by Aoife McLoughlin
The Irish Naval Service Reserve (NSR), as authorized by the Government, is running a competition for 10 new recruits to come aboard the Limerick Unit.
Speaking to the Limerick Post about the up coming competition, Sub Lieutenant James Scanlon of the NSR Limerick unit said: ” We have had a Limerick Unit of the Naval Reserve since the second World War. The unit was halved in recent years from 100 to 50 people due to cutbacks. It would appear that there are plans to expand it back out again. We are now recruiting 10 people.”
As expected, applicants will be put through their paces with a rigorous recruitment progress, including a medical, fitness test, Garda clearance and an interview.
To pass the fitness tests, wouldbe recruits will be expected to perform 20 sits up in one minute and 20 press ups in one minute. Applicants will also be expected to run 2.4 kilometers in 11 minutes and 40 seconds for men and 13 minutes and 10 seconds for women.
The training progress begins between March and June for four weeks with two full-time weeks of commitment for further training in July.
Professional training such as fire fighting and survival at sea courses are required before NSR recruits can join their counterparts from the full time unit on the ships.
“The Naval service reserve is sort of a part-time job in the sense that part of it is voluntary but for part of the year you do get paid for full-time work,” said Sub Lieutenant Scanlon.
A day in the in the life of an NSR recruit commences at 5.55 am where they complete intense personal training sessions followed by a full day of training classes.
Sub Lieutenant Scanlon said people who join the Naval Reserve unit often decide to make it their full time career with many opportunities available to use other qualifications and progress up the ranks.
The rate of pay for a naval seaman is €410.13 a week and Sub Lieutenant Scanlon said recruits can expect to be paid for between 4 and 6 weeks a year if they have the time to commit.
The Sub Lieutenant offers the following advise to all eager applicants: “The best thing applicants can do for the interview stage is go on to military.ie and educate themselves about it. Like who is the Commander in chief of the defense forces ? The answer is the President. But people don’t know these things so they can find everything they need to know online. ”
Closing date for applications is November 14, 2014. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and under 35 years of age. For more information and to apply go to: http://www.military.ie/en/careers/current-competitions/
