Thinking of joining the RDF

richindub2 · 28-05-2003 8:16pm #1

I was talking to someone last friday night whos in the fca and he was telling me it was a good laugh; not too much work, get to fire guns and play at being in the army etc. Just wondering if any people here are in / have been in it and what their experiences of it are?

Im seriously considering joining this time next year as Ill have a fair bit of free time after the LC and I think itd be of more use than getting a job in Super Valu or some such.

What are the requirements for officership? How often do you get called up? (afaik its one night a week for marching and a weekend every so often?) Do you do a lot of ten mile jogs in the rain or how fit do you have to be? And er are there regular drug tests?

I know theres not much pay in it, my main interest would be in getting to play around with the hardware and possibly having some fun

irishguy · 28-05-2003 8:52pm

i am in it 5 or 6 years,i am a corpral its a good laugh cheap drink the pay is good. there are no forced marches or anything like that. its easy, just go up to you local barracks and ask 4 info. then u can go up on a traning night and see what its like. you have to sign up for 3 years but they dont hold you to that. also there is drug tests [i have never had one thanx god

]. to become an officer takes a while, you got to wait till your a 2* or corprall to apply for the course [which is really hard] they only hold courses ever few years and if you get accepted and you pass then you go on a list and when a place arrises you will get it when your name gets to the top takes quite a while.anymore questions?

richindub2 · 28-05-2003 9:05pm

do you get warnings about the drug tests before they come up or are they surprise ones?

from reading the FCA site i gather its about 10 days a year of full day / weekend long stuff and one day a week of parade ground stuff, is that about right?

how bad / good exactly is the pay? Yer man last friday was saying it wasnt too bad considering the work isnt in anyway hard, said he got paid 200e for just 'guarding' something for a few hours one night or something?

bottom line i guess is do you recommend it?

cheers

irishguy · 28-05-2003 10:27pm

if they are going to happen they will be on camp and you wont be told just picked at random. on camp last year they searched a few ppl and there gear at random a special drugs squad from the curragh came down. ya its about 10 depending what unit u join, the infantry does the most and hardest jobs. i think ill get 500 - 600 on camp this year. ya i would recommend it you lear loads meet loads of new ppl go loads of places looks great on a cv and in a few years u can go on peace keeping missions

phreak · 28-05-2003 10:48pm

firstly, there are drug tests for all new recruits now.

you only get paid on the camps in the summer or other courses during the year. Also as your friend did you can do a weeks guard duty and get paid. You actually only do 2 24 hr shifts during the week because you have to get your rest

For a new recruit(1*) the pay is around €350 a week. By far the best thing is the cheap drink...€2.20 for a pint...SWEET!

Jim · 28-05-2003 11:34pm

know a couple of fca "heads" myself,

they tell me tis a good laugh, easy cash, cheap booze.....

there all muppets though, so watch u dont get sucked into the trap............. also, ur screwed if we get invaded:eek:

Jim · 28-05-2003 11:35pm

know a couple of fca "heads" myself,

they tell me tis a good laugh, easy cash, cheap booze.....

there all muppets though, so watch u dont get sucked into the trap............. also, ur screwed if we get invaded:eek:

[btw, its called the "reserve forces" now] :rolleyes:

phreak · 28-05-2003 11:44pm

yea its called the RDF now and i agree there is ALOT of muppets in it. I've left it now but it was good for the money during the summer.

irishguy · 29-05-2003 1:32am

agreed there is alot of mupets there, like every where. they allways get drug tested when they joing i forgot [i did years ago] but a new thing came in there a while back where they do random testing on camp has never happened anyone i know yet. you will get 350 + grauity which is about 150 ish which you get once a year as a kind of a thank you for staying a member. they will also be introducing paying all year round based on the amount of traning you attend. also there is only a month of traning left it stops for the summer

Nemici · 29-05-2003 9:30am

My mate joined for one reason only - to shoot guns.

he joined up and went religeously for a year, went on camp. fired a steyer and an anti tank round or two.

He was happy and he left.

Plus the cheap booze. but he didnt like us slagging him about going to the F.ree C.lothes A.ssociation..............

Elem · 29-05-2003 9:49am

Rich, you wouldnt get into the FCA, your too small. Unlucky

SHRIMP!

richindub2 · 29-05-2003 10:02am

Sounds like a good laugh anyway, if i can convince a couple of mates to join with me i imagine itd be great. Last question - nobody seems to have confirmed / denied the marching once a week thing, is this vountary or what? If not are there lots of barracks around? Wouldnt want to be traveling to Meath or something once a week...

