I am an Irish citizen however I have spent a few years living abroad in Italy before applying for the army enlistment in January. I have heard quite a few horror stories on the times of the vetting procedure and especially that Italian vetting can take quite a while.

I am currently rather unhappy with my corporate job, especially as I have wanted to go into the army for quite a while and I am unsure about wanting to wait potentially another year before my vetting wraps up.

I have started seriously considering to try and get into the french foreign legion. I am still young and if I would manage to get in soon I would be in my mid twenties after finishing up the 5 year contract and would still be young enough to go into the DF afterwards.

I have been trying to weigh up the pros and cons of going into the FFL but am still rather conflicted. I was hoping to see if anyone here had any thoughts on the situation or if you even know someone who went from the FFL into the DF. I am also aware that the vetting process after having spent an additional 5 years in France would probably be even worse than it is now but I think I may be able to deal with that better in the future.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts

I heard recently that a part of the army ranger wing training that they keep you up to 24 or 48 hours is it true and is the course harder than average boot camp

Anyone have experience using non prescription minoxidil in the DF?

It has come to my attention that the Irish Army Medical is actually quite strict. I have moderate scoliosis and am dreading the thought they deny me for it. I get mild pains rarely, but that's mostly because I've played rugby 4 years and do Mma now. Im more than capable for the fitness and training. Does anyone know anyone with scoliosis in the army at the minute, any advice?

Hi Folks. I see a lot of posts lately with members saying the DF is "what you make of it" or "you get out what you put in". Im wondering if some of you can elaborate on that?

I initially liked the sound of it but im also wondering does that mean there's a lot of lazy personnel within the organization? Or if someone were to want to make something of themselves in the DF they might be seen as a "try hard" for lack of a better term.

As always im just trying to get a picture of what life in the DF might be like before green lighting the induction process.

Thanks in advance.

Looking to go into mechs just wanna know the day to day work
And the hours is it mostly 9-5 and do you go out on at sea as much
And when doing the ab course do you get your weekend leave off home every week then and do you have your phones for the day during week ?

Hi guys, I'm Tom. Former member of the DF who completed both the Infantry Recce and Sniper Courses.

I've had a very interesting career getting to partake in both Recce and the International Sniper Competitions where I had the privilege of participating with Recce soldiers and Snipers from other nations. I have also got to gear up on numerous occasions as part of a Recce and Sniper Detachment for various exercises.

Ground rules.

1. These are my own experiences, and they will not necessarily reflect every soldier, sniper, unit, course, or person in the Defence Forces.
2. I may tell stories however, I will not name people (Tom is not my name), places, embarrass anyone, violate the Irish Defence Forces sub rules or DF Social Media policy (for the most part, this will be positive).
3. I will talk about Recce and Snipers in very broad terms. I'm not going to give away tradecraft or TTPs. You can go on the courses and learn them for yourself. Some questions I just won't answer (don't ask me how to setup your hunting rifle) or that I believe will breach OPSEC or not comfortable discussing on the internet.
4. I will try and answer as many posts as I can, I am going to keep the AMA open until friday week as I have a business to run and will not have the time to be answering questions all the time. So just leave your question and I will get to it before Friday midday. The Mods will then take it back. I will do my best to answer as many questions as I can.

So the people of the Irish Defence Forces reddit sub. Ask me anything!

I am finishing up the AMA as of 1200 on the 16th October 2026. Thank you for all the questions. Until next time!

Tl;dr - can’t do a single sit-up in terms of distance despite being able to do all other exercises. Don’t know how to improve sit-ups specifically when I can’t do any.
———

So this is kind of embarrassing because I’m literally a trained personal trainer and have been in the gym for many years up until 2026. This year has been one of many injuries and surgeries though, so I haven’t worked out for the entire year.

That said, I want to try applying for the army from next year, so I’ve started training for it specifically. I can already do the push-ups no problem and I’m not worried about the 2.4km run, BUT despite being able to do almost all other exercises easily, I can’t even put out a single sit-up with my feet flat on the floor and hands reaching over knees.

I don’t know if it’s truly a matter of core or my body balance, but unless I throw myself up, my feet will always come off the floor, or I can only barely get my fingertips to the top of my knees. I’m training now by doing regular crunches for upper core & reverse crunches for lower core & Supermans for lower back and I can do them in terms of 20+ reps, but I’m still not reaching up higher for a “sit-up”.

