Army Reserve - Seriously Considering

[thedutchman92]

I'd love to serve and right now I'm in the best shape I've ever been. I'm at uni and not tied down with a part time job, naturally the Army Reserve seems to suit my purpose but I'm not sure how well it will fit in with studies (the only real hurdle is the 28 day continuos at Kapooka which would probably need to occur partially in mid year break, is this feasable? IET is not a worry because 2 weeks of tutorials and lectures can be caught up on.

Thank you for your time

[Lotte]

My workmate joined the reserves at the start of this year, and quite a few of my uni mates do it.
Depending on your University, time served can warrant extensions on stuff. And trainings at Kapooka are held several times a year, depending on sign ups for each one.

Best idea is to go to a YOU session, and speak to one of the Officers there about your concerns

[Kryton]

Serious question:
What exactly do you do in the Reserves?
Do you get a qualification for anything or is it just prac, excersizes and weapons training 'just incase'?

[Lotte]

Reserves is the same as the fulltime army, but without the 18 months in Duntroon, and the commitment. Effectively, when my mate has his Officer stripes, he can go to fulltime, and be an Officer there.
The trainings are more full on, but there's less of them, and you reap the benefits (ie home loans, etc), you get after twice the time as fulltime.

That's my understanding anyway. I'd ask him, but he's up in Kapooka right now so I can't check.

[bungarra]

Originally Posted by davway

Serious question:
What exactly do you do in the Reserves?
Do you get a qualification for anything or is it just prac, excersizes and weapons training 'just incase'?

Not only do you get standard corps training, soem courses give you credit towards University degrees, lot of other courses are TAFE qualifications some can be extensions to existing training mechanics, sparkies etc.

Depends on what courses and what part of the reserves you join.

[flappist]

Do it. You will get training in management, decision making and HR that will help you in almost anything you will do for the rest of you life.

You also get to blow stuff up........

[Jim Goose]

The biggest draw card is that defence now use the Global payroll system to pay reservists, which means your pay is either wrong, or doesnt appear. But like the QLD health system they are "working on it".....

[thedutchman92]

haha thanks Flappist. Any idea what the grub is like at kapooka? (I like enjoy food quite alot haha). Also does anyone know if after you enlist and clear medical and psych can YOU chose the best time for Kapooka (within reason)?

[Jim Goose]

As a reservist you choose when you want to go... your not a full timer (dont let them fool you into thinking you HAVE to go when they tell you)

[Lotte]

Food: Dunno, but I've heard both good and bad.
In the reserves you sign up for the weekends trainings/month/week long trainings that suit you best, they do have a guideline in finishing times for certain roles, but this can be changed within reason.
The key point to remember about the Reserves is your not locked in, and the ADF knows that this is a part time job, usually for some extra cash/experience, so they're pretty sweet with all that.

[Bunyip04]

As a serving member... Don't be fooled by the silver lining of bonus this extra that....
Oh and just cos your in the army doesn't mean you get to blow things up and shoot stuff...

[thedutchman92]

Just as a guide, what roles besides rifleman are available for the Melbourne area, I'm pretty sure on rifleman but signals might also interest me.

[Bunyip04]

Not sure mate i'll have a look at work tomorrow for you if you like?

[thedutchman92]

That would be much appreciated mate, cheers

[mikestp]

Hi
I joined the reserves at the beginning of last year for similar reasons as you. I wanted something to do that fits in with uni, meet some new people, get fit and learn skills and do things that I otherwise wouldn't have done. Also I felt that I wanted to be trained in case Australia would be attacked one day.
The reserves has been great. One of the best decisions I've made. I would definitely recommend it. If your not sure what you would like to do in the army Id recommend the engineers, put stuff together and blow stuff up. Excellent.

And Kapooka? The foods good but not as good as what mum cooks. because so many people in the reserves go to uni there is always a course run during the semester break June/July. Don't judge the army by your experiences at kapooka, not that its a bad place but trust me you will have had enough after 28 days. The real army is alot more satisfying and enjoyable than training.

[Bunyip04]

Will do!

[Bunyip04]

try doing kapooka for just shy of 3 months....

[chamb0]

Originally Posted by thedutchman92

haha thanks Flappist. Any idea what the grub is like at kapooka? (I like enjoy food quite alot haha). Also does anyone know if after you enlist and clear medical and psych can YOU chose the best time for Kapooka (within reason)?