Cheers

(minimum height requirement is 5 5, im 5 9....so not quite shane

Shouldnt you be off working in your great junior cert qualified job anyway?)

de5p0i1er · 29-05-2003 10:15am

Why are the taxpayers of this country been made fork out there hard earned cash to let a bunch of teenagers drink cheap booze and get free combats. The day there called up to defend the country I'll start flying the enemy flag there a joke.

Elem · 29-05-2003 10:22am

Originally posted by richindub2
Sounds like a good laugh anyway, if i can convince a couple of mates to join with me i imagine itd be great. Last question - nobody seems to have confirmed / denied the marching once a week thing, is this vountary or what? If not are there lots of barracks around? Wouldnt want to be traveling to Meath or something once a week...

Cheers

(minimum height requirement is 5 5, im 5 9....so not quite shane Shouldnt you be off working in your great junior cert qualified job anyway?)

Now that was a good come back

irishguy · 29-05-2003 1:56pm

Sounds like a good laugh anyway, if i can convince a couple of mates to join with me i imagine itd be great. Last question - nobody seems to have confirmed / denied the marching once a week thing, is this vountary or what? If not are there lots of barracks around? Wouldnt want to be traveling to Meath or something once a week...

you have to go once a week its not just marching [but for a recruit it mainly is] we also do classes in wepons [striping/asembling weapons] you also do classes in the area in which you joined i.e if you join the MP's you military law medics you do medical classes. there are loads of barracks there is surely one near you. the more you go the more chance you get to do stuff.

Why are the taxpayers of this country been made fork out there hard earned cash to let a bunch of teenagers drink cheap booze and get free combats. The day there called up to defend the country I'll start flying the enemy flag there a joke.

Because it is standard military practice to have a reserve, ok I know the RDF isn’t perfect but it really is been changed. Its not just a “bunch of teenagers” I know a lot of people who are highly skilled and successful, who make a lot of money and give up there free time to do there part [I have gone away on many weekends and helped out at many events that I never got paid for] I have seen the huge change that is gone on during my time there but give it 5-10 years and we will have a highly trained professional reserve. There is allot of highly trained extremely dedicated people in the RDF, I would gladly entrust my life with [there is also allot of people in it who I wouldn’t trust with a spud gun] if there was a war tomorrow I would gladly fight for this country I have applied to my C.O to join the integrated part of the RDF [you serve with the PDF for a year and go on a 6month peace keeping mission] I admit if any country wanted to attack us we couldn’t do very much in open warfare. But if you read up about this our country does not have an Army it is a defence force it is not meant to stand up against large army’s, its main role is to keep the peace within Ireland, helping out the civil authorities, fisheries protection, there is also a directive there about protecting the country about foreign aggressors but this isn’t really the main directive any more. But I pity the country that would try to take over Ireland it would just be back to Militia fighting and "jungle warfare tactics" there is enough weapons and ammunition stockpiled in this country to arm every able bodied adult, which is about 1m people, now try and fight 1m armed people who are trying to protect there homes, this is Irelands unofficial defence policy. Which I hope we never have to test out.

Victor · 29-05-2003 5:35pm

You get an annual gratuity at camp (assuming you have a certain level of attendance at training) plus regular pay. Most units train twice a week. Typically 4 full weekends per year. Typically 1-3 weeks camp / courses per year. A friend (sergeant) did about 10 weeks full time last year. Officers are promoted from the ranks in the RDF.

The reason the beer is so cheap is the DoD doesn't charge the messes exhorbitant rent like most most are.

Try:
www.military.ie
www.irishmilitaryonline.ie

woosaysdan · 29-05-2003 5:48pm

Why are the taxpayers of this country been made fork out there hard earned cash to let a bunch of teenagers drink cheap booze and get free combats. The day there called up to defend the country I'll start flying the enemy flag there a joke.

and what you think the permanent army are any way good??? god help you if you do. im with the 3 cav sqn and we just won the all army falling plates shooting!!! its a great laugh and very enjoyable and come highly recommended by me

Mac daddy · 29-05-2003 9:15pm

whats the deal with it? Is it fulltime or partime over the weekends, or do you have to take time of work ever now and again, do even get paid when your not there the whole time, thinking about joining myself.

