Thread by @RobGilbey

This is a significant step forward for @dfreserve

"The decision to join or stay in the Reserve should be informed by a more ambitious approach to its role" -@simoncoveney responding to @davidstantontd

Special thanks to @BerryCathal for his proposals for Defence Act amendments

https://twitter.com/RDFRepAssoc/status/1331973119041531908

@simoncoveney - "I will be encouraging [The Commission on Defence] to be ambitious & if necessary, quite radical to reflect the future defence & security challenges"

"I think we're in a good space here"

@BerryCathal "What the Minister has proposed has exceeded my expectations"

Solid foundations are being laid for what might well be a very progressive set of recommendations by the Commission on Defence.

I can only hope that recommendations include:

▪️Employment Protection
▪️Employer support and engagement
▪️Income protection for Reservists
▪️Employment status clarification for deployed Reservists
▪️Revised force structures to better recruit, retain and deploy Reservists

If specialists are the only desirable talent that are likely to be deployed, then we need to ask the question - why have so many Reserve Combat Units?

That's not to say the Reserve should only consist of civilian specialists, there are military specialisations in combat service (support) roles, but the theme here is the acceptance that Reserve combat units aren't even up for consideration for deployment, so why invest in them?

Surely, we're better off beefing up the tail end of the tooth to tail ratio, by having the Reserve focus on Engineering, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Logistics, Medical and so on, so that the Regular combat units are better supported without a heavy holding cost.

If there are to be Reserve combat units, then it should also be specialised, take @CombatRecce for example, where a Reserve unit provides a specific standalone capability package.

A narrow focused investment on quality is what we should be looking for from Reserve combat units.

I wouldn't like to see a two tier Reserve whereby "line units" are left to rot and all the investment in terms of funding, legislative reform and additional supports only go to a select few specialists.

Decide on the purpose for the Reserve and build it to fulfil that purpose.

@simoncoveney said recently, "People don't join the Reserve simply to say they're in the Reserve."

The Reserve needs to exist as a national asset & be utilised as such.

We have a once in a lifetime opportunity with the Commission on Defence to reimagine 'what good looks like'.

We shouldn't be asking "What can the Reserve do?" but rather, "what do we want the Defence Forces to do and how can the Reserve support that?" swiftly followed by "How can we enable Reservists to fulfil that role?"