thinking of joining the Irish Naval Service Reserve

chillywilly

well im thinking of joining the irish naval reserve as i love the sea, want to get out and do something and learn some new things!

anyone on boards a member? i want to learn more about training, ships, pay and basically anything people can tell me!

ive been on the website, it sounds interesting but we all know its better to hear from actual members!!

thanks!!

chillywilly

anyone at all?:D

Hagar

They might all be at sea. Hang on and see if anyone comes ashore.:D

chillywilly

ay ay matey:D

Morpheus

NSR is tiny in comparison with the Infantry reserve which is why there are perhaps very few boards members if any in the NSR.

Your best bet is to go to your local NSR barracks and ask there, theres no obligation to join (they did away with "Shanghaing" people last year ) and they will be more than happy to answer all your questions.

for pay check out this http://www.military.ie/careers/navycond.htm#PAY%20RATES

Reservists generally get paid at the same rate as their permanent comrades so its a good start, more info on that site as well.

search google for Irish Military and youll find quite a few sites of interest.

Where abouts are you

babybundy

chilly where are you from the malority of nsr units are stationed in army barracks

Highlander

Hi Chilly

I was a member for about 3 years back in the dim and distant past, about 15 years ago, has probably changed beyond recognition since then, pm me if you want to ask anything

OwenM

I'm an NSR member and just back after 3 1/2 weeks on Eithne, If you have any questions you can PM me.

Basic training is 2 weeks which qualifies you to go to sea for upto 42 days per year at roughly E110 per day when all allownaces are paid.

Maskhadov

Shiver me timbers.. go for it lad


In the navy Should be a good experience

gnashrr

<Edit> Sadly gnashrr is no longer with us... Hagar<edit>

Dave!

Fellas can ye share your PM's with us? I presume you're not telling each other your credit card details, and other people might be interested in the information too!

It'd just help the rest of us if ye could ask/answer questions in this thread, that's all!

Better than a load of different people sending you PM's about the same thing

OwenM

Membership is open to:
EU nationals aged between 17 and 35
Male or female
Of good charachter (this means you are not known to your local gardai for the wrong reasons)
Reasonable vision, including colour perception.
No health problems (like: asthma, Diabetes, etc...)
No history of mental illness
No physical disabilities
Greater than 5'2" tall.

There are 4 training locations and if you are not in a position to travel regulary then consider the Army Reserve.

The locations are:
Dublin: Cathal Brugha barracks, Rathmines. Tuesday nights 20.00hrs
Cork: Collins Barracks, Military hill. Tuesday nights 20.00hrs
Waterford: Waterford Military Barracks. Wednesday nights 20.00hrs
Limerick: Sarsfield Barracks. Wednesday nights 20.00hrs.

Each training night is 2 hrs.


People often ask, How do I join. And the answer is:
Go to the gate of the Barracks and ask someone in uniform even an army one Can I join the NSR Please?. No one will shout at you and you will be welcome.

It's that simple but a lot of people are daunted by it but believe me it is that simple. To speed things along bring your birth cert and two passport photos. If you are under 18 you will need parental consent and you will be given a form to have signed by one of them.

It should take 6-8 weeks to have the paperwork done and your medical passed, at this stage you get a uniform, you are taught basic military skills etc.

Centralised recruit training then takes place each year at Easter and in July where you learn marine firefighting, personal survival training and damage control. By this time you will also have trained on and fired the steyr rifle.

The next step is going to sea on board one of the Naval Services ships for a period of two or three weeks, reservists may be lucky enough to get a ship that is going abroad. 2 reservists went to South America earlier this year on board the L.E. Eithne.

Further training at unit level consists of small boat training done at weekends and shooting range practice. Some ceremonial events also take place, some units participate in their local St. Patricks day parade etc...

Promotion is possible, as is a reserve comission.

PAY:
You will be paid for any full time period of training at the same rate as your equivalent rank in the Naval service. This includes allowances for Seagoing and regimental duties. A reservist joining in February could reasonably expect to earn 3-4K euro that year for a 6 week commitment. Pay rises with each promotion.

