Garda Reserve Experiences

eroo

munster4868 wrote: »

Quote/ Great attitude end quote/

????

What I highlighted in bold is ridiculous to say to a serving police officer.

TheNog

munster4868 wrote: »

Did you ever stop and think for a moment that these reserves are, well, maybe better equipped then you??, have a better understanding in how the community works, have a better education (degrees etc) then you, have a better past work experience than you.

Although community spirit and knowledge of the community is essential, qualifications or better education would definitely not give a reserve an advantage over a full time member.
As for work experience, there is no other job like policing. The only work experience that would be beneficial would be in public relations or another high pressure job where your skills of above are tested regularly.

Jay112

munster4868 wrote: »

Originally Posted by metman
Would a regular officer on your squad say the same? Personally I find it somewhat alarming that a reservist would profess to be no different, experience/competence-wise etc etc than any regular officer, and claim that it's more advantageous to have a bunch of reservists out on patrol than a experienced senior regular officer. End Quote)

It's a pity that this type of attitude is present in the 21st century against fellow citizens of this state and outside. You might remove yourself from the closet life that you think is out there and embrace new ideas that might just help you, as you said,in your bread and butter career. Did you ever stop and think for a moment that these reserves are, well, maybe better equipped then you??, have a better understanding in how the community works, have a better education (degrees etc) then you, have a better past work experience than you. Well, that would be daft of me to even say that about you because i don't know you and your experience, but that didn't stop you in making some sheepiest remarks about the reserve force and the people involved in it!!!!

What on earth makes you think reserves have more understanding of how the community works than full time members??, as far as i remember full-time members live in communities too, they havent lost touch with communities. with that post you've managed to offend members who also have the upmost respect for the reserves! you displaying a ''revenge'' style attitude towards the full time members doesnt help your cause

TheNog

munster4868 wrote: »

Explain why education or qualifications isn't an advantage over a regular? because that has been posted quite alot by regular gardas in their posts as an advantage to them??
As for no other jobs, well the military, a solicitor, a banker, company owners, fire officers, ambulance officer, nurse, doctor, and theres just a few careers of persons in the reserve force!!!

Because there are alot of things that cannot be learned from a book but you can learn from experience

munster4868 wrote: »

As for been more respectful to serving regular officers, like wise to the reserve members and what we are doing. If you read my post correctly you would have seen that i was shown that it wasn't correct to generalise all reserves as everybody is different and brings something of their own to the situation. I have the up most respect for everyone who does their bit for the community at large, the person not the career, i do respect the fact the job the regulars are doing on a full time basis but as i said it's the person not the career that gets my respect, maybe some of the past wrongs that has been in the news a few years back done by past members, are you saying that i should have or should show them respect??

+1

Always respecting the person is best.

Eru

Not a single reserve in my station (the biggest in the country in terms of fulltimers and reserves) lives anywhere near this community. In fact, Im not aware of any reserve working in his own community within urban areas so bang goes that theory.

Even where a reserve does live in the area he works how the hell does that mean he has a better grasp of the criminals in the area? Mate, you probable wouldnt know if your next door neighbour was an armed robber. And I spend more time in this area than workers who return every night and go asleep. Im here while they are in work god knows where, IM here when they are cuddled up in bed and IM here when they are in their sitting room unwrapping presents!

Local knowledge? Ever hear of community policing? Ever hear of patrols?

Education and qualifications, duh, wha dey? I too thick to get real job so they give me pretty coloured uniform then tell me go gpo. I ask but no one know where geepeeoh is I can spell my name though....m...o...o......n. That spells karlitosway!

Congratulations, I defended and liked the reserves I worked with as I said but that quite insane superiority complex has now utterly turned me.

Hmmm, just reading your other post Munster, yet another mistake concerning who can join. Im beginning to think you dont have a clue what your talking about. You made a mistake about AGSI, etc. You didnt know the restrictions about placement and where they are currently placed and now it appears you dont even know what jobs are restricted and what arent. Military, solicitors? Could never join and theres not a single reserve from any other emergency service.

In my opinion

munster4868 wrote: »

Explain why education or qualifications isn't an advantage over a regular? because that has been posted quite alot by regular gardas in their posts as an advantage to them??
As for no other jobs, well the military, a solicitor, a banker, company owners, fire officers, ambulance officer, nurse, doctor, and theres just a few careers of persons in the reserve force!!!

