Reserve Defence Forces Recruitment 2015 **Update!**

Kirm2

Or McKee?

Garzard

Kirm2 wrote: »

Anyone from Cathal Brugha get anything?

Applied to CIS there and no word back yet. Next week hopefully.

brennan10

Same here at least for CB.....

trellheim

Yeah, according to one of my friends in the RDF, it'll be in Kilworth on the 9th August for the Southern Brigade

I am not S Bde but do not get your hopes up.

mcko

Stick with it, I know the process is long, I have yet to meet someone who did not enjoy their time in the Reserve, I have served almost 30 years and have enjoyed every bit of it.I have seen and done things that few other volunteer organisations could match. Good luck to you all and look forward to serving with some of you.

Kirm2

mcko wrote: »

Stick with it, I know the process is long, I have yet to meet someone who did not enjoy their time in the Reserve, I have served almost 30 years and have enjoyed every bit of it.I have seen and done things that few other volunteer organisations could match. Good luck to you all and look forward to serving with some of you.

Thanks mcko, would you be able to outline what sort of training and schedule we'll be following for our two week course please?

Doctor14

The programme and scedule will be decided by the unit conducting the training. And they will let you know through the chain of command. The training you will undergo is Restricted, ie. Not the be talked about on a internet forum that can be viewed by anyone. The same applies to dates and locations. But you will learn this.

For the moment, try the following but compressed into 2weeks.
[url]Http://www.military.ie/en/careers/army/recruits/training/[/url]

Kirm2

Doctor14 wrote: »

The programme and scedule will be decided by the unit conducting the training. And they will let you know through the chain of command. The training you will undergo is Restricted, ie. Not the be talked about on a internet forum that can be viewed by anyone. The same applies to dates and locations. But you will learn this.

Thanks doctor14. I apologise for my ignorance in these matters, but as you say, soon we will learn the way of things and understand so much more. For now I guess we just have to sit tight and wait some more.

brennan10

Well there must be something happening with the garda vetting...just got an email there asking me to redo and send the form back by post. The reason mentioned some of the writing was unreadable not proper block capitals etc and that some info was missing. Have to attachment to do over again and post of asap. Did this happen to anyone else?

twinydavid

You could be waiting weeks for that to come back.

brennan10

twinydavid wrote: »

You could be waiting weeks for that to come back.

Yeah tell me about it....im hoping they only have to verify a few things and that I'm not back to square one again regarding the form.

Garzard

brennan10 wrote: »

Yeah tell me about it....im hoping they only have to verify a few things and that I'm not back to square one again regarding the form.

The problem I've always had with those forms is the lack of space in them to write neatly, in particular the address part. That and other info could barely be squeezed into their sections which resulted in sloppiness. If the same happens to me I'll probably upend the place.

brennan10

Garzard wrote: »

The problem I've always had with those forms is the lack of space in them to write neatly, in particular the address part. That and other info could barely be squeezed into their sections which resulted in sloppiness. If the same happens to me I'll probably upend the place.

Yeah that's for sure....lucky I haven't lived in Wales...can't imagine how'd I'd have filled in some places over there with the length of there words lol...the blanks spaces esp for the addresses should be revised as it's difficult to fill accurately and most importantly neatly as well as the way we originally had to fill the forms quite quickly on the day. My addresses since birth basically fill that part alone...here's hoping you or any don't have to go through that again!

theJED102

Hi guys, does anyone know what exactly happens in the induction process?

mcko

Looks like Recs will be trained by PDF Brigade Training centres,this is the first time this has happened so I don't know what will happen, prepare to hit the ground running, get as fit as you can, you will be expected to know nothing and will be shown what to do. If you are not sure or do not understand something then say so,most others won't editer, never be afraid to ask a question. Any PDF people I have ever dealt with love to pass on their knowledge to RDF people.
Enjoy the training it is where great friendships are made, you will make mistakes and get shouted at just don't take it to heart its all part of serving. Good luck to you all I wish I was starting all over again, the RDF is a special organisation and the more you put in the more you get out.

Doctor14

theJED102 wrote: »

Hi guys, does anyone know what exactly happens in the induction process?

Yes.

But it is marked Restricted so not for discussion on public chat forums.

Basically, it is an introduction to the Army, and your place in it - how to conduct yourself, your rights and responsibilities etc how you are expected to treat others and how they are expected to treat you. How to wear your uniform, history, values etc.

