Originally Posted by msr

Originally Posted by barbs

Without sounding like an arrogant regular idiot... but surely those TA best placed to assist are the ones whose houses and businesses are being flooded out in the first place. Or are we suggesting that mobilising the TA in Scotland to help out the people of Norfolk? The great thing is that they could stay in the TAC just down the road from the flood, unless that is flooded. They can use the well-established dining and feeding facilities in all TACs... unless they are flooded, too. Clearly the TAC will be well-stiocked with food if it isn't flooded out, just in case.

What NTM would you have the TA on for, and for how long? Is the TA now the Civil Defence Corps? Poorly thought out and badly articulated.

The trouble is you are thinking like a regular

NTM: All available TA bods who can get to xxx TA Centre in the next 2 hours for the next 6 hours, please make your way.

MSR

Fairy nuff

The problem being, the authorities often don't want our help. Our lot were mobilised to Hull a couple of years ago during the floods and they wouldn't even let them fill sand bags. Spent the time sat in the TAC watching DVD's etc

Not sure I'd want to be at the beck and call of our county council, they'd be taking back handers off someone and using us as cheap manual labour!!

Joking aside, perhaps they could make a record of those that have the skills and opportunity to help out in a crisis and give this to the emergency services. Then when the problem comes it is local TA helping the local community.

We helped put out a forest fire a month ago but the fire brigade wouldn't let us pull their stranded wagon out the mud because it was against their rules! But we were more than willing to help!

A friend commanded a TA Pl in Northamptonshire in the early '90s. There was severe flooding in a local town & somehow he blagged his way onto local radio, appealed to any of his troops listening to come in to the TAC, and then spent the day rescuing people in a fleet of helibedfords.

He nearly got a rocket from his CO for effectively calling up the troops, but this was rapidly deflected by the goodwill coming back from the local people.

As a footnote when he got back to his own house his fridge & shiny new Saab were floating down the street...

To my mind a pool of appropriately available/qualified reservists could work as long as the blue lights were prepared to work with it.

The TA has much to offer in events such as flooding, fires etc. Maybe not in the initial act of treating the incident but the logistical support, the assets such as bedfords which in a flood would be invaluable as they can get anywhere, manpower of reasonable ability and fittness could aid in the movement and placement of assets, i dont just mean sandbags. The TA centres in almost every town can act as a good command base.

So why dont the blue lights use you (ex ta so im not saying us)?

Having met them and worked with some of them, I believe its due to arrogance really and their misconceptions of the TA as being full of idiots too thick to join the regs that they become weekend warriors. Or that was the impression I got from them.

CCRF?

And I thought the reason Councils wouldn't use us is the MoD charge them for it?

Originally Posted by Nutter

...Having met them and worked with some of them, I believe its due to arrogance really and their misconceptions of the TA as being full of idiots too thick to join the regs that they become weekend warriors. Or that was the impression I got from them.

Given the police's reliance on the Special Constabulary I don't think they're really in a position to be scathing about part-timers...