abit of Q&A!!!!!!!!

theirishguy

hi there,
these probably been asked before!!!!!!
i am wanting to join the the RDF but i have a few Questions!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so what i was going to do is join the RDF first then apply for the PDF
ok first off i have always been very interested in the army life ever since i was 8 .
now that i'm sixteen and seventeen on the 13 july when should i apply?

i am in school so, can i join when I'm in school ?
i'm doing my leaving cert next year.
most of my family on both sides served .

whats the fitness level (I'm not that fit,but i do a lot of hunting so that's walking )

whats the education level required?

is Irish required? (i know its a stupid question an army that doesn't use its national language)

ps i suck at irish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!;(

Local-womanizer

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055519848

Good info there;)

Irish is not required,or an education.A general level of fitness would be grand.As long as your not morbidlly obese you'll be grand.

theirishguy

thanks for the reply
can i join when i'm in school? next year is my last

pmg58

Youll probably have to wait until september/october to join, but it probably wouldnt hurt to contact your local unit at the moment to find out.

You can join when youre in school, and in my experience, a lot of recruits are in their leaving cert year when they join, i actually got my leaving results when i was on recruit camp.

There is no actual fitness level required, but its generally agreed its in your best interests to be reasonably fit.

I dont think there is any minimum educational standard.

Don't worry about the Irish, you dont need to speak it at all. The drill commands are given in Irish, but you'll learn them in your training.

Local-womanizer

theirishguy wrote: »

thanks for the reply
can i join when i'm in school? next year is my last

There is a lad in with me who is still in school.I was in my last year when I joined.

pmg58

http://military.ie/reserves/locator/index.htm

looks like your nearest (sub)unit is either:

• HQ Company, 33 Reserve Infantry Battalion, Wexford Military Barracks, 053 9122573
• C Company, 33 Reserve Infantry Battalion, Carlow Town, 059 9131133

I'd guess probably the first one, but they're both pretty much the same distance from Enniscorthy.

Theres also the Naval Service Reserve in Waterford, if you're interested.

theirishguy

thank you all for the reply's
ok when would anyone think i should apply?
3 or 4 months before 17th birthday or 2 or 3 months after?

pmg58

theirishguy wrote: »

thank you all for the reply's
ok when would anyone think i should apply?
3 or 4 months before 17th birthday or 2 or 3 months after?

Realistically, most units will probably have stopped recruiting at the moment, or be stopping very soon, as the enlistment process can be quite long (months), and you would be very lucky to be sworn in in time for recruit training at this stage. Since you're not 17 until mid July, then theres pretty much no chance of you doing recruit training this summer, unfortunately.

From about september to february is generally the time to join up. You seem pretty eager so september I guess. But i'd really advise contacting the unit you want to join, they may allow you to complete some paperwork now to speed up the enlistment process, but since youre so young, maybe not. Most, if not all, units are very enthusiastic about recruits joining, so they should be fairly welcoming.

Best of luck with it.

minidazzler

Come September start the process, just go up to your local unit and get it started, then you should be in just before Christmas!!! That way you will have most of the training completed before the other's and it won't matter when you miss a few days around LC time.

All units will understand that the LC comes first so don't worry about that.

theirishguy

Thank you all for replying

p1akuw47h5r3it

I know this is off topic but didn't want to start a new thread.

Anyway, what are the main differences between a cadetship and entering the army the "normal" way?

And why would you choose a cadetship? What is better about it?

Thanks for any info.

NoQuarter

Bianca Numerous Popcorn wrote: »

I know this is off topic but didn't want to start a new thread.

Anyway, what are the main differences between a cadetship and entering the army the "normal" way?

And why would you choose a cadetship? What is better about it?

Thanks for any info.

Passing a cadetship means you become an officer. More pay, more responsibility, higher ranking than anyone who enters the army the normal way. Only problem is that training is around 21 months long in the curragh while if you enlist training is 6 months.

Company Sgt

king-stew wrote: »

Passing a cadetship means you become an officer. More pay, more responsibility, higher ranking than anyone who enters the army the normal way. Only problem is that training is around 21 months long in the curragh while if you enlist training is 6 months.

make that nearly 7 months training for enlistment yeah get it right!!

p1akuw47h5r3it

king-stew wrote: »

Passing a cadetship means you become an officer. More pay, more responsibility, higher ranking than anyone who enters the army the normal way. Only problem is that training is around 21 months long in the curragh while if you enlist training is 6 months.

Would you recommend it?

Not thinkin about doin it until I'm about 21 (or after uni in other words).

Poccington

Company Sgt wrote: »

make that nearly 7 months training for enlistment yeah get it right!!

The syllabus is broken down into 16 weeks for Recruit Training and 8 weeks for 2-3 Star Training. Obviously enough it usually goes on a few weeks longer than that but Stew was right in saying 6 months.

NoQuarter

Company Sgt wrote: »

make that nearly 7 months training for enlistment yeah get it right!!

I wasnt counting the 2 care bear weeks

Bianca Numerous Popcorn wrote: »

Would you recommend it?

Not thinkin about doin it until I'm about 21 (or after uni in other words).

Personally i wouldnt recommend the army at all but if it was a choice between a cadetship and enlistment id choose a cadetship.

p1akuw47h5r3it

king-stew wrote: »

Personally i wouldnt recommend the army at all but if it was a choice between a cadetship and enlistment id choose a cadetship.

As in the PDF or just the army in general?

I'd personally like to join a foreign airforce (RAAF, AIRCOM or USAF), mainly RAAF. The Irish air corps just doesn't really excite me tbh.

NoQuarter

Bianca Numerous Popcorn wrote: »

As in the PDF or just the army in general?

I'd personally like to join a foreign airforce (RAAF, AIRCOM or USAF), mainly RAAF. The Irish air corps just doesn't really excite me tbh.

Just PDF!

I have no experience of any others!

And that opinion is just based on my own experience, im sure there are some people who love it.

p1akuw47h5r3it

king-stew wrote: »

Just PDF!

I have no experience of any others!

And that opinion is just based on my own experience, im sure there are some people who love it.

Alri thanks for all the info.

theirishguy

RDF is not recruiting !!!!