Tom Barry

What could beat abit of rum, sodomy and the lash eh? No wait, that's the Royal Navy.

bostonian

Sounds good, but why are there only two recruit training sessions? Is it that small?

testicle

Morph&#233 wrote: »

NSR is tiny in comparison with the Infantry reserve which is why there are perhaps very few boards members if any in the NSR

What's the Infantry Reserve?

bostonian

testicle wrote:

What's the Infantry Reserve?

i'm thinking they mean the army reserves maybe?

mikemac

Supposing you are asked to go to sea for 3 weeks.
Is there legislation that forces your employer to let you go as in theory you'll be working for the state?

Or can your employer force you to use your annual leave or even threaten you with the sack if you go to sea with NSR? :eek:

bunny shooter

micmclo wrote:

1. Supposing you are asked to go to sea for 3 weeks.
Is there legislation that forces your employer to let you go as in theory you'll be working for the state?

2. Or can your employer force you to use your annual leave or even threaten you with the sack if you go to sea with NSR? :eek:

1. You are volunteer, you can decide to go or not, unless Dail brings in state of emergency etc.....
2. Yes

ex_infantry man

micmclo wrote:

Supposing you are asked to go to sea for 3 weeks.
Is there legislation that forces your employer to let you go as in theory you'll be working for the state?

Or can your employer force you to use your annual leave or even threaten you with the sack if you go to sea with NSR? :eek:

no you can,t be sacked as your on active service with the defence forces and i aint to sure about pay obligations from your employer but don,t worry about that as your paid by the dod anyway for those few weeks, you could take your employer to the labour court if you get the sack for it

mikemac

Thanks for the answers.
Was wondering as I doubt many employers would be keen about giving staff weeks of unpaid leave to people going on service, especially if there's some project deadline coming up.

I'm not expecting employers to pay a volunteers wages but it would be very harsh on a volunteer to have to use up their holidays.

I'll look into this further

Hagar

I would advise you to take ex_infantry man's advice with a very large dose of salt.

I would also advise him to think before he posts inaccurate information that could cost somebody his job.

If you work for a state or semi-state body there may be agreements in place allowing for time off to serve in the reserve.

I don't believe that there is any legislation in place to either force a private employer to let you off for voluntary peacetime duties or protect your job while away.

Talk to your HR Dept before making any decisions.

bunny shooter

ex_infantry man wrote:

no you can,t be sacked as your on active service with the defence forces and i aint to sure about pay obligations from your employer but don,t worry about that as your paid by the dod anyway for those few weeks, you could take your employer to the labour court if you get the sack for it

Bull.......

They won't say it's cos you were going with NSR, they MAY find another excuse IF they want to. You aren't protected under any legislation as far as your employment is concerned !

bunny shooter

micmclo wrote:

I'm not expecting employers to pay a volunteers wages but it would be very harsh on a volunteer to have to use up their holidays.

Unless you work for government you WILL have to use your holidays or take time without pay !

I am a reserve and I work, and I know ! Ex foot slogger, who IS ex PDF, doesn't know what he's on about !

ex_infantry man

bunny shooter wrote:

Bull.......

They won't say it's cos you were going with NSR, they MAY find another excuse IF they want to. You aren't protected under any legislation as far as your employment is concerned !

well actually you are if your in siptu

Hagar

Do you realise that you're taking on the responsibility for the outcome of someone following your advice?

If you're wrong, and I believe you are, you could cause a guy to lose his livelihood.

Have you any links to back that statement up?
If not, I would strongly advise you to withdraw the statement.

ex_infantry man

Hagar wrote:

Do you realise that you're taking on the responsibility for the outcome of someone following your advice?

If you're wrong, and I believe you are, you could cause a guy to lose his livelihood.

Have you any links to back that statement up?
If not, I would strongly advise you to withdraw the statement.

when i was a member of siptu it clearly stated it in terms between the union and my employer that an employee would be entitled unpaid leave if on active duty with the pdf through whatever rdf unit you are in for training camps and what ever, well he does,nt have to do it anyway i aint holding gun to his head and telling him to do it so therefore it aint anything off my back, to be honest he,d be better off takin two or three weeks leave from work and get holiday pay on top of what he,d earn on a patrol and be loaded thats what i,d do anyway

Hagar

Link please. I can't find any reference to such an agreement on Google.

