page_title: Reserve Defence Forces
section_title: History and organisation
hierarchical_section_title: Reserve Defence Forces / History and organisation
caption_attribution_description: Chief of Staff Lt Gen Sean Mc Cann, visiting the E Bde RDF Annual Camp in Glen of Imall
context_page_description: The Reserve Defence Forces are the combined reserve components of the Irish Defence Forces. The RDF is organised into the First Line Reserve and an active Second Line Reserve. The First Line Reserve comprises former members of the Permanent Defence Forces and the Second Line Reserve comprises the Army Reserve and Naval Service Reserve.
  The RDF was established on 1 October 2005 and replaced the Second Line Reserve, previously named An Fórsa Cosanta Áitiúil in the case of the AR, and An Slua Muirí in the case of the NSR. The Reserve has undergone significant reorganisation and modernisation in tandem with the Permanent Defence Forces as part of the "Single Force" concept.
context_section_description: In 1997 a steering group was convened by the Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces to conduct a special study on the restructuring of the Defence Forces Reserve. The report was completed in May 1999. The Reserve Defence Forces was established on 1 October 2005 in line with the recommendations of this report, and as part of a wider restructure of the Defence Forces from 2000 onwards.
  An RDF Training Authority was established in the Defence Forces Training Centre (DFTC) which co-ordinates and conducts reserve training.
  The Minister for Defence accepted the recommendations of a "Value for Money (VFM) Review of the Reserve Defence Force", published on 20 November 2012.
  The Steering Committee recommended an Army Reserve and Naval Service Reserve based on a total strength ceiling of 4,069 personnel, (3,869 personnel Army Reserve and 200 personnel Naval Service Reserve), subject to existing organisational structures being revised.
  In order to provide sufficient paid training days to sustain this strength, the Steering Committee recommended the withdrawal of gratuities from members of the Reserve and a re-allocation of the budgetary provision for gratuities of €0.9 million to provide sufficient paid training days for members of the Reserve.
  The key points are;
  A new "Single Force" concept will see Army units having Reserve sub-units attached, rather than separate stand-alone Reserve units.
  A geographic spread for the Reserve will be achieved between existing Permanent Defence Force locations and the retention of 16 external locations. This consolidation into an effective organisation will entail the amalgamation and closure of units throughout the country. Recruitment is also envisaged where this is necessary to achieve the numbers required in particular locations.
  The strength of the Army Reserve and Naval Service Reserve was reduced from its previous establishment of 9,692 personnel to 4,069 personnel. This will be achieved through natural turnover. Implementation of the new organisational structures will require participation and flexibility from existing Reserve personnel.
  The Naval Service Reserve will consist of 200 personnel and be based in four locations.
  The number of Army personnel available to work full-time with the Army Reserve and Naval Service Reserve is being reduced from the current 261 Army personnel to 57 full-time Army personnel. Additional support will be provided from Army units.
  Implementation of the re-organisation, including regulatory provision for the new Reserve organisation, will be progressed in tandem with the broader re-organisation of the Army. As with the Army, there will be an implementation process to achieve the transition from current structures to the new structures. In the intervening period, the military authorities will ensure the continuity of Reserve training.
  The representative body for all ranks of the RDF is the Reserve Defence Forces Representative Association (RDFRA).
caption: Chief of Staff visiting Army reservists on annual full-time training in the Glen of Imaal
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 5D Mark II", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2010:08:17 18:18:07", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "240", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "1008", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1122", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "0", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/60", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "640", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:08:17 12:02:23", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:08:17 12:02:23", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "6", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "32", "EXIF SubSecTime": "96", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "96", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "96", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "800", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "533", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "976", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "5616000/1459", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1872000/479", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}