I don't think so even a fella in the Army Reserve has to resign before he can become a Garda Reservist. People in the military cannot join.

As for point re knowledge of community its a very valid point. Very few young guards i.e. less than 12 yr service live in their district. They know the baddies but not the goodies. Question for non DMA members if on town patrol how many cups of tea do you have? Not in the barrack but on patrol. Calling in to a shop an older person a former victim of crime. Its very important. Old style policing is going out the door. How can you gather intelligence if you only deal with the scum?

I remember I think it was Eamon Keating telling recruits when leaving Templemore that they should get involved in community be it GAA etc. Before the young serving lads tell me the old days are gone look at Limerick and the detection rates. Community is beginning to trust. Old style policing has its place and if you are not part of the community then you need to bring the community to you.

An Garda Siochana should be about more than the few bob on Wednesday its a vocation in the same lines as clergy, teaching or nursing. Just be careful that you mix with those outside the job a bit because you can become very blinkered.

The reserve will bring good, it will also bring rubbish but in the interest of the country bring the reserve with you. If it works it reflects well on the full timers if it fails it reflects badly on the full timers too.

I am not in the job, have very strong connections to it, good friends in it and was a barrack brat as a child and still use St Raphael's to change the car.

Just my thoughts don't devour me.

As an aside in Roscommon at a Connaught final last year a fella came up to a Guard seeing his epulette had RG on it(thinking it meant Reserve Garda) proceeded to tell him he had got the call to join the reserves and what was it like.

metman

Solicitors and firefighters are also precluded, for obvious reasons. Are you really a part-timer? :rolleyes:

alwaysone

munster4868 wrote: »

Firstly, don't show so much anger or smartness about the discussion thats going on in this tread, i believe that solves nothing. Regarding the military, yes i do know that you have the be discharged from it first, i was in the PDF myself for years, as for solicitors, yes i do know that also, the person was a solicitor in his previous life, as for the emergency services, well take a look at the Garda website, go to the video on the GR and see for yourself the fire service individual who is currently in active service in an airport. The restrictions that apply to the regular members do not fully apply to the reserves, i know that members are also not permitted to be a courier, hold a bar license, be a taxi driver etc etc.. as for the description you put across on the same people that you are serving and protecting, by unwrapping presents and so on, i really think that is a very unkind generalisation of the citizen of this fine nation, i really think that was uncalled for to get your point across. Now, as for the AGSI mistake, if you did read my posts as you say you did, you would have seen that i admitted that mistake, i'am not a full time member and well, i don't know all those abbrivations AGS, GRA, AGSI. I would say that if i started to use shorten words hear that i would use in my current full time work, you might not understand all of them fully, no fault of your own. Just one last point regarding my neighbour been an armed robber and i not known it, that doesn't even warrant a remark. I started to input my opinion on this tread to just get the other sides points across, but with all the trashing that people get here by certain members, i really don't think it's worth contributing anymore to this tread.
Thanks

I have being following this thread and indeed all of the ES threads for a while now, as I believe that the perception and thought put into most of the posts by actual ES members comes from their own experience. I have to say though, that the points you raise munster dont exactly make sense to me. I realise that you are trying to put across that experience is a valuable commodity, however when someone dissagrees with you, you seem to get more frustrated, instead of entertaning the idea that your argument might be flawed. Hurling illthought arguments at serving full time members is not exactly endearing you to the cause, and indeed only serves to greaten the gap between the two sides. All of the points you have raised have been discussed at length on several of the forums on the Reserve issue, and most of the serving full time members of AGS have posted and answered these points with valid and well thought out opinions. Indeed most of the posters, irrespective of their individual thoughts on the Reseve concept have always been more than helpful in answering questions and giving advice. It seems to me that all you have suceeded in doing is to alienate some of these members, and the mutual respect of at least one member seems to have taken a serious knock. The knowledge, insight and experience of full time Gardai cannot and indeed should not be compared to Reserve Gardai in any circumstances, and I cannot fathom why you would think otherwise.
Before I catch some flak from anyone who thinks I am just throwing in my t/pence worth, I am a Reserve, and am one of only 35 in the country who has seen this develop from the inside since its hasty inception, there will always be flak to handle, but you put up or shut up. My first shift was with a Guard, who by his own addmission was'nt exactly thrilled with the idea, but in his words, as long as I was not an under cover journalist, and irrespective of my shoulder deignation, if I needed help he would be there. He had no quams about his own opinion on the concept, an called a spade a spade. He was quick to point out that he had nothing personnaly against me or my colleuges, and although he openly admitted he didnt like it, I was now wearing the uniform and that was good enough for him. Well over two years later, I am still getting advice, help, knowledge & words to the wise from that very same Guard, and indeed all the full time members in my station, and if I need to know something, I will ask the people who have the experience to answer my query, as I will never have the same level of experience as any full time member irrespective of how long I am there, The full time Guard wins it hands down every time be it ten years in the job, or 1 day out of T/more. I have enough common sense to acknowledge that 3/5/7 years from now, I will still seek the advice from the people who have the experience. So munster I respectfully suggest that if you dont think the situation or perception of the Reserve issue is for you, then dont do it anymore, and please understand I am not having a personal dig at you, but your post only. I personnaly believe that the Reserve will find its own niche in time, however alienating, and indeed insulting serving full time members of AGS, with in my opinion a flawed arguement is not exactly going to build bridges.