Alkers

I'm also in the NSR. Just back today from a week on LE Roisin. If you're thinking of joining up go for it, once you've joined you can leave if you don't like it. The only negative thing I can say about it is it is very slow to get going but once you've got your initial training out of the way you'll be flying.
Any other questions ask away.

Flying

Are they letting Slua go to sea now ??

In my short time below in Haulbowline we had a Warrant go on a foriegn trip with us to the lebanon but when the Slua were actual on ships it was for camps not much else.

I did 3 months as Cadre in EGSM in Cathal Brugha Barracks and we used to maintain a small "Boat" in the Marina in Malahide from time to time.

Flying

Simona1986 wrote:

I'm also in the NSR. Just back today from a week on LE Roisin. If you're thinking of joining up go for it, once you've joined you can leave if you don't like it. The only negative thing I can say about it is it is very slow to get going but once you've got your initial training out of the way you'll be flying.
Any other questions ask away.

Do you do task books the same as the Naval Service there for L/Ratings to Able/Ratings ?

Alkers

They are very much letting the slua go to sea now. Each member can do up to 42 days paid training a year and quite often most of this would be time spent on patrol at sea. This year I have done one 3-week patrol on LE Eithne and one week on LE Roisin and I will fit in at least another week before January unless an interesting course that I can go on comes up.
I parade in Cathal Brugha Barracks and currently we have one searider (twin 40hp), one avon (40hp) and a BP sailing dinghy. There is also the MTL Niamh, a motorboat of I guess around 30' which is kept on the Marina in Dun Laoire.
Last week was our first week back in the barracks, having been out on the boats in Dun Laoire every week since June.
There are task books yes, they are different to the PDF ones but we are given them once we go to sea. That aside it is quite possible to be promoted without having completed your taskbook or to complete a taskbook several times over and not be promoted.
Getting your taskbook filled out can be quite difficult even if you have the necessary work completed depending on how busy the ship is at sea

Flying

Getting your task book sorted in the PDF is just as hard dependant on what division your in.

Seaman's up to 18 Months

Mech's from 6 weeks to 6 months

Tel's up to 12 Months

Is Dempsey still the Cadre Chief in the Brugha ?

Alkers

Cadre Chief in the Brugha is a Chief Nolan, I think he may be PO acting Chief but not sure if this is still the case.

ex_infantry man

Flying wrote:

Getting your task book sorted in the PDF is just as hard dependant on what division your in.

Seaman's up to 18 Months

Mech's from 6 weeks to 6 months

Tel's up to 12 Months

Is Dempsey still the Cadre Chief in the Brugha ?

dempsey was cadre in cathal brugha when i was with no 3 coy waterford and that was three years ago maybe he moved on to bigger and better things now???

Flying

I know he's not back in cobh, he was a sound chief to have, always a nice half day on friday's.

The Nolan your talking about is or was he a PO/Diver before if he's the same one ?

declan_lgs

Simona1986 wrote:

I'm also in the NSR. Just back today from a week on LE Roisin. If you're thinking of joining up go for it, once you've joined you can leave if you don't like it. The only negative thing I can say about it is it is very slow to get going but once you've got your initial training out of the way you'll be flying.
Any other questions ask away.

How long does it take to get the initial training out of the way so?

3-4K for 6 weeks sounds interesting to me! (especially if it can be split around the year/Summer, but still)

Can someone explain the "task book" and it's role?

Steyr

Simon any chance of a few pics of MTL Niamh?

Alkers

declan_lgs wrote:

How long does it take to get the initial training out of the way so?

3-4K for 6 weeks sounds interesting to me! (especially if it can be split around the year/Summer, but still)

Can someone explain the "task book" and it's role?