And a section on not posting restricted info and photos on websites.

Attestation is different - that is your swearing in - do you understand the oath and everything that is expected of you, you swear your oath (available in DA54) and sign paperwork to confirm.

I, ___________, do solemnly swear (or declare) that I will be faithful to Ireland and loyal to the Constitution and that while I am a man of the Permanent Defence Force I will obey all lawful orders issued to me by my superior officers and will not join or be a member of or subscribe to any political organisation or society or any secret society whatsoever.

mcko wrote: »

Looks like Recs will be trained by PDF Brigade Training centres

There are no PDF BTCs, just BTCs, staffed with PDF & RDF staff. I suspect most (but not all) of the instructors will be RDF

theJED102

Doctor14 wrote: »

Yes.

But it is marked Restricted so not for discussion on public chat forums.

Basically, it is an introduction to the Army, and your place in it - how to conduct yourself, your rights and responsibilities etc how you are expected to treat others and how they are expected to treat you. How to wear your uniform, history, values etc.

And a section on not posting restricted info and photos on websites.

Attestation is different - that is your swearing in - do you understand the oath and everything that is expected of you, you swear your oath (available in DA54) and sign paperwork to confirm.

I, ___________, do solemnly swear (or declare) that I will be faithful to Ireland and loyal to the Constitution and that while I am a man of the Permanent Defence Force I will obey all lawful orders issued to me by my superior officers and will not join or be a member of or subscribe to any political organisation or society or any secret society whatsoever.


There are no PDF BTCs, just BTCs, staffed with PDF & RDF staff. I suspect most (but not all) of the instructors will be RDF

@Doctor14, don't worry I know not to post about dates or details etc but I was just curious as to what the process entailed. Thanks for the reply.

trellheim

BTCs will not train all recruits. It very much depends where you are to be assigned to.

Lockstep

Just got the email with the dates. There'll be a weekend training and then two weeks FTT the week after.

donegaldude

Something sounds amiss there, so you are going in for a weekend to get sworn in and sort things out, to come back the following week for 2 weeks FTT? Will you be passing out after the 2 weeks?

I dismay if that is the case.

Lockstep

Basically we do attestation on one day then return a few days later for a weekend before doing the 2 weeks FTT.

Not sure why you've an issue with this: recruit camp was 2 weeks long when I was in the RDF a few years ago, likewise it was 2 weeks for the Territorial Army when I was applying for them!

Doctor14

Lockstep wrote: »

Not sure why you've an issue with this: recruit camp was 2 weeks long when I was in the RDF a few years ago, likewise it was 2 weeks for the Territorial Army when I was applying for them!

And the RDF 2 week camp years ago was acknowledged to be totally inadequate. You had 3stars coming out of those camps who didn't know the basics and it became a major problem in the years that followed.

It did grow to 2 weeks and 7 weekends (28 days) and even then was barely getting the job done. I heard that it was going to be increased again but somehow ended up with 2 weeks and 4 weekends (22 days). I know that the current syllabus is missing a pile of stuff, probably to be done in 2-3* training, in order to get it done in the short timeframe.

To reduce it down to just 2 weeks is complete madness, there is just not enough time to get the basics right. It is just going back and repeating the mistakes of the past.

Anyway, it doesn't look like it matters any more, 50% of the RDF disappeared in the last 16 months including 62% of Privates and those are the official Govt figures. God know what the actual numbers are. Is there even going to be a Reserve left soon.

Only 250 potential recruits still being processed out of 500 needed. They need to recruit 2000 just to stem the loss in the last couple of years and they don't have anywhere near the number of instructors left to even train that number.

I think we are now into endgame for the RDF.

Lockstep

Doctor14 wrote: »

And the RDF 2 week camp years ago was acknowledged to be totally inadequate. You had 3stars coming out of those camps who didn't know the basics and it became a major problem in the years that followed.

It did grow to 2 weeks and 7 weekends (28 days) and even then was barely getting the job done. I heard that it was going to be increased again but somehow ended up with 2 weeks and 4 weekends (22 days). I know that the current syllabus is missing a pile of stuff, probably to be done in 2-3* training, in order to get it done in the short timeframe.

To reduce it down to just 2 weeks is complete madness, there is just not enough time to get the basics right. It is just going back and repeating the mistakes of the past.

Anyway, it doesn't look like it matters any more, 50% of the RDF disappeared in the last 16 months including 62% of Privates and those are the official Govt figures. God know what the actual numbers are. Is there even going to be a Reserve left soon.

