Perhaps on some levels the problems have seen some improvement, but on a whole I'd say that there have been only slight improvements over the last thirty plus years in the Res/Reg relationship.
There is no way I can agree with that. Everything I see around me tells me this is just not true. Perhaps I am blinded because I am an officer, or because we have better relationships in our CBG: I don't know. The relationship is nothing repeat nothing like as bad as it was thirty years ago. In 1974 we hated the Regs and they returned the favour. The idea that Reservists would do responsible jobs on operations, or do any of the other things they have done and do now, would have been laughed out of the park. One of the huge differences that I have noticed is the much improved degree of professionalism of Reservists: it is night and day even from when I last did RSS in 1986-89.
Reservists continue to be maligned at the lower levels.
There are idiots everywhere, I guess. I would challenge you by telling you (from direct experience on operations in Croatia in 1994) that Regular soldiers will accept a Reserve soldier who proves he can do the job. As a matter of fact, this is the same approach that Canadian RegF soldiers tend to take towards their officers: officers have to earn respect: they can't just demand it. As well, 2PPCLI recently returned from Bosnia with high praise for their Reserve company. I won't deny there are Militia-haters, but there are Reg-haters too.
"One bad apple from a Reserve Unit will distroy any credibility of all the Reserves in the Reg world..." [/i
I'm sorry--this is a complete exaggeration in today's Army. I have never seen anything that comes close to supporting this claim.Twenty years ago, for sure. Ten years ago, maybe. Now, no.
I just came from a tasking where Reserve Cpls, with two years experience, tried to pull rank on Reg Ptes of four years experience. As Martha Steward would say; "Not a Good Thing".
No, but it might not be a "good thing" in a Regular unit between two Regular soldiers either. While a Cpl does in fact hold a higher rank, and may be used for tasks such as Section 2IC, etc. the fact is that most smart Cpls avoid "pulling rank" on Privates. A Cpl usually has no command authority unless given it for a specific task.
One must take into account that many Reg Force pers are former Reservists, so when they develop a negative attitude towards Reservists, it must have come from some experience with a "lawn dart" who has overstepped his bounds.
Yes, that could be. It also could be for 100 other reasons.
The Reg response to lump all Reservists into the same boat because of a few bad apples still continues to be a problem where it really counts. If at some levels that fact is ignored, only compounds the issue. It won't go away if all you do is ignore it.
"The Reg response" by what Regs? If you mean that Reg soldiers don't like to see somebody wearing the uniform who can't do the job, I guess they're no different than most of the proud Reserve soldiers who post on here too: they don't want to see incompetent Res soldiers either. And I agree fully that this problem (to the extent that it actually exists, as opposed to being just beer-moaning...) will not go away if it is ignored. No problem worth worrying about ever does. It will go away as fast as the two sides come to trust and understand each other. And, sending lots of Res soldiers on Op tours and on major Dom Ops, as well as sending good RegF people on FTS duty to Reserve units will continue to break down the wall.
Again, at some levels (at the top) there has been great improvement, but they were being improved on in the 1970s with more Reserve Officers being placed into administrative roles in higher HQs.
Yes-the process was probably beginning then. In my opinion it has take 30 years, but it has happened.
Even there, there was problems of incompetence with the odd officer (both Reg and Res), but that is a normal occurrence in all walks of life.
I agree with you: I think this is really the root of the problem, not that there is a pact of hatred on the part of the wicked Regs.
Many Reserve officers have done very fine jobs in places like NDHQ and such, and in some cases made it a full time career. At the lower end of the spectrum, however, there has been little change in attitudes.
Many Reserve officers(and NCOs, and troopers) have done, and are doing, fine jobs on operations in all sorts of places like Afghanistan, Bosnia, and you name it. And if there has been little change in attitudes on the part of some people (and I believe it is only some people) in the RegF, this is just a sign that we can't give up yet. This Reg/Res problem is a universal one: the Brits have it between the UKTA and their Regs, and the Americans have suffered from it between the ARNG/ARES and the Active Army. It can be fixed, but it takes work and good will on both sides. Cheers.
GW
