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The Army Reserve

Official Defence Forces Badge

The Army Reserve (Cúltaca an Airm in Irish) is part of the Reserve Defence Forces (RDF) of the Irish Defence Forces.

The Army Reserve, and the Naval Service Reserve (Cúltaca an tSeirbhís Cabhalaigh in Irish) are both integrated parts of the Defence Forces. The RDF is a part-time, fully volunteer organisation. While the RDF is a new force established on the 1st of October 2005, all personnel in the force on that date were formerly part of An Fórsa Cosanta Áitiúil or An Slua Muiri, all units of the former forces were demobilised, and the new units of the RDF formed on the same day.

Formation

In the 1990's the Irish Army was re-organised to be a cost effective professional force, with reduced numbers and higher standards of training and equipment. When the Government introduced the White Paper on Defence, it was decided that the Reserve Defence Forces also needed a re-organisation and improvements in training, equipment, and facilities. The Government convened a steering group to formulate a plan for the RDF Re-Organisation with submissions from every unit concerned, the Reserve Representative Body (RDFRA) and the Permanent Defence Forces.

History of the Army Reserve

Main article: History of The Irish Army Reserve - Forsa Cosanta Áitiul.

Roles

Its primary roles in line with the Permanent Defence Forces (PDF) are:

• To defend the State against armed aggression; this being a contingency, preparations for its implementation will depend on an on-going Government assessment of the security and defence environment;

• To aid the civil power (meaning in practice to assist, when requested, the Garda Síochána, who have primary responsibility for law and order, including the protection of the internal security of the State);

• To participate in multinational peace support, crisis management and humanitarian relief operations in support of the United Nations and under UN mandate, including regional security missions authorised by the UN;¹

• To provide a fishery protection service in accordance with the State's obligations as a member of the EU;

• To carry out such other duties as may be assigned to them from time to time, e.g. search and rescue, air ambulance service, Ministerial air transport service, assistance on the occasion of natural or other disasters, assistance in connection with the maintenance of essential services, assistance in combating oil pollution at sea.

¹This is not currently a role of the Reserve Defence Forces due to training and Legislation issues. It is believed that by the end of the RDF re-organisation this will be a role of the force.

Composition

It is organised into three Brigades:

• The 1st Reserve Brigade (South)
• The 2nd Reserve Brigade (East)
• The 4th Reserve Brigade (West)

Each Brigade Mirrors the PDF Brigade as Below:

1 Reserve (Southern) Brigade	2 Reserve (Eastern) Brigade	4 Reserve (Western) Brigade
RDF HQ 1 Southern Brigade	RDF HQ 2 Eastern Brigade	RD FHQ 4 Western Brigade
32 Reserve Infantry Battalion	62 Reserve Infantry Battalion	51 Reserve Infantry Battalion
33 Reserve Infantry Battalion	65 Reserve Infantry Battalion	56 Reserve Infantry Battalion
34 Reserve Infantry Battalion	67 Reserve Infantry Battalion	58 Reserve Infantry Battalion
31 Reserve Cavalry Squadron	62 Reserve Cavalry Squadron	54 Reserve Cavalry Squadron
31 Reserve Artillery Regiment	62 Reserve Artillery Regiment	54 Reserve Artillery Regiment
31 Reserve Engineer Company	62 Reserve Engineer Company	54 Reserve Engineer Company
31 Logistic Support Battalion	62 Logistic Support Battalion	54 Logistic Support Battalion
31 Reserve Communications Information Service Company	62 Reserve Communications Information Service Company	54 Reserve Communications Information Service Company
31 Reserve Brigade Military Police Company	62 Reserve Brigade Military Police Company	54 Reserve Brigade Military Police Company
(Reserve) Southern Brigade Training Centre	(Eastern) Reserve Brigade Training Centre	(Western) Reserve Brigade Training Centre
Army Troops(Part of 1 Air Defence Regiment)
2 Air Defence Battery (Dublin)	3 Air Defence Battery (Limerick)	4 Air Defence Battery (Cork)

There is also a Reserve Defence Forces Training Authority (RDFTA) based in the Defence Forces Training Centre in the Curragh. In addition there are 3 Air Defence Batteries which are not part of the brigade structure but report directly to the 1 Air Defence Regiment (PDF) in the Curragh. They are territorially located, 2 Air Defence battery in the Eastern Brigade. 3 and 4 Air Defence Batteries in the Southern Brigade.

Source

Historical information taken from the Irish Defence Forces website, www.military.ie, and reproduced under the terms of their licence.

External links

Irish Defence Forces (Public information/ official page)