Have I made mistakes? yes some absolute howlers, did I learn from them?, yes thankfully. Will I make the same mistakes again? jesus I hope not. However if I do, I know where I will look for advice, the full time Guard who I am assigned to because his experience will always far outstretch my own.

Am I "disillsuioned with the Garda Reserve"

Nope

Eru

alwaysone wrote: »

I am a Reserve, and am one of only 35 in the country who has seen this develop from the inside since its hasty inception, there will always be flak to handle, but you put up or shut up. My first shift was with a Guard, who by his own addmission was'nt exactly thrilled with the idea, but in his words, as long as I was not an under cover journalist, and irrespective of my shoulder deignation, if I needed help he would be there. He had no quams about his own opinion on the concept, an called a spade a spade. He was quick to point out that he had nothing personnaly against me or my colleuges, and although he openly admitted he didnt like it, I was now wearing the uniform and that was good enough for him. Well over two years later, I am still getting advice, help, knowledge & words to the wise from that very same Guard, and indeed all the full time members in my station, and if I need to know something, I will ask the people who have the experience to answer my query, as I will never have the same level of experience as any full time member irrespective of how long I am there, The full time Guard wins it hands down every time be it ten years in the job, or 1 day out of T/more. I have enough common sense to acknowledge that 3/5/7 years from now, I will still seek the advice from the people who have the experience.

Hmmm,
I suspect I know this poster (wont say names outside PM) and he is indeed a reserve. Actually a nice bloke as well with the right attitude.

Shame he keeps following me everywhere I go :P

gilly0512

Karlitosway1978 wrote: »

Hmmm,
I suspect I know this poster (wont say names outside PM) and he is indeed a reserve. Actually a nice bloke as well with the right attitude.

Shame he keeps following me everywhere I go :P

When I started this thread sometime ago, I never would have envisaged that some people would use it to start attacking full time members/Reserves etc, for at the end of the day all I ever wanted to do, was see what people thought about the Reserve in its present format, and what would be the best way forward for the Garda Reserve? While I'm sure that there are Reserves out there who have been treated badly by regulars, at the end of the day were you to carry out a poll amongst the 250 or more attested reserves in this country, I'm sure you would find that most of them have been treated extremely well by their full time colleagues, and are always made very welcome anytime that they turn up to work their shift.
Yes there are plenty of full time members out there who do not agree with the whole Reserve concept, but thankfully most of them are big enough to keep their feelings to themselves while on duty with the Reserve, and at the same time treat the Reserve with the respect that he or she deserves. Of course there are people in the Reserve who clearly should not have made it through, but the same could also be said for the regular, at the end of the day you will always get a few idiots who slip through the net.
I also find it amazing that some Reserves think that they may be somewhat superior to their full time colleagues due to their 'wonderful life experiences', or college degrees, again that it rubbish, no matter how many years I do this for, I will never be a better policeman than my full time colleague, and we are there to assist and learn from the regular force. Like it or not, we are the guinea pigs of this whole concept, and it is up to us whether the Reserves become a valuable part of AGS, or whether it is allowed to fade away into oblivion, and written off as yet another bad government idea

