Reserve Defence Forces.

Tadhgo45

Im 18 and I have alot of interest in the Army, I applied for the reserve defence forces and completed the fitness test last weekend, and I have an interview in January. I will be assigned to collins barracks in cork and I presumed It would be the Infantry Corps, but in fact most of the people there were applying for the artillery corps and all the army personnel in the reserves that were dealing with us on the day of the fitness test were from the artillery corps.

Infantry was always the goal, but the people I talked to last weekend made the artillery corps sound great. Any Help, hints or tips for making the decision between infantry or artillery?

P.s According to member of the reserves that I was talking to last weekend, Collins barracks in Cork is an ''Artillery barracks'' , meaning its very well equipped for the artillery corps.

Thanks in advance :)

folbotcar

Are any infantry based in Cork? 1 Brigade I think have infantry in Kilkenny, Limerick and Galway but not Cork. Not 100% on that but as you say Collins is an artillery barracks. You might be out of luck if you want infantry.

Tadhgo45

If the case is that there is no infantry in Cork then that would be ok it would just mean the decision is made for me. I'll have to find out. Thank you

odin_ie

Closest Infantry unit to Cork is Skibbereen. Arty are the largest unit in Collins Barracks these days, but there are other options in there too, namely Cavalry, MP, Transport, CIS and Engineers. The Arty will want to take everybody, and from what I have been told, they are a pretty active Corps, however, there are other options available to you which will have unique courses and opportunities. Check the DF homepage, you'll get a breakdown of what you can do there.

Best of luck with your application and interview process.

Tadhgo45

odin_ie wrote: »

Closest Infantry unit to Cork is Skibbereen. Arty are the largest unit in Collins Barracks these days, but there are other options in there too, namely Cavalry, MP, Transport, CIS and Engineers. The Arty will want to take everybody, and from what I have been told, they are a pretty active Corps, however, there are other options available to you which will have unique courses and opportunities. Check the DF homepage, you'll get a breakdown of what you can do there.

Best of luck with your application and interview process.

If the only infantry unit is in skibbereen then I'll have to stick with Collins barracks and artillery seems to be the best option there. Thank you

Doctor14

Tadhgo45 wrote: »

If the only infantry unit is in skibbereen then I'll have to stick with Collins barracks and artillery seems to be the best option there. Thank you

STAY AWAY from skibbereen. You will do an awful lot more training with other units. I have heard a LOT of bad things about the unit in Skib.

Tadhgo45

Ill take your advice, thanks

Growler!!!

Closest INF unit to Collin's is Mallow, however they are part of the 12th Bn Limerick. Take the lads advice and join a unit within the barracks. I've been in a "country" unit before and the chance to get hands on is limited.

Have a look at Cav if you're interested in small unit tactics and weaponry.
The corp units tend to be more specialised and it's more beneficial if you have a background in some other discipline ie IT for CIS etc.

Tadhgo45

Ya its between artillery and cavalry at this stage. Artillery seems to be the best option to take because its collins barracks and basically because my two friends i joined up with are sticking to artillery! thanks again

Morpheus

My advice... and take it as you will, is to base yourself in a main barracks if at all possible. Im currently not based in one and its a nightmare trying to get hands on weapons and equipment when not on exercise or FTT.

odin_ie

Tadhgo45 wrote: »

Ya its between artillery and cavalry at this stage. Artillery seems to be the best option to take because its collins barracks and basically because my two friends i joined up with are sticking to artillery! thanks again

On that point, 1 Cav are also in Collins

janet1989

What do the reserve army actually get to do? I heard they just do "guard duty" all day.

Morpheus

I see by your previous posts that you have attempted at least, to join the RDF. It seems to me that you are showing signs of being completely unprepared for serving in the defence forces as you have not tried to find out what we do before applying to join.

You will quickly learn that in the army you make every effort to be prepared in advance.

Now I dont know Who told you this, but I have done guard only a couple of times since I joined. Its ONE of the taskings you may receive.
Did you try to google RDF Ireland?
click here
http://www.military.ie/reserve/

janet1989

I was only looking for some specific details on what the RDF do. The info on the web is very broad.

galwaycyclist

janet1989 wrote: »

I was only looking for some specific details on what the RDF do. The info on the web is very broad.