:ninja:

Victor · 29-05-2003 9:29pm

Originally posted by Mac daddy
whats the deal with it? Is it fulltime or partime over the weekends, or do you have to take time of work ever now and again, do even get paid when your not there the whole time, thinking about joining myself. :ninja:

One weekday (varies depending on unit) evening training session circa 35 times a year - no pay.

One Sunday morning training session circa 35 times a year - no pay.

Four weekends away a year - no pay.

Annual camp, full army pay (less food cost) plus fixed gratuity (€500?) for having attended a certain percentage (60%?) of training sessions.

Obviously rank and skills pay extra.

phreak · 29-05-2003 9:36pm

Originally posted by Mac daddy
whats the deal with it? Is it fulltime or partime over the weekends, or do you have to take time of work ever now and again, do even get paid when your not there the whole time, thinking about joining myself. :ninja:

the way it works is...

2 hrs once a week (usually a wednesday night)

field days on some weekends. this means about 5 hrs on a sunday.

3/4 weekends away at camp a year.

week long camps during the summer.

you get paid for the week long camps(about €350 a week). You also receive a gratuity once a year. kind of a thank you payment. its about €100 for new recruits.

if you're into guns and cheap booze this is the pasttime for you!

Barry Aldwell · 30-05-2003 10:59pm

I've been thinking about joining the FCA for a while now. What's the minimum age to join? I heard 16, but I read on the site that it was 17. I'm 16, and heading into the summer holidays I'd like to join, just to have something to do. Plus there's the guns. Can't forget the guns.

Also, what is the haircut? Or is there a standard?

phreak · 30-05-2003 11:11pm

you have to be 17.

you can't join in the summer. there are no weekly parades.

you don't have to cut your hair. (although i shaved all mine off in camp last year)

irishguy · 30-05-2003 11:23pm

its 17 but i joined when i was 15 most ppl dont ask for a birth cert, you should get away with it

DMT · 30-05-2003 11:28pm

Is it possibile to transfer to the PDF?
If you have a degree is there a possibilty of becoming an officer?

irishguy · 30-05-2003 11:33pm

ya cant transfer to the PDF but you can apply normally and thye will take into account your traning. Haveing a degree really helps to become an officer if you apply for a cadetship when you complete the course your officer straight away. the max age is 23 and is increased to 25 if you have a degree

regnar · 03-06-2003 1:38pm

Firstly let we just say that whoever is going on about "its a laugh with some cheap drink and guns" lark to kindly shut their word hole! the reserve is NOT like that! Most of the time any good unit are training hard in their retrospective fields of expertese! for example my unit are allways doing tatics! Platoon and section in attacks! Drills drills and more drills! this stigma that the word f.c.á invokes is just sickining! here we are giving up OUR free time to train for an eventuallity the we hopoe we never have to do! and we dont get much respect for it either! the way things are going we will be a totally new force in a few years.....

if your interested in joining then look up www.military.ie under the reserve section....

Dont listen to these muppets go on about how cushy it is and how you get paid to drink cheap beer and shoot stuff! if you join under that impression your gona have to deal with the shock of change later on....

STaN · 03-06-2003 1:54pm

Im in the FCA/PDF

Joined with a couple of mates from school a few years back. Back when they had the old minging uniform, which i still have.

For.. *ahem*... dressing up* ... mmmm ... occasionals... :cool:

It was good fun. I found it very badly organised though. I was in the 11st transport something or other where they trained you on HGV's, once you've done that, moving onto jeeps and such. No, no tanks

We also trained with the old 5.72 before they decomisioned it for the styer. We were the last group to use it. Was good fun on camp... they HAD to spend thousands of tracer rounds. I didn't go back the next year. Still not even a private.... Any1 wanna go back with me? heh

I did find it very disorganised though.

DMT · 03-06-2003 6:47pm

Originally posted by regnar
Most of the time any good unit are training hard in their retrospective fields of expertese! for example my unit are allways doing tatics! Platoon and section in attacks!

What do the various units each specialise in and can you choose which unit you want to join?

Infy · 09-06-2003 3:17pm

Stan what year was that 2001? Cos i was in the last crew to use the Fn as well. oh its 7.62 by the way.

STaN · 09-06-2003 7:04pm

Originally posted by Infy
Stan what year was that 2001? Cos i was in the last crew to use the Fn as well. oh its 7.62 by the way.

Yeah i think it was. 2 summers yonder

Yeah, forgot what the gun was called. It'd be fun to get back into actually. I still have the old uniform, should i give it back? I wonder can i change barracks too and how i'd do that.