Centauro

The (PSNI) recruitment website gives some info on Part Time policing North of the border...
http://www.selectnipolice.org/defaultPT.asp?id=pt_homepage.asp

m4j

I have to admire anyone for giving of their time to help there communities, I was concerned to read some of the posts in relation to maybe knowing more than a full time member, really liked your post Karl Hmmm, just reading your other post Munster, yet another mistake concerning who can join. Im beginning to think you dont have a clue what your talking about. You made a mistake about AGSI, etc. You didnt know the restrictions about placement and where they are currently placed and now it appears you dont even know what jobs are restricted and what arent. Military, solicitors? Could never join and theres not a single reserve from any other emergency service. Wondering now if an old friend has come to call???

in control

AS a member of the Garda Reserve I wish to add the following to this discussion,

(a) As a member of the Reserve you will never know more than a full time member . I f you join with an attitude like that you are in trouble straight away. If you join to learn , listen and know your place in the team you will be fine.

(b) You are not and never will be a full time officer so bear in mind that this is not your bread and butter and the member you are with has a lot more to lose than you if anything goes wrong.

(c) My experience is that I have always been treated with respect by full time members even those who dont like the idea of a Reserve force.

Hope this is of some help and I welcome any comments.....

doingmybit

in control wrote: »

AS a member of the Garda Reserve I wish to add the following to this discussion,

(a) As a member of the Reserve you will never know more than a full time member . I f you join with an attitude like that you are in trouble straight away. If you join to learn , listen and know your place in the team you will be fine.

(b) You are not and never will be a full time officer so bear in mind that this is not your bread and butter and the member you are with has a lot more to lose than you if anything goes wrong.

(c) My experience is that I have always been treated with respect by full time members even those who dont like the idea of a Reserve force.

Hope this is of some help and I welcome any comments.....

I would usually just read the posts and submit nothing, but i am just going to simply say this. I am a reserve for the last year. I enjoy what i do. The regular AGS are great, even the one or two that can't understand why i do it or don't agree with the concept. To all the reserves out there that feel that they are being mistreated or feel that they are being misunderstood by the regular AGS or they know more about the community, well, there is a saying "Put you head down, keep your opinions to yourself, and get on with your job". Sorry, iam not having a dig off my fellow reserves and i do somewhat see where or what ye are trying to say but come on lads, they are full time, very well trained good people. Like i said, the regular AGS i work alongside every two weeks, i never, never , never had a problem with them, they are professional in every capacity both to the public and to me, they never treated me with disrespect in any form, they never put themselfs above each other or me, they work as a unit (team) and when iam on duty i am part of that unit (team).
That's all i have to say on it. Oh i am also not Disillusioned with the force.

TheNog

in control wrote: »

AS a member of the Garda Reserve

(a) If you join to learn , listen and know your place in the team you will be fine.

This is an excellent point to make but I would like to go a bit further with it before people get their heckles up.

Even full time members on a unit have and should know their place. I am the most junior on my unit despite actually being the oldest excluding my sergeant. I have one years service done but I know that I haven't learned everything and so rely on the experience of the more senior members on my unit should I need help.

in control

TheNog wrote: »

This is an excellent point to make but I would like to go a bit further with it before people get their heckles up.

Even full time members on a unit have and should know their place. I am the most junior on my unit despite actually being the oldest excluding my sergeant. I have one years service done but I know that I haven't learned everything and so rely on the experience of the more senior members on my unit should I need help.

You are dead right on this point. Every day i am out i learn something new mostly by watching those around me . The people i work with are mostly young but professional in their work . The lads and girls do a difficult and sometimes stressful job and retain a great sense of humour at the same time .

Sometimes they ask why we do this job in the manner we have chosen and sometimes I ask myself the same question. But overall after nearly two years it has been a great experience . Yeah mabye we should have more powers but I dont know if I want to spend every few weeks sitting in court when I could be earning a living.

So my message to all prospective Reserves is, have a go . You will know soon enough if it is for you . Whats more you might even like it.

Esel

in control wrote: »

(b) You are not and never will be a full time officer.....

I understand the point you're trying to make here, but would just like to point out that some people have applied for (and possibly joined) the Reserve with a view to a later application to join AGS. So it's not strictly correct to say 'and never will be'!

in control

Point taken . Its just that most people in the Reserve that I know are either too old to go full time or are in fairly good jobs and cannot take the hit on money to go back training or have family committments to consider. ( mind you fair play to those that do )

baton charge

lehanemore wrote: »

It can be soul destroying from a reserve point of view to see the various negative comments from regulars on this forum and the headlines after the GRA conference amongst other things.