It was a fair question - even if you pushed the wrong buttons with Morpheus.

The short answer is it depends what is going on.

You will engage in a certain amount of training under topics like fieldcraft, rifle marksmanship, arms drill, foot drill, map reading and navigation, signals (aka radios), first aid. This may happen on either two to three hour night parades mid-week or on weekend "camps". There will also be "range practices" where you fire your weapon.

All the above counts as "training".

Then you may do what are called "duties", guard duty is one of these. In Galway, there is now an expectation that all RDF recruits must do a guard duty after they finish recruit training. Other units may differ. This is proper "grown up" stuff and hopefully uneventful. But you will spend 24 hrs awake and rotating as a sentry - under the supervision of more experienced soldiers. You will demonstrate an understanding of the safe handling of weapons and of the orders for your post. If you have spoken to a recent recruit then yes guard duty may be all they have done so far.

Ideally where you want to end up is "on exercise". This is where you function operationally in the field doing simulated patrols, observation posts, ambushes, attacks or alternatively defending a position. This is what you are training for. The levels of exercise available can change from year to year - but that is what you are aiming to be doing - as much of it as you can get.

In the RDF, you won't be getting sent to Syria or Cyprus.

janet1989

Does anyone know if I will fail the medical if I have a lazy right eye? My optician said I probably will.

Gallaghers Greek

galwaycyclist wrote: »

It was a fair question - even if you pushed the wrong buttons with Morpheus.

The short answer is it depends what is going on.

You will engage in a certain amount of training under topics like fieldcraft, rifle marksmanship, arms drill, foot drill, map reading and navigation, signals (aka radios), first aid. This may happen on either two to three hour night parades mid-week or on weekend "camps". There will also be "range practices" where you fire your weapon.

All the above counts as "training".

Then you may do what are called "duties", guard duty is one of these. In Galway, there is now an expectation that all RDF recruits must do a guard duty after they finish recruit training. Other units may differ. This is proper "grown up" stuff and hopefully uneventful. But you will spend 24 hrs awake and rotating as a sentry - under the supervision of more experienced soldiers. You will demonstrate an understanding of the safe handling of weapons and of the orders for your post. If you have spoken to a recent recruit then yes guard duty may be all they have done so far.

Ideally where you want to end up is "on exercise". This is where you function operationally in the field doing simulated patrols, observation posts, ambushes, attacks or alternatively defending a position. This is what you are training for. The levels of exercise available can change from year to year - but that is what you are aiming to be doing - as much of it as you can get.

In the RDF, you won't be getting sent to Syria or Cyprus.

Thanks for your detailed response galwaycyclist. As a reserve recruit are you required to attend mid-week parades every week? I work evenings at the minute but have one evening a week off every other week. Likewise I have alternate weekends off. I'm hoping to apply in the next recruitment cycle, how often does recruitment come around on average? Many thanks

janet1989

Gallaghers Greek wrote: »

Thanks for your detailed response galwaycyclist. As a reserve recruit are you required to attend mid-week parades every week? I work evenings at the minute but have one evening a week off every other week. Likewise I have alternate weekends off. I'm hoping to apply in the next recruitment cycle, how often does recruitment come around on average? Many thanks

In my interview for the RDF, I told them I wanted to join the PDF and the PDF officer said the next recruitment drive will be in April 2016.

galwaycyclist

Gallaghers Greek wrote: »

Thanks for your detailed response galwaycyclist. As a reserve recruit are you required to attend mid-week parades every week? I work evenings at the minute but have one evening a week off every other week. Likewise I have alternate weekends off. I'm hoping to apply in the next recruitment cycle, how often does recruitment come around on average? Many thanks

Hi there. Ok recruitment at the moment is once a year I think September (ish).

In terms of minimum commitments, its 48 hours of training at the moment - outside of the full time training which is one or two weeks.

So you make that 48hrs up out of mid-week parades (count as 2hrs each) and field days at weekends (counts as 4hrs per day - even if it was 12hrs or more!). There is also an expectation of some time that is not "training" but I won't get into that and probably does not arise for recruits anyway.

