Reserves in other countries?

[vxc961]

So…I somehow nerded out on Bear Grylls a while ago (don’t judge me!) and since he’s British Territorial Army, it got me interested in how other nation’s reserves work. I’m curious about initial training, time obligations while serving, retirement benefits, and how they fit in. I’ve worked with Canadian, Brit, Australian and (I think he was) a JMSDF officer, and they all seemed pretty squared away.

If anyone has any better insight on how other nations handle their reserves, please post it!

 

[Hair Warrior]

They are all different, and unique to that nation’s particular requirements and philosophy. Some countries have obligatory service, such as Israel, where you retain your issued firearm at home and remain assigned to the same unit you were with on active duty. That system is designed to be a break-glass backup force.

In the UK, it can be somewhat of an honorific, with some segments of the reserve service being a sort of class-based noblesse oblige kind of thing, e.g. going from Eton to Sandhurst before Uni. These officers do it because their families have traditionally done it, and it looks good on paper, but do not routinely drill or put on the uniform after leaving. You’re not getting “tagged for mob” if you don’t want to go. This isn’t everyone in the UK military but it’s a non-zero portion of that population.

Few countries operate with a highly intricate, separately structured, and well-funded reserve/guard system like the US. I don’t know how many other countries offer retirement pensions and points capture calculations for career reservists but it can’t be that many.

 

[vxc961]

Interesting...I was almost certain the UK's Territorial Army (I think they're called Army Reserve now too) got a pension, had drill points or days or something. I was on an exercise in Canada and there was a guy who got a lump sum payout from the TA, which he said was an option rather than a pension (which didn't sound like much. I mean way less than what we get). They also got a "bounty", which sounded like a bonus for completing certain training or mobilizing. It was my impression that for the Brits, they were paid as servicemen and the bounty was kind of the bonus the active guys didn't get. But, I was operating without much sleep, so I could have gotten it all wrong or he could have been BS-ing me.

I don't think I worked with any Canadian reservists on my three week vacay, but they seemed to think the reserves were sort of a raw deal over there. Lousy pay (I think active forces are pretty well-payed in Canada), tough to get your required training done. Google wasn't super helpful when I tried to check this out on my own, but I did stumble on something that made it sound like the Canadian Air Force had more money for reserves, a better schedule, but the possible downside was that they didn't have abbreviated courses for the reserves so the initial training could be a killer. I know the Canadians also had more of a citizen's defense force, which sounded like they gave a rifle and bullets to some of the folks living waaay north and that was about the extent of it.

The Australian I worked with 20 years ago didn't sound like he got a pension, but he got like a month's worth of military leave from his civ job and could double dip, said he made good money as a reservist, got some kind of a tax benefit, and some kind of healthcare voucher or something. He was a clearance diver, so I think for him it was a cool job and he liked keeping up the skills.

Looks like France you do about 37 days a year, get some educational benefits, can get your class B license (which they seem to make a big deal about).

 

[Flash]

I don't think I worked with any Canadian reservists on my three week vacay, but they seemed to think the reserves were sort of a raw deal over there. Lousy pay (I think active forces are pretty well-payed in Canada), tough to get your required training done. Google wasn't super helpful when I tried to check this out on my own, but I did stumble on something that made it sound like the Canadian Air Force had more money for reserves, a better schedule, but the possible downside was that they didn't have abbreviated courses for the reserves so the initial training could be a killer. I know the Canadians also had more of a citizen's defense force, which sounded like they gave a rifle and bullets to some of the folks living waaay north and that was about the extent of it.

My father-in-law was in the Canadian Forces Primary Reserves (think drilling reservists) years ago and their schedule was a bit busier than mine when I did the reserves. Pretty sure his schedule was every Wednesday in addition to one weekend a month and something similar to our two weeks a year (still a very similar schedule apparently). They did their basic skills training during that time but more advanced stuff they had to go to full time school. It was enough of a time commitment that he did it for only 3 years, with his full time job and little kids it was too much, and regretted he couldn't do it longer.

The folks in the far north you are thinking of are the Canadian Rangers, made up of locals who supplement regular Canadian forces in the region. They are apparently their own little category of reservists, probably closer to a traditional 'militia' than our National Guard or their Primary Reserves. Fun fact, partly due to the cold but also budget they actually used Lee-Enfields up until recently.

 

[Griz882]

I have trained with both the UK reserves (Territorial Army) and French (the “Intervention Reserves). As noted the Brits changed from the TA to army reserve about ten years ago. The British deployed quite regularly to Afghanistan and Iraq, I only knew of two French reservists who deployed (certainly there were more). The Brits served about 30 days a year and that includes their two week summer camp. The French, as I recall, served various amounts of time based on their skill set and regular unit needs. As a side note, the French also maintain a “civilian reserve” that functions almost like an affinity group, the closest thing I can think of is our state militias. And….the British transferred local SAR responsibilities from the RAF to civilian contractors.

 

[Hair Warrior]

And….the British transferred local SAR responsibilities from the RAF to civilian contractors.

Isn’t this what that Prince William guy does?

 

[Griz882]

Isn’t this what that Prince William guy does?

I think he retired, but yeah, that was his gig.

 

[vxc961]

I have trained with both the UK reserves (Territorial Army) and French (the “Intervention Reserves). As noted the Brits changed from the TA to army reserve about ten years ago. The British deployed quite regularly to Afghanistan and Iraq, I only knew of two French reservists who deployed (certainly there were more). The Brits served about 30 days a year and that includes their two week summer camp. The French, as I recall, served various amounts of time based on their skill set and regular unit needs. As a side note, the French also maintain a “civilian reserve” that functions almost like an affinity group, the closest thing I can think of is our state militias. And….the British transferred local SAR responsibilities from the RAF to civilian contractors.

I feel like I’ve heard of other reserves who do like an evening a week in addition to all the other stuff. I’d also forgotten about our militias…which I’m still curious about. I had a buddy in the NY Naval militia and got free bridge tolls.

 

[Griz882]

I feel like I’ve heard of other reserves who do like an evening a week in addition to all the other stuff. I’d also forgotten about our militias…which I’m still curious about. I had a buddy in the NY Naval militia and got free bridge tolls.

Militia, or State Guard, units are something else. New York, Texas, and California have the most active and organized state forces above all others. The purpose for state guards was to defend armories if the National Guard was deployed. Some states don’t have any citizen soldier organizations at all. Ohio, New York, California, Alaska, and South Carolina all maintain a naval militia that includes small fleets of surface craft. Texas used to have an aviation company! Massachusetts had a militia until then Governor Deval Patrick shut them down. Many states (19 or 20) also maintain sanctioned citizen militias and they do their own thing but are subject to call up by the governor (and other regulations) with Texas, California, and Virginia leading the way. Also, we can’t forget the Civil Air Patrol and Coast Guard Auxiliary who fill similar roles.