Think about it, when you hear the moaners in the motors/after hours forum complaining about being stopped for no road tax etc and complaining about why the Gardai aren't out chasing real criminals and why their tax money isn't being spent on yaddayadda xyz....

There other people out there, part of the silent majority, who will come out of their comfort, who will give up their free time, who will go through the various stages and stand with ye, and then to have to suffer this negativity..

Sickening.

To be honest Leahanemore I would hope that at this point in time any negative comment from the regular force to the Garda Reserve would be dwindling day by day. As a Reserve myself I have never met with any such animosity just a healthy curiousity as to why I would even want to do this for free.To be honest nobody even asks me any more they just accept me as part of the team full stop.
To me everything is relative I bet when the first Ban Garda walked into Templemore the rank and file felt the same then ,as they do now ,about the Reserve. Lets all stand back and see how the whole thing evolves before we pass premature judgement on it. I agree with a previous poster that the idea had not been fully thought out buts it's here now so lets get behind it and make it work. We may not have all the powers regulars would like us to have but at least we are an extra body on the street when it's needed.Many a time I have reported for duty and was welcomed with open arms because the regular unit was depleted due to sickness and time off.
Remember there are plonkers in every walk of life and that includes the regulars and the Reserves it's just how you deal with them that counts.

Stay_in_Kampuchea

baton charge wrote: »

To be honest Leahanemore I would hope that at this point in time any negative comment from the regular force to the Garda Reserve would be dwindling day by day. As a Reserve myself I have never met with any such animosity just a healthy curiousity as to why I would even want to do this for free.To be honest nobody even asks me any more they just accept me as part of the team full stop.
To me everything is relative I bet when the first Ban Garda walked into Templemore the rank and file felt the same then ,as they do now ,about the Reserve. Lets all stand back and see how the whole thing evolves before we pass premature judgement on it. I agree with a previous poster that the idea had not been fully thought out buts it's here now so lets get behind it and make it work. We may not have all the powers regulars would like us to have but at least we are an extra body on the street when it's needed.Many a time I have reported for duty and was welcomed with open arms because the regular unit was depleted due to sickness and time off.
Remember there are plonkers in every walk of life and that includes the regulars and the Reserves it's just how you deal with them that counts.

Right On brother. I've been treated as on of the family aswell.

doingmybit

Centauro wrote: »

Mmm, you turn my "luxury" on it's head, and project it as a negative. Most regulars will never get the intimate knowledge of the community. Not their fault, they have careers to chase, but that knowledge is very useful, and gives us guys a head start....by the way, there really is no need to be alarmed. I'm not trying to muscle in and take your job! I know that working part time I'll never get an attachment to CID, Traffic, an MSU or whatever. I won't get promoted either. But the PSNI has embarked on an experiment here. They have produced (with a huge investment) a brand new policing resource, and a realistic alternative to PCSO's.

I served from 1986 until 2001 as a Part Time Reservist, 80% of what I did was security related, and apart from firearms and basic law we had little training. That has now changed, and we are trained to fill a specific niche in the policing spectrum, that of members of Community policing Units. We still have to keep up to date with First aid, searching, firearms et al, but we spend a LOT of time studying problem solving in the community. That's what we do, that's what we're good at. We have jobs and lives outside the police, and bring that experiance with us each time we go on duty...

Anyway, I chipped in here to highlight the PSNI's "experiment " with Police Officers Part Time. I think it's a shame that he Garda haven't followed a similar course, because I'm sure everyone involved would have been happier with the outcome

Hi Centauro as i was reading your post and i must say you are wrong on this one. I am a reserve and serve alongside my fellow regular members and it's in my so called community that i serve. Now the regular AGS that are on duty every day and every night teach me alot about the people and goings on in the area, things i wouldn't know or never knew about, the reason they know this information is that it is their full time job and are very good at it. As for the career chasers you mention, well, i never met any of those people, in fact the opposite, i met regulars who want to stay on the beat and don't want to end up in the office after promotion, so i don't know what you are trying to say there. Maybe the PSNI are different, but all i can say is what i see and experience and i know from talking to other reserves in the country that their experiences are the same or even better than mine when it comes to regular members of AGS.