Bam Bam · 28-04-2005 7:08am

What are peoples opinion of both the Army Reserve and the Naval Reserve?

people don't just think its cheap booze and guns do they?

I'm a Pte in the Army Reserve and have been for 3 years. I don't drink and take what I do very seriously.

Nuttzz · 28-04-2005 8:18am

whats with the fecking thread of xmas past..

why dont you tell us what you? I hear the glen of imaal is great in the summer full of chicks with guns :rolleyes:

garthv · 28-04-2005 8:32am

I was in the FCA (or RDF ,whatever the fùck they are calling themselves these days ) for about 6 months and it was the biggest joke ever. Admittedly it was fun ( cheap booze and guns,who can complain ) but any of the so called "officers" were all egotistical , power-hungry prats who's only mission in life was to give out to the Gunners.
A sergeant would tell you how to do one thing and then a corporal would turn around and give you a bollicking for doing it the wrong way. I would of stayed if they had got their act together but that never happened so I left

Bam Bam · 28-04-2005 8:38am

I'm infantry not artillery, so I don't know what its like for gunners.
If you were in the RDF for 6 months then you would not have had access to the weapons you would have been marching or learning how to. Marching is an important part of military training and so takes a while to get right.

You say the corporals gave ouit when you did something wrong. You must remember that mistakes with weapons have the potential to kill someone, so mistakes are taken very seriously

Sleepy · 28-04-2005 11:12am

I've always considered it a joke of an organisation. Almost everyone I've ever known (basically all bar one bloke) who've been involved with the FCA were utter gob****es that couldn't be trusted with water pistols never mind Streyers.

Complete waste of tax payers money imho.

garthv · 28-04-2005 11:59am

Well I was in out out of it for about 2 years and then i stayed in it for a full 6 months straight. Im not talking about when you are out on the range, Im talking about stupid stuff like marching correctly etc..
The RDF would be a great place to be if the people who joined it were'nt either a) Gun-loving freaks or b) Power-hungry muppets

Nuttzz · 28-04-2005 12:21pm

Sleepy wrote:

I've always considered it a joke of an organisation. Almost everyone I've ever known (basically all bar one bloke) who've been involved with the FCA were utter gob****es that couldn't be trusted with water pistols never mind Streyers.

Complete waste of tax payers money imho.

I have never been a member of it, but I know plenty of scout leaders who were utter gobsh!tes but I wouldnt write off the whole organisation based on the few people I met.

I know some lads who were in the fca and some were muppets, but some were sound and cringed when they heard what the afore mentioned muppets would say.

I would say there are good and bad in it, just like all large organisations

Romo · 28-04-2005 4:16pm

Nice little thread about the Irish Army. Some good photos. Check out the army ranger and the kit he's got on his steyer. :eek:

Talk about pimp my gun.

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4296&sid=53a62ddadeb6802ca2b98a6d027b25fb

Bam Bam · 28-04-2005 6:35pm

Yes the RDF has its share of idiots but what organisations hasn't, usually these people will learn with experience.

For people wanting to join the PDF, you should try the RDF for a bit just to see if it suits you, for people interested in the military you should join the RDF. There's plenty of units to join froim infantry, artillery, air defence and medical companies to name but a few.

The RDF is not a waste of taxpayers money as it provides the PDF with a large trained body of men if they need them.

If the binmen go on strike who you goona call?
If the fire service go on strike who you gonna call?

And our assault rifle is spelt steyr

Nuttzz · 28-04-2005 7:03pm

Bam Bam wrote:

If the binmen go on strike who you goona call?
If the fire service go on strike who you gonna call?

not the fca anyway, the bin strikes in the 70s and 80's were covered by the regular army and the last fire service strike was covered mostly by the civil defence and their AFS. The fca has yet to be mobilised. I wouldnt call them a waste of money either as my friends in it tell me things are improving with plans to send them on UN missions etc.

Bam Bam wrote:

And our assault rifle is spelt steyr

so what? why dont you run along now and crawl under a bush or something...

Bam Bam · 28-04-2005 7:29pm

Nowadays the PDF is spread pretty thin, so if there was a strike the RDF would have to be called up.

And I gave the corrected spelling for steyr because many people here are getting it wrong.

Ms Bitch · 28-04-2005 10:16pm

ok can you tell me whats the minimum height/weight for gals?
im joining in october, ill be 17.
what height i need to be and weight.