In some units there is a greater emphasis on weekends rather than mid-week parades. The challenge will be to co-ordinate your days and weekends off with the times your unit are training.

You should not be required to attend "every" training session. However there is a minimum training syllabus that you are expected to get through somehow.

Gallaghers Greek

galwaycyclist wrote: »

Hi there. Ok recruitment at the moment is once a year I think September (ish).

In terms of minimum commitments, its 48 hours of training at the moment - outside of the full time training which is one or two weeks.

So you make that 48hrs up out of mid-week parades (count as 2hrs each) and field days at weekends (counts as 4hrs per day - even if it was 12hrs or more!). There is also an expectation of some time that is not "training" but I won't get into that and probably does not arise for recruits anyway.

In some units there is a greater emphasis on weekends rather than mid-week parades. The challenge will be to co-ordinate your days and weekends off with the times your unit are training.

You should not be required to attend "every" training session. However there is a minimum training syllabus that you are expected to get through somehow.

Many thanks again for your reply. Is that 48 hours spread over a year? If so it sounds fairly manageable and I could probably commit more than the minimum. My employers are pretty flexible in terms of what evening I have off on alternate weeks, and hopefully come next September (ish) I will be on a better shift rotation. Living in Belfast I would ideally be aiming to join at Dundalk (direct motorway link from pretty much my doorstep) or possibly Cavan so I think I'll try and get in touch directly and get an idea of when training takes place

Gallaghers Greek

Hi janet1989, do you know if that was specifically for the PDF as opposed to RDF?

janet1989 wrote: »

In my interview for the RDF, I told them I wanted to join the PDF and the PDF officer said the next recruitment drive will be in April 2016.

janet1989

Gallaghers Greek wrote: »

Hi janet1989, do you know if that was specifically for the PDF as opposed to RDF?

Yes, he was talking about the PDF. They won't be recruiting until April 2016.

galwaycyclist

Gallaghers Greek wrote: »

Many thanks again for your reply. Is that 48 hours spread over a year? If so it sounds fairly manageable and I could probably commit more than the minimum. My employers are pretty flexible in terms of what evening I have off on alternate weeks, and hopefully come next September (ish) I will be on a better shift rotation. Living in Belfast I would ideally be aiming to join at Dundalk (direct motorway link from pretty much my doorstep) or possibly Cavan so I think I'll try and get in touch directly and get an idea of when training takes place

Yes its over a year - I am not sure when that year starts though - but allowances would be made for joining dates etc.

Gallaghers Greek

janet1989 wrote: »

Yes, he was talking about the PDF. They won't be recruiting until April 2016.

Seems like a bit of a wait for you but good luck!

TheChosenOne_

Just wondering if anybody on here knows when they will be recruiting for the RDF again? Could I be waiting a long time or do they do it regularly?

Thanks

Gallaghers Greek

galwaycyclist wrote: »

Yes its over a year - I am not sure when that year starts though - but allowances would be made for joining dates etc.

Hi sorry to bump an old thread but wondering if you could help:

Is attendance at RDF required every week and weekend?

And, does weekend attendance require an overnight stay?

I've thrown my hat into the ring for the current round of RDF recruitment, just want to be certain I can commit at the moment before proceeding further.

Thanks

SNAKEDOC

Im kinda wondering the same thing. Recently sat my interview(two weeks ago) was told one weekend a month which is a sleep over friday 17.00 to sunday 17.00 and evening parade once a month. Ive read differenct accounts in time required. Im going to be in the curragh and i know some units around the country may bb different can anyone who is currently a three star or above run it down in terms of monthly requirements and yearly requirements from recruit training onward.

Morpheus

initially as a recruit you can expect 1 weekend a month and every wed / thur / whatever week night your unit trains for about 2 hrs. you will probably have to commit to at least 2 full time weeks too during this course

Once you complete recruit course you will embark on the 2* - 3* promotion course which will last another period of months and again you would expect to be doing something 1 weekend of most months. Again you will probably have to commit to at least 2 full time weeks during this course

Once a 3 star you will probably do at least 1 weekend every 2 months depending on how active your unit is, some units will be more active depending on the corps and the amount of systems etc you are required to learn about.

there will be courses, most 2 - 4 weeks throughout your career and some longer if you should choose to do them.