KIERAN61

Hi,
I was just wondering if any attested members have issued parking tickets.I am led to believe some members have.I was just wondering what was the outcome if it went as far as a court.Before somebody tells me that we can't issue fixed penalty fines some my information scanty though it is begs to differ on this.

doingmybit

KIERAN61 wrote: »

Hi,
I was just wondering if any attested members have issued parking tickets.I am led to believe some members have.I was just wondering what was the outcome if it went as far as a court.Before somebody tells me that we can't issue fixed penalty fines some my information scanty though it is begs to differ on this.

Put simply, no, legally we haven't the powers to issue parking, speeding etc tickets. If you do, and do end up in court, you will be made s*** of by the defense solicitor. Anyway, why take a day off work to sit in court unpaid, whiles your regular member that was present with you can do that for you. So, let him issue the ticket. We don't have returns to met.:)

Chris007

I have two questions regarding the Garda reserves-
1) Would it be recommended that a full-time student join the garda reserves? Any current students here who are GR members?

2) Would reserve members have a strong chance of getting into the full-time force?

All replies much appreciated!

i-digress

Lots of people hold down full time jobs while serving in the Garda Reserve so I don't see why not.

The consensus is that serving on the GR helps your application to the full time force but does not guarantee it.

I posted a while back about whether or not it could hurt your application. You know, in a 'you've only served three months in the GR, your training was a complete waste of money if you don't serve longer' way. Some people on boards said that was rubbish, some thought I had a point. So I dunno.

As recruitment has slowed I'm divided as to whether to join the GR while I'm waiting or just to join Civil Defence instead. If anyone has any advice I'm all ears.

Charlie Swan

As recruitment has slowed I'm divided as to whether to join the GR while I'm waiting or just to join Civil Defence instead. If anyone has any advice I'm all ears.[/quote]


Ans= I'm member of Civil Defence for the past 3.5 years. Its a great laugh and you learn so much! You can do lots of courses such as First aid, Heights rescue, radio communications, AFS- which is the fire bridgade side of civil defence,there is a boat unit,and even a kayak unit! I'm currently participating in a new (SARS)Search and rescue course.This course is only for Civil Defence so when someone goes missing in the future, it will only be trained personel allowed on the search. There will no longer be members of the public out searching anymore. The only people that will be involved in future searches will be e.g Gardai,Coastguard,R.N.L.I,Civil Defence,Army,Navy, and Mountain Rescue due to Health and Safety issues!
When you join Civil Defence it can help you get into any career e.g Gardai, Ambulance Service, Fire Bridgade.
Whats Cool? The cool thing is that you get to drive any Civil Defence vehicles and you can do your driving tests in trucks and buses for free.
Hope this helps!

TheNog

Chris007 wrote: »

I have two questions regarding the Garda reserves-
1) Would it be recommended that a full-time student join the garda reserves? Any current students here who are GR members?

2) Would reserve members have a strong chance of getting into the full-time force?

All replies much appreciated!

I suppose time would be a factor here. If you joined the GR and three months later were before the interview board it wouldn't look great tbh as Idegress said.

However if you were a GR for a year or more and you get to the interview, it would eliminate the following questions
"are you suitable for the job?" - you would have a track record that would be easily looked up

and

"would you like the job?" or "what do you think the job is like?" - you would have an insight into the job

IMO the way recruitment has slowed you could realistically be looking at a year or two before going for the full time position. Dependent on how you do on the Aptitude test of course.

Murphy(Cork)

Chris007 wrote: »

I have two questions regarding the Garda reserves-
1) Would it be recommended that a full-time student join the garda reserves? Any current students here who are GR members?

2) Would reserve members have a strong chance of getting into the full-time force?

All replies much appreciated!

Hey,
I'm a full time-student and have been in the reserves for over a year, and suits me fine. No problem doing the both

doingmybit

Chris007 wrote: »

I have two questions regarding the Garda reserves-
1) Would it be recommended that a full-time student join the garda reserves? Any current students here who are GR members?

2) Would reserve members have a strong chance of getting into the full-time force?

All replies much appreciated!

Hey, I have a full time job and a family and i manage to fit it all in, no prob.

And a for the second question, every little helps.

Chris007

Is the recruitment process for the reserves any quicker than the full-time force recruitment??