Bam Bam · 28-04-2005 10:48pm

Ms Bitch wrote:

ok can you tell me whats the minimum height/weight for gals?
im joining in october, ill be 17.
what height i need to be and weight.

You must be no less then 5 feet 4 inches in height and be in good physical health. you are sent on a medical to test eyes and so forth.

Colourblindness means you can't join.

Nuttzz · 28-04-2005 10:56pm

you have absolutely no basis on which to back that up bam bam, or so my fca officer friend tells me anyway

and what are you now the spelling police? who cares how its spelt

Bam Bam · 28-04-2005 11:12pm

Nuttzz wrote:

you have absolutely no basis on which to back that up bam bam, or so my fca officer friend tells me anyway

and what are you now the spelling police? who cares how its spelt

With approx a quarter of the PDF involved in overseas ops. ie 800 currently overseas 800 resting off and 800 training. Then PDF assuming domestic duties. Even now the Army is very tied up

Don't forget that the PDF is at minimum strength right now with less than 10'000 trained soldiers.

Also if your going to discuss a subject surely being able to spell what it is you're talking about is fairly important.

Moderators should this not be in the volunteerism section of society?

Calhoun · 29-04-2005 12:44am

Tried to sign up but because im shorth sighted i wasnt allowed cause i couldnt see well enough without my glass's. I didnt think that would be a problem as i thought other armys around the world had people who wear glasses. My friend joined though and it ended up a bunch of tossers smoking for about 2 hours and some corporal who thought he was the **** shouting at you in Irish.

Nuttzz · 29-04-2005 12:52am

bam bam, no mention of a fca call up during the recent threatend prison strike, that cant be that under manned, so if the army has 10,000 men and 800 are away and another 1600 are resting off or training, what are the other 7500 at?

Bam Bam · 29-04-2005 12:54am

Darkener wrote:

Tried to sign up but because im shorth sighted i wasnt allowed cause i couldnt see well enough without my glass's. I didnt think that would be a problem as i thought other armys around the world had people who wear glasses. My friend joined though and it ended up a bunch of tossers smoking for about 2 hours and some corporal who thought he was the **** shouting at you in Irish.

Sorry to hear that, but glasses are fragile and if you can't see well enough without them what'd you do if you were on exercise and they broke.

The corporal shouts to ensure everyone in the group hears, the orders are in irish because this is ireland, and many members do smoke, but its a stressful occupation.

Bam Bam · 29-04-2005 12:57am

Nuttzz wrote:

bam bam, no mention of a fca call up during the recent threatend prison strike, that cant be that under manned, so if the army has 10,000 men and 800 are away and another 1600 are resting off or training, what are the other 7500 at?

Domestic duties. training exercises, guards in barracks, admin staff, cash escorts, prison guard, they ensure that there is a defence infrastructure back home.

RDF aren't prison guards and are not trained in that field, however the PDF have recieved traing in this area.

Calhoun · 29-04-2005 1:02am

Bam Bam wrote:

Sorry to hear that, but glasses are fragile and if you can't see well enough without them what'd you do if you were on exercise and they broke.

The corporal shouts to ensure everyone in the group hears, the orders are in irish because this is ireland, and many members do smoke, but its a stressful occupation.

What you think contacts are?? I can see well enough myself without them. What do they do in the american army btw? You see them all in pics ect with glasses on. If i was in a situation were the would break anyway id probably be hurt quite a bit. In all the time i have had my glasses and the **** ive done with them.

The Corporal basicly had power trip. Hes playing army. Thought he was cool. The night i was brought up doing drills and ****. I obviosly hadnt been there before so the assumption i would know what i was doing is stupid.

How is it stressful when all you do for about 2 hours is smoke. They stressing over getting cancer? Anyway the prospects of going down the curragh were the real PDF think your a walking joke could be quite annoying. Didn't some guy sue a while ago cause someone from the PDF threw a gas grenade into a RDF barracks. The guy that sued had reall bad asmha

Nuttzz · 29-04-2005 1:04am

all 7500? your living in a dream world young man.

you still have not backed up your statement that if there was a strike the fca would be called out, i think that just your personal opinion.

you also havent pulled me on saying there was no mention of an fca call out during the recent threatend prision strike, but you cant as there was no mention of it, yet you claim if there were a strike you would be called out

i think your living in your own dream land

Thinking of joining the RDF

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