Only 250 potential recruits still being processed out of 500 needed. They need to recruit 2000 just to stem the loss in the last couple of years and they don't have anywhere near the number of instructors left to even train that number.

I think we are now into endgame for the RDF.

Three stars weren't coming out of the camps, it was recruit training: they were coming out as 2 stars. Three star training was a separate camp.

Deffo agree that there were problems in the training then though personally I found it due more to inaction rather than lack of time (seriously, it was stopping for smoke breaks every few minutes. Only thing we learned about properly was drill and using a Steyr)

twinydavid

Was hoping for at least 3-4 weeks notice to sort out time off work. Are employers in anyway obliged to give us time off to attend military training? Probaly not.

theJED102

twinydavid wrote: »

Was hoping for at least 3-4 weeks notice to sort out time off work. Are employers in anyway obliged to give us time off to attend military training? Probaly not.

As far as I know unless its a government job they don't have to give you time off of work ( but I'm not 100% sure)

concussion

No private employer is obliged to give you time off. Public service was permitted to give unpaid leave for reserve training with the consent of your manager. If this leave still exists you can be sure it will be quite difficult to get approval.

It's something that should really be sorted out, even 5 days unpaid would make a huge difference.

Doctor14

Lockstep wrote: »

three star training was a separate ca

I know that, I was referring to the basic training in general. When they were finished all basic training.

Lockstep wrote: »

Deffo agree that there were problems in the training then though personally I found it due more to inaction rather than lack of time (seriously, it was stopping for smoke breaks every few minutes. Only thing we learned about properly was drill and using a Steyr)

Steyr was specifically mentioned as the basic skill that most 3*s didn't know. Having tested enough people in it, you would be shocked how few people know it fully and properly.
And there is a LOT more to recruit training than drill and steyr, hence the problem with time.

theJED102

I've a few questions regarding camp or FTT.
Will the recruits be trained on a Brigade, battalion or Company level? I.E will you be training with whoever's new in your company or will it be broader? (I'd be imagining battalion)

Is there other "activities" ,for want of a better word, that are mandatory in camp such as sport etc.

If your leaving certificate results are due during camp will there be an option for a few hours leave to go accept the results?

Also does anybody have any idea on the dress code for the attestation?

Doctor14

theJED102 wrote: »

I've a few questions regarding camp or FTT.
Will the recruits be trained on a Brigade, battalion or Company level? I.E will you be training with whoever's new in your company or will it be broader? (I'd be imagining battalion)

Not sure of this one but I believe it will be barracks based - all units based or HQed in a barracks will be trained in that barracks....but I believe that this has not been decided yet.

theJED102 wrote: »

Is there other "activities" ,for want of a better word, that are mandatory in camp such as sport etc.

Most of your off time will be spent cleaning rooms, ironing uniforms etc. Sleep will be at a premium so you will want to grab some when you can. There used to be sports events but nowadays there is so little time available that every hour is needed to try and finish the training. If you are on FTT and they give you "time off" or have sports events, it means that something is not being done that needs to be done and you are missing out on some training that you will need in the future.

theJED102 wrote: »

If your leaving certificate results are due during camp will there be an option for a few hours leave to go accept the results?

Leave will be granted in certain circumstances, Leaving Cert results is usually one of those circumstances. But forget about getting a weekend off, getting your results, having a mad weekend of drinking and crawling back into the barracks on a monday morning. If you are VERY lucky, you will be left off at 6pm to be back next morning. If you need to collect your result in an afternoon, you will get a few hours. Anything you miss will need to be covered in your own free time.

Dress code for Attestation...long time since I did it. But normally it would be smart - shirt and tie. But not 100% sure.

Garzard

Doctor14 wrote: »

Leave will be granted in certain circumstances, Leaving Cert results is usually one of those circumstances. But forget about getting a weekend off, getting your results, having a mad weekend of drinking and crawling back into the barracks on a monday morning. If you are VERY lucky, you will be left off at 6pm to be back next morning. If you need to collect your result in an afternoon, you will get a few hours. Anything you miss will need to be covered in your own free time.

Just on this topic, earlier on in the thread I mentioned having a college repeat and only received the date this week [scheduled for morning of August 19th]. Would they be reluctant to let myself and others in similar situations off training for a few hours to do the repeat or even completely refuse? Just in case both do end up conflicting?