Weekend’s. For many, its one of the few time’s we have time to relax, catch up on our life’s admin and celebrate with friends. However, for thousands of reservists across the UK, the weekend means packing up a bag, staying up late, and spending time training.
On the 26th June each year, we celebrate these individual’s and their contribution to the military. We acknowledge the time they sacrifice, the hardships they face and the vital role they play in our defence.
I’m Adam, an SE here at Cisco, and a reservist with 7 Rifles, A company. As part of this acknowledgement day, I’m going to share a little bit about my experiences as an Army Reservist to hopefully help you understand what some of your colleagues go through, outside of the military.
So, let’s start with the basics. What is a reservist?
Reservists are Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors & Marines who are trained to support our regular forces but have regular jobs at the same time. For me, that means 9-5 I’m working with our GVSE Sales team to sell Cisco. On the weekends, I’m a Rifleman in the Army.
What responsibilities does be a reservist carry?
Well, reservists are ultimately expected to supplement gaps in regular forces in the event of a conflict. To achieve this, we must be at the same training level as regular soldiers. This means we should be as fit, skilled and knowledgeable about all areas of military life. This can be quite the challenge, as most soldiers train every day, both physically and mentally, whereas reservists usually only attend 1 training weekend a month and 1 annual camp.
Reservists are now also expected to take the lead on domestic issues such as flooding, natural disasters and health crisis.
What does that training look like?
Different branches offer different types of training. For the army, training primarily focusses on the actions of war fighting. We train for 3 hours on a Tuesday night, involving lessons on theory. And my weekend typically involves some sort of field training exercise. An exercise is where we sleep, eat and live from within a Woodland area, and then conduct training in the day. It’s cold, muddy and hard work, but always good fun.
That sounds horrible why would you do that?
It is hard work. I also have no idea why sometimes. Humour can get you through a lot of pain. But the desire to serve and the do the right thing is also another essential component. Many of us strive to help and defend those who are less fortunate than us.
What are the people like?
You will never meet a more diverse group of individuals.
Firefighters, land surveyors, accountants, mothers, investment bankers and students. All of us come together, share experiences, network and laugh. It’s given me a completely different perspective on the experiences of others. I’ve met soldiers who could barely read/write, and I’ve met wargaming professionals who practice/theorize the future of defence.
Do you have to go to war?
Yes. All reservists are expected to serve in the event of a national conflict. We hope, that this never happens. Many reservists also ‘opt in’ to deployments with regular forces. They’re often training for 2-3 months before, then deploy for up to 6 months. These are optional, but can bring you to amazing places like Cyprus, Kenya or Canada.
What skill’s does the reserves give you?
Each reservist will specialise in a different skill. Some are HGV drivers, other’s mechanics and even radio signal specialist (Including networking). I’m an infantryman, which means I’m trained in war fighting. The skills for this can be hard to transfer to anything else, but almost all reservists will have other skills too.
People leadership. Independence of thought. Calmness under pressure. These are all skill’s reinforced by working closely with in small groups under incredibly intense training.
How does Cisco support our reservists?
Cisco have a number of things they do to support reservists & soldiers alike. They embody this through two major things. Firstly, our VET’s community. This is a collection of former, and current, armed forces members, who come together regularly to support events like Remembrance Sunday and give back to charity.
Additionally, Cisco is part of the Armed Forces Covenant. The Covenant is a written agreement to the government that Cisco will do everything it can to support, respect and acknowledge current & former armed forces members. This includes giving reservists additional paid leave to complete annual training camps. If you are ever part of another organisation, the Covenant can be a good way to find out whether your organisation really cares about its communities, even the smaller one’s like Reservists.
What is the challenge’s culturally, switching from military to civilian life?
For many regular service people, the transition to civilian life is made challenging due to the routing & structure of their military lives. Regular troops are told what to wear, do and where to be, making it hard for them to negotiate those decisions independently once in civilian life. For reservists, this has never really been the case. Most reservists have had a significant portion of their life as a civilian and are therefore more independent in thought.
Where could I find out more about the reserves?
Military life and the reserve’s can be a fascinating thing to read and talk about. It offers a completely different perspective to the lives many off us lead. You can see the perspective of a regular, who transitioned into Civilian life, from this blog looking at Justin Rookes and his time in the Army.
If your more interested in the reserves, look at the army jobs website, see some of the locations near you and the video’s they produce.
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2 Comments
Hi Adam,
Thank you for the insights into 'reservists in Cisco'.
It is great that you volunteer and that Cisco supports you.
My son was in the Air training corps, and later University Air squadron. I was a Civilian instructor in the Air Cadets. These activities give participants a great perspective of being able to both take and give orders and the ability to focus on what is important.
It is good to hear what the next stage of being part of the military involves, and how it benefits you and Cisco.
Hello Steve.
It's great to hear others getting involved in developing youngsters to focus. I find real joy when people tell me about their experiences as cadet's. I continue to feel the armed forces are among the best at educating youngsters from very young to their full maturity. Whether it be funday's, cadet groups, University OTC or regular services, the MOD do provide for all.
To be an instructor takes even more skill, so credit to yourself. I hope to get involved in the 'Cadet cups' in the coming years!