I found the food's not too bad, you just don't get much time to enjoy it... not at the beginning anyway. There is quite a range to choose from and you get enough.

I did it for 6 years, beginning in 2003 when I was a uni student. Overall the uni/army combo worked well for me and for many others. From memory before enlistment I was able to choose from a list of dates one which suited me - I went in the 4 week mid year break (offered to cater for students), and since it was a six week course then I had some catching up to do when I got home. Tell your recruiter your requirements and you should get a good outcome. Get onto it early though, a lot of people get stuffed around in the recruiting process so you want to give yourself plenty of time.

The other thing you could try - not sure if they still do it - Direct To Unit (DTU). The recruiter sends you along to a unit to check out and spend time in before you do your basic training at Kapooka. You're limited in the activities you can participate in but at least you get to see how it all works beforehand.

A lot of other reservists were students too so taking the odd choco weekend off to attend to studies wasn't out of the ordinary, but having said that, be as organised as you can and plan your homework so you can get the maximum army time you can, don't be that guy who likes to tell his mates he's in the army but never goes!

Rifleman was great, of course I'd recommend it over anything else, but guys from other corps will say exactly the same thing about their own.

[thedutchman92]

Do the non-transport corps personnel get trained in driving army vehicles vehicles such as the unimog or is it a specialisation?

[mikestp]

Originally Posted by thedutchman92

Do the non-transport corps personnel get trained in driving army vehicles vehicles such as the unimog or is it a specialisation?

Can't speak for the whole defense force but in 13 brigade most units have there own vehicles. Transport obviously has the most but every unit has its specialty. Signals and light horse have landrovers, artillery have rovers and unimogs. Engineers have rovers, unimogs, macks plus bulldozers/loaders/graders etc. Your unit can send you on course for a vehicle if you apply but your unit will probably want you to do your IET's first.

[chamb0]

Rover training was the more likley scenario for us. However vacancies on courses were scarce, and the ones we got on always got canned at the last minute. Your chances would depend heavily on the unit at the time and the budget available I guess (pre-deployment training is a different story though). Those of us that had the ticket had limited opportunity to use it anyway across the average training calendar. This was just my experience and others might have more to add to this. If you just want to drive machines every day you'd be better off in transport (not that I'm suggesting you should mind you :P)

[Kryton]

Originally Posted by lotski

and you reap the benefits (ie home loans, etc), you get after twice the time as fulltime.

What do you mean about home loans?
Is there an age limit to joining the Reserves?

[Bam]

This is the home loan assistance scheme:

http://www.dhoas.gov.au/www/html/462-home-page.asp

The age limit to join is about 55 I think. Check out:

http://www.defence.gov.au/
http://www.defencejobs.gov.au/

[Kryton]

ually had a bit of a look earlier on (after i asked about the age limit) and found that the age limit is mostly 60.

[Bunyip04]

Only transport get to drive all the veh's mate, and engineers get to drive a few, other than that if you don't need it you won't get the code.

[Lotte]

Originally Posted by davway

What do you mean about home loans?
Is there an age limit to joining the Reserves?

When in fulltime you get better home loan deals etc, after 4 years service, reservists have to wait 8 years.

[thedutchman92]

I have astigmatism in my eyes (can see near and far fine its just the detail over distance that degrades) How good does eyesight typically have to be?

[chamb0]

Originally Posted by thedutchman92

I have astigmatism in my eyes (can see near and far fine its just the detail over distance that degrades) How good does eyesight typically have to be?

Check out this: http://www.army.gov.au/artc/medical.cfm

If your vision can be corrected with glasses or contacts you may be ok depending on your role. You will need to pass an eyesight test on the pre-entry examination (and subsequent periodic tests for the rest of your time in the army) to a good standard. However the only way to get a 100% answer for your particular case is to do the examination and see what the medical staff tell you.

[chamb0]

And read through this:
http://content.defencejobs.gov.au/pd...calProcess.pdf

On page 3:

"An ophthalmology or optometry assessment is required for all applicants who wear glasses or who have less than perfect vision, or are 45 years of age or over."

Normally you are tested on visual acuity (eye chart), colour perception and peripheral vision. You may have to be tested more thoroughly.

[thedutchman92]

I have been considering laser eye correction to fix this problem once and for all, this procedure should not prevent me from joining should it?