Veterinary technician

[Kara92]

Hello everyone!
I am a qualified veterinary nurse looking into joining the reserves as a vet tech. I’ve had a trawl through the mod website and other platforms but I still have a few burning questions that I can’t find the answer to, I was hoping to find anybody in the RAVC to answer some questions and maybe share their experience?
1. The national unit is as far as I am aware Melton Mowbray, and that’s around 100miles from where I live, so it would be a long drive for me to do a days work. How long are the days and could I stay over in accommodation on site to do a couple of days at a time?
2. The other reserve jobs state that there is a 2 week annual training camp every year for reserves, it doesn’t mention this for vet techs, so do they not have one? And if they do is it a requirement to attend?
3.I see that vet tech reserves are trained as dog handlers, if called up for deployment would I be called as a vet tech or a dog handler?
Thank you

 

[putteesinmyhands]

You may be waiting a while to get a RAVC response as there aren't many of them but as I was in a nationally-recruited unit (Royal Engineers), I can hazard a guess at some of the answers that you're looking for.

Your mandated training comprises 19 days of which 15 days will be at Annual Camp. Maths will tell you that you have 4 days in which to do annual training tests. These will most likely be over 2 weekends, perhaps one for training/revision and one for the actual tests. Or maybe one for training/revision/tests and the other for vetty stuff.

You will most likely travel up on the Friday night and start training at 08:00 (breakfast at 07:00). You'll probably finish at 16:30, have your evening meal and have a couple of Babychams before bed. Sunday morning the same start sequence but if the unit is sensible (you shouldn't drive tired), you'll likely be knocked off and away at about 14:00. Bear in mind that there'll be some who may have to travel home to Cornwall or the wilds of Scotland.

Nationally-recruited units tend to make the most of your civvy qualifications so rather than have you running about in a field playing soldiers, I wouldn't be at all surprised if you spent your Annual Camp looking after horses or dogs somewhere. Because of your specialism, I also wouldn't be too surprised if you were sent off on your own or with only one or two from your unit. That may sound a bit daunting but it also means that you'll have a bit more free rein (or lead, if you're looking after dogs ).

Alternatively, you may attend a course in lieu of Annual Camp - or, if you have the time, you may be able to do a course in addition to Annual Camp.

But that's all after you have done your recruit training - and there I can't help because mine was some time in the last millennium when things were very different.

 

[Kara92]

You may be waiting a while to get a RAVC response as there aren't many of them but as I was in a nationally-recruited unit (Royal Engineers), I can hazard a guess at some of the answers that you're looking for.

Your mandated training comprises 19 days of which 15 days will be at Annual Camp. Maths will tell you that you have 4 days in which to do annual training tests. These will most likely be over 2 weekends, perhaps one for training/revision and one for the actual tests. Or maybe one for training/revision/tests and the other for vetty stuff.

You will most likely travel up on the Friday night and start training at 08:00 (breakfast at 07:00). You'll probably finish at 16:30, have your evening meal and have a couple of Babychams before bed. Sunday morning the same start sequence but if the unit is sensible (you shouldn't drive tired), you'll likely be knocked off and away at about 14:00. Bear in mind that there'll be some who may have to travel home to Cornwall or the wilds of Scotland.

Nationally-recruited units tend to make the most of your civvy qualifications so rather than have you running about in a field playing soldiers, I wouldn't be at all surprised if you spent your Annual Camp looking after horses or dogs somewhere. Because of your specialism, I also wouldn't be too surprised if you were sent off on your own or with only one or two from your unit. That may sound a bit daunting but it also means that you'll have a bit more free rein (or lead, if you're looking after dogs ).

Alternatively, you may attend a course in lieu of Annual Camp - or, if you have the time, you may be able to do a course in addition to Annual Camp.

But that's all after you have done your recruit training - and there I can't help because mine was some time in the last millennium when things were very different.

Thankyou that helps a lot, in regards to the annual camp, is it a set date every year and always at the same time of year or do they have a few dates to
Choose from? My employer only has a small work force so if I’m going to get them on side I need to be flexible!

 

[putteesinmyhands]

Thankyou that helps a lot, in regards to the annual camp, is it a set date every year and always at the same time of year or do they have a few dates to
Choose from? My employer only has a small work force so if I’m going to get them on side I need to be flexible!

That depends on individual units. Some may have the same date each year. Others don't. It largely depends on where Annual Camp is or on the unit that you're visiting. You may even find that you suggest dates and your unit will attempt to fit Camp around them.

Unlike Independent units which tend to be large and consequently less able to be flexible, nationally-recruited units tend to be small and able to send their troops to several different places (and dates) throughout the year. You need to ask the unit that you intend to join. They may be accommodating but, equally, they may not.

Something to bear in mind is that you'll usually get plenty of notice about where and when so, as far as employer relations are concerned, it's not much different to booking annual leave. That said, nationally-recruited units often pick up tasks at short notice and will trawl their personnel, looking for someone who is available.

That's one of the differences between Independent and nationally-recruited units. While the former tend to use Annual Camp as an opportunity for large-scale training, the latter tend to use the time to use your civilian skills that may be in short supply.