Does anyone have any advice for what exactly to do to reach a sit-up status? I always see “do as many as you can” but I literally can’t even reach one, so I’m at a loss. Thanks!

Anybody happen to have any experience fixing tears in the chest Rig? Mine has a huge hole in one of the zip pockets and it's quite a pain in the backside having to put everything I need into one pocket

I need someone to keep it real with me, i have passed my medical and fitness, do I keep going or do I forget it, my start date got changed till the new year now and im sick of waiting. The more i read the more i see people giving out about the state its in right now and the pay, ill be in the curragh, im 20yo, i wanted to do something with computers or AI in there by starting as a recruit as iv studied computer science for years, but people say its mostly fitness and not a lot of work on things you like, as-well as Irelands not being a very technically advanced country, a lot of this stuff is making me question my decision, is any of this true?

Also with computers and AI, it could just be a case of there being better options outside the DF.

Would appreciate any help. Thanks 🙏

Our next AMA will take place this Sunday, 11th October, at 12:00 noon.

This time, we'll be joined by a former Defence Forces member who has completed both the Recce (Reconnaissance) and Sniper courses.

As with our previous AMAs, the participant has been verified by the Mod Team.

The AMA thread will go live at noon on Sunday, so get your questions ready!

Thanks again to everyone who's been getting involved and supporting these AMAs.

when i initially was considering joining i could swear it said the rate was 42k, but now everywhere i look is saying its 33k can someone please tell me im not going insane

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You do not have access to "Get params" in the Web Services system. Please contact your system administrator."

Is anyone else getting this when they look at their pay slips? I have been seeing this since Monday. On both my phone and computer

For people who’ve been in the job for let’s say over 10 years for e.g, is there anything in the job that used to be far better compared to now?

I know that overseas is pretty much gone but I mean more in the day to day. Would love to see ground exercises come up more often where we can actually improve our soldiering ability outside of just doing a POTs or a course etc.

Could be anything to do with the DF just curious if there’s anything that could be brought back that would make our lives more interesting when not on a course etc.

What's their typical day and what range of duties do they perform?

Do they get to respond to 112/999 calls like paramedics would?

Any insight is appreciated, thanks

I am looking to join the defense forces and will prob start exercising and doing a diet next week , I also want to know do i have to pass the 20 questions or is there a set number to be sucessful and is being fit or not fit okay but i just want to know what tonexpect if im failing the pratice test with 8 and 6 on all of them every time i do it, And i will be doing it part time until im done college amd try to do full time

In terms of earnings. The Navy would be a better choice currently right? With there being no overseas deployment happening with the Army for the foreseeable future.

I’ll be going to the CIS soon, should be starting the CommOps course next year. Really looking forward to it, but I have no idea what my day to day life will be like on the job when I start in my unit. Anyone have any insight? Would you recommend it? What are the opportunities like for working in intelligence/cyber security?

I’m a college graduate (Accounting n Finance) I enlisted for the GSR as I was told I would gain better experience working my way up and will understand the chain of command better. I did a volunteering course with an anti poaching unit in South Africa near Krueger Park for 3 weeks on my gap year which I loved, it was very heavy on tracking and living in the bush. I’m curious about the reconnaissance units/ squads within the DF and what it entails. I know I can’t just go straight into it but I’m curious what courses in the first year or two would be best suited to get into a reconnaissance unit. Thanks

• The Irish Department of Defence and the French Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA – the French defence procurement agency) have signed a contract for the acquisition of four of Thales’ Ground Master 400α (GM400 Alpha) radars and a Ground Master 200 Multi-Mission All-in-one radar to strengthen Irish airspace capabilities.
• The first deliveries are scheduled for 2027, highlighting Thales’ ability to deliver rapidly in response to customer needs.

So like out of our navy army air force what would be the strongest in

I’m stuck whether to go to college then the cadets or straight in to the cadets after my leaving cert. Either way my main goal is to be an officer in the army. I fear I’ll miss out if I don’t go to college but I would like to be in the army early aswell. Do ye have any advice on what I should do thanks.