Initial training depends on how lucky you are. Once you sign up you need to wait for your Garda security clearance to come through before you can officially become part of the unit. While you are waiting you will go through with your medical examinations. For most people this takes around 6 weeks but I was waiting 9 months :eek: (this was purely down to the Garda, nothing to do with the NSR).
Once you are sworn in you become part of the unit and obtain the "rank" of recruit. As a recruit you will need to undergo training to become qualified as an O/S or "ordinary seaman". This training consists of: a recruit camp (basic military training, marching, rank structure etc.), DCFF (Damage control and fire fighting, done in the maritime college in Cork) and a seamanship course (teaching the basics in seamanship so you are of use to a ship when at sea). All these courses are paid for and are run at different stages during the year. If you have lots of free time you can get these all done pretty quickly but some people don't get to complete everything for some time due to work/college commitments. Once you have all this completed you are able to go to sea and should soon become an O/S.
Basically the length of the initial training depends on each person and how much time they can put into getting the basic training out of the way.
Regarding the task-book, it is a list of skills/tasks that one must be able to do/have completed in order to be promoted to the next rank. e.g A/B -> L/S etc... Once you are confident in each particular task you can get examined and have the particular task signed off by someone such as the bosun etc. depending on the task. It's nothing to worry about, everything is covered in training.
any further questions just ask.
PS sorry STEYR, I don't have any pictures off-hand, I do remember a picture of the Cork unit's MTL being on the imo boards but I couldn't find it, I will take a picture next time I'm out. It's on the marina in Dun Laoire in full public view though, shouldn't be too hard to spot.

Flying

How long is the Seamanship course now, it was 6 weeks when I did it and also included the DCFF course but was in the old fire yard as the Martime college was not there, I was doing it as PDF not RDF but I think I remember some Slua doing the Sea Survivial Course with us.

Then it was the Gunnery course for nearly 2 months and also some did the RP's Course (Radar Plotter) again another 3 or 4 weeks at that stage most of the Mech's had half their Task Book's done and were at sea:eek:

Alkers

The RDF seamanship course is one week long. The DCFF and Sea-survival are normally done at the same time during a one week period and are the same course as the PDF do.

ex_infantry man

Simona1986 wrote:

Initial training depends on how lucky you are. Once you sign up you need to wait for your Garda security clearance to come through before you can officially become part of the unit. While you are waiting you will go through with your medical examinations. For most people this takes around 6 weeks but I was waiting 9 months :eek: (this was purely down to the Garda, nothing to do with the NSR).
Once you are sworn in you become part of the unit and obtain the "rank" of recruit. As a recruit you will need to undergo training to become qualified as an O/S or "ordinary seaman". This training consists of: a recruit camp (basic military training, marching, rank structure etc.), DCFF (Damage control and fire fighting, done in the maritime college in Cork) and a seamanship course (teaching the basics in seamanship so you are of use to a ship when at sea). All these courses are paid for and are run at different stages during the year. If you have lots of free time you can get these all done pretty quickly but some people don't get to complete everything for some time due to work/college commitments. Once you have all this completed you are able to go to sea and should soon become an O/S.
Basically the length of the initial training depends on each person and how much time they can put into getting the basic training out of the way.
Regarding the task-book, it is a list of skills/tasks that one must be able to do/have completed in order to be promoted to the next rank. e.g A/B -> L/S etc... Once you are confident in each particular task you can get examined and have the particular task signed off by someone such as the bosun etc. depending on the task. It's nothing to worry about, everything is covered in training.
any further questions just ask.
PS sorry STEYR, I don't have any pictures off-hand, I do remember a picture of the Cork unit's MTL being on the imo boards but I couldn't find it, I will take a picture next time I'm out. It's on the marina in Dun Laoire in full public view though, shouldn't be too hard to spot.

regarding task book and promotion it does,nt really come into play with the slua as i was just given my a/sea stripes without doin any tests and i,ve also heard of certain coys doin same with regards to L/sea but then again i was old school before the white paper

ex_infantry man

Simona1986 wrote:

The RDF seamanship course is one week long. The DCFF and Sea-survival are normally done at the same time during a one week period and are the same course as the PDF do.

it would,nt be one week for pdf anyway shur it d same with officers courses it takes two years for cadet to get commissioned where as reserve officer gets commissioned after few weeks and thinks there gods gift, they know no hardship at all coz they don,t get a beasting they way cadets do from the D/S

Flying

Seamanship course in the PDF is from 4 to 6 weeks.

Then he/she has to a gunnery or rp course or both which apparently are up to 3 months.

