullingar and back to regular training?

Morpheus

[MOD]Infractions will be issued for dragging threads off topic, trolling, etc, read the charter please.[/MOD]

back on topic.

brennan10

mcko wrote: »

Naval Service Reserve allowed to recruit up to establishment so small numbers involved, Army Reserve not allowed at the moment.
There was a RDF Unit commanders meeting in the Curragh last Sat, might be more info from this.

In relation to the above quote, has anyone heard what was announed or any plans from the RDF Unit commanders meeting in the Curragh recently?

Lockstep

Does anyone know what the story is with rank and rejoining the RDF?
I left last year as I moved to the UK but got a job back in Ireland. If I rejoin, would I have to start again as a recruit or would I rejoin at my old rank?