VRSM

I am in the fortunate position of being a recipient of the VRSM, having not been caught being a bad boy whilst TA/NRPS (not so lucky as a reg as I did get caught, regularly).

I am shortly to complete the required amount of time to qualify for a clasp having still not been caught being a bad boy, but my units' RAWO, who is also NRPS, has informed me that whilst TA personnel are put forward by himself NRPS are not and have to apply themselves

Now having been told bollocks by this guy before, shortly to potentially cost me many thousands of pounds, I am trying to find out if, in this case, he is correct or not so can anyone shed any light on this, hopefully with the rule that applies

 

Perhaps the use of a few smillies might help illustrate your point

 

Individuals don't apply themselves. It is an admin procedure, and should be carried out by the admin cell within your unit. PSAO would be best person to speak to.

 

Love to but I don't know how

 

Apply on the S005 available here: [ARCHIVED CONTENT] Page not found bearing in mond that NRPS service counts as 2/3 time (see TA Regs Annex C to Chapter 3).

 

Or see here: VRSM - ARRSEpedia

 

So what is the procedure for getting a VRSM if I hand back the bar on my TAEM ?
Cheers
B_T

 

The VRSM is for 10 years reckonable service. So 4 reckonable years after you got the clasp to the TEM (pedant mode on it's actually EM(T) but it's usually known as TEM) you would qualify for the VRSM if you agree to surrender the clasp. Your entitlement should be on JPA although it isn't always because the records that went onto it were not always accurate. It's that which should trigger the your admin bods into action but...

If nothing has happened and you are serving ask your admin office. If not you can call the medals office via the JPAC Enquiry Centre: 0141 224 3600.

It's worth remembering that a lot of units apply for these things without telling the soldier concerned so that they can present them as a surprise. In your case they should ask you first because they should ask you if you are willing to hand back your clasp but I know it does not always happen.

Once you have your medal your unit should arrange to recover the clasp from you but in practise many don't. At any rate you are no longer entitled to wear it.

 

thanks for that , i headrd that if you want the Vrsm I would have to hand back the bar off my TEAM and my Ao is getting the wheels in motion.

B_T

 

A question, if someone is ex regs and served 22 years then joins the TA, will quailify for the VRSM with a further 5 years service in the TA. However, if that person did not Qualify for the LS&GC due to regt entry will the time spent in the regs be disallowed even with a 20 year clean sheet.

'Up to 5 years full-time service in the Regular Forces, other than that covered by para 9c, which has not been counted towards the award of any other long service award. Full-time service to a maximum of 5 years subsequent to the award of another long service award may be counted'.

 

With regard to the VRSM the regimental entry is irrelevant although you appear to have missed that Regular service counts as half rate so the 5 years regular service you use to count for the VRSM is only 2.5 years towards the medal.

 

If I may just jump in with another question, when is the VRSM calculated from?
Is it from completion of phase 2 training?

 

Read the regulations, which are on Arrsepedia. My reading of it is that it counts from the day you join but you must qualify for a bounty and be efficient in 9 out of the 10 qualifying years. My assumption is that this is to take into account that depending on when you join you may not have the opportunity to get a bounty in your first year but that the time will still count.

If I understand the regulations correctly and subject to all the exceptions in the regulations: If you joined on 1 Nov 2001 and got a bounties in Apr 2003 - 2011 you should qualify on 31 Oct 2011.

 

BuggerAll your understanding is correct.

 

There also seems to be some confusion as to the nature of service. Some read "continuous" to mean "consecutive" but this is not the case.

I think you need to one bounty in every three years otherwise the ten year clock gets reset.

Q