So that is say 8 months before your seagoing, then another 12 Months for your task book = 20 Months before being an AB, compared to 6 months for a Private in the army to go from Recruit to 3 Star, I think this is the reason for the dwindling number of recruits for the navy or applications for Seamans when in recruits ! And then is all depends on the mood of your Cox,Bosun and Gunnery Officer and Nav Officer, tis not a great system IMHO

testicle

ex_infantry man wrote:

it would,nt be one week for pdf anyway shur it d same with officers courses it takes two years for cadet to get commissioned where as reserve officer gets commissioned after few weeks and thinks there gods gift, they know no hardship at all coz they don,t get a beasting they way cadets do from the D/S

You're behind the times. Cadets are wrapped in cotton wool these days.

ex_infantry man

testicle wrote:

You're behind the times. Cadets are wrapped in cotton wool these days.

ya think so??? jez i would have still thought they,d get hard time from cpl,s and thats why they turn out to be arsehole when they get commissioned and lose touch with us normal folk

Flying

ex_infantry man wrote:

ya think so??? jez i would have still thought they,d get hard time from cpl,s and thats why they turn out to be arsehole when they get commissioned and lose touch with us normal folk

No thats just a superiority complex thats built into them down in the curragh and the base. Nine out of Ten Officers are twats from well healed back grounds a fecking Private has more cop on that these lads and ladies ;-)

declan_lgs

Simona1986 wrote:

Initial training depends on how lucky you are. Once you sign up you need to wait for your Garda security clearance to come through before you can officially become part of the unit. While you are waiting you will go through with your medical examinations. For most people this takes around 6 weeks but I was waiting 9 months :eek: (this was purely down to the Garda, nothing to do with the NSR).
Once you are sworn in you become part of the unit and obtain the "rank" of recruit. As a recruit you will need to undergo training to become qualified as an O/S or "ordinary seaman". This training consists of: a recruit camp (basic military training, marching, rank structure etc.), DCFF (Damage control and fire fighting, done in the maritime college in Cork) and a seamanship course (teaching the basics in seamanship so you are of use to a ship when at sea). All these courses are paid for and are run at different stages during the year. If you have lots of free time you can get these all done pretty quickly but some people don't get to complete everything for some time due to work/college commitments. Once you have all this completed you are able to go to sea and should soon become an O/S.
Basically the length of the initial training depends on each person and how much time they can put into getting the basic training out of the way.
Regarding the task-book, it is a list of skills/tasks that one must be able to do/have completed in order to be promoted to the next rank. e.g A/B -> L/S etc... Once you are confident in each particular task you can get examined and have the particular task signed off by someone such as the bosun etc. depending on the task. It's nothing to worry about, everything is covered in training.
any further questions just ask.
PS sorry STEYR, I don't have any pictures off-hand, I do remember a picture of the Cork unit's MTL being on the imo boards but I couldn't find it, I will take a picture next time I'm out. It's on the marina in Dun Laoire in full public view though, shouldn't be too hard to spot.

Cheers for the info!, really thinking about this.

Is the training once or a few times per week or would I need to be getting off school for long periods for it?

Alkers

Parading would be every week but it's no big problem if you miss the odd week at all. Any long periods of absence and you just have to hand in notice.
Actual training on the naval base such as the firefighting or seamanship courses that I mentioned are ran several times throughout the year and you attend whatever one you are able to.

puffnstuff

Simona1986 wrote: »

Parading would be every week but it's no big problem if you miss the odd week at all. Any long periods of absence and you just have to hand in notice.
.

What is the minimum amount of parading I am suppose to attend in order to stay involved? I live in America ( am I aloud to join if I do not reside in Ireland?) so there will be a large gap in my attendance but I do get winter break,spring, and summer off.

Alkers

Your best bet would be to ring up on (01) 8046445 for the Dublin unit and ask yourself. My understanding is you wouldn't be thrown out as such because of a lack of attendance but I doubt it would be worthwhile for you or the unit with you being absent for such long periods. It would also be pretty awkward finding courses that would suit your specific availability. No harm in finding out though.

Lewe

hey i filled in all my forms for the reserve 2 weeks ago and i was just wondering what do i do now??????do i wait untill they contact me back or do i just show up at the meetings on tuesdays nights??????


cheers