Command of the UK Maritime Reserves, consisting of 3,270 men and women who volunteer their free time to serve the Royal Navy, transitioned to a new leader on July 31, 2023.
During a ceremony aboard HMS Victory in Portsmouth, Commodore Mel Robinson passed the baton to her successor, Commodore Jo Adey.
Commodore Robinson took charge of the reserve arm of the Senior Service at the beginning of the Covid lockdown in February 2020.
The Royal Navy say here that the pandemic saw Maritime Reservists heavily involved in supporting government and civilian organisations. Over 900 Reservists promptly volunteered their services, utilising their military and civilian skills to make a tangible difference during a time of national and international crisis. Roles included medics, logisticians, and liaison officers both at home and globally.
Following the country’s adaptation to Covid-19, Commodore Robinson shifted her attention to a once-in-a-generation transformation of the Maritime Reserves, which includes 2,496 officers and ratings of the Royal Naval Reserve and 774 green berets in the Royal Marines Reserve.
“She has been integral to modernising the organisation, replacing Cold War-era structures and processes with a regional training model that leverages technology for increased training capacity.”
An unbelievably small but important organisation.
Why on earth isn’t it three times the size?
I suppose when you consider the size of the RN, it’s not a ‘bad’ reserve, shame it’s not larger though.
Hopefully it’s mainly the much needed engineering side.
The RM reserve appears very healthy and certainly shows a keen interest in a good number of former RM members remaining within the Corps ranks as well as new reserve members.
They both represent a very valuable resource at a time when recruitment is such a problem.
Incredibly valuable
We don’t maintain anything for them to man. Yes we surged some of them for the Pandemic, and there’s scope for some individual replacements for Regulars if someone isn’t available for a role or has become a casualty.
But it’s pretty hard to justify paying 10,000 reservists if, realistically, calling them up won’t increase the combat power of the Navy. As it stands the number is probably enough to increase port capacities in strategic locations, man STUFT, and do individual casualty replacements (if you get a large number of casualties the platform is probably going to be unavailable too).
What about fully manning both Albion and Bulwark?
What about the various RFA alongside for want of crew?
What about backfilling casualties and relief?
Whilst we have no reserve fleet, for specious reasons. What does make more sense is to have say another 5 T32 and have a reserve rotation to prevent the hulls being thrashed to death.
Ok the problem is the penny pinching mentality: they would rapidly be stripped for parts.
If the T32s were rotated through and sold off avoiding the expensive mid life refit then this might well work if they were used for 60% – assuming some RNR usage.
Combined the RFA’s alongside getting both Albions into service would require less than 500 personnel to be called up from the reserves.
If you have so many casualties that need back filling that you need an extra 6,000 people then the ships the casualties will have been taken aboard won’t be combat capable either (as I pointed out in my original reply).
The extra 5 T-32s don’t exist, so a bit of a moot point saying we should have more crews to crew hypothetical reserve hulls, but lets say they did and roughly correspond to the T-31. That’s an extra 5 hulls with a crew of roughly 100 each. So 500 reservists needed. Not 6,000.
With reserves you have a % you can call up as you don’t want to interfere with some of their occupations which may be critical.
You may also need a different profile if skills so that may only be a subset of the available.
I think fully crewed with every station manned to a wartime tempo is a different story to what is required for peactime – there isn’t much slack onboard RN ships particularly for DC and CE – those functions require bodies and can’t be done by a CCTV camera.
That’s why we have a 3,000 man reserve.
DC and CE?
Going back a bit, didn’t RNR crew Ton Class Minesweepers?
and also the river class minesweepers in the 1980’s.
Crewed some Aberdovery & Loyal class with the RMAS
That is so very important. Money well spent!
Is there any comparable infantry unit that has that level of reserves, Royal look really good.
Don’t know for specific infantry units, but over all the Army is not that bad: the MOD reported in April that the Navy was 400 sailors and marines short of their target Reserve strength. The Army by comparison was short 5,200 reserve soldiers, which sounds bad until you look at it as a %. The Naval Service is -12% short of it’s target, the Army is -18%. Worse, but not incomparable.
Also worth noting that all three Reserve forces started a downward trend when Covid hit, that continues to this day.
Good question. 🤔 Cannot think of reading of any which are oversubscribed.
6 RIFLES were at 105% of establishment not that long ago. The RMR are interesting, because each one is set up with a Cdo HQ – Lt Col CO, RSM etc (or at least they were a few years ago when I last looked. ) But actually, they are Coy strength and are intended as individual replacements.
The Army Reserve Bns are intended to actually be deployable as a unit (at 365 days notice), but also expected to deploy formed sub-units. It’s quite a different approach.
One thing I found comparing the two (I was Adjt of a Reserve Bn for my sins) was that the RMR weren’t able to generate training mass for collective training, whereas the Reserve Infantry Bns could normally muster a Coy strength on a Bn level weekend.
I’m ex RFA would they take me at 41?
Question. I know the RNR personnel, like the regulars, have a particular branch to which they are assigned. And beyond that, geographically, they belong to a specific RNR Training Centre.
But could they be put in anywhere that their skillset is needed or do they have a specific vessel or shoreside facility that they are affiliated to and deployed to if necessary?
Ravers from Arrse served on 42s, went HAC, then went RNR, Weapons, he’s done several stints on different vessels as well as being on the Coronation parade. It’s a question for him.
AND, talk about pull up a sand bag, if you read the legends of Ravers, your sides will be splitting open with laughter.
Not come across him in my occasional perusal of the Arrse website.
No, they don’t have a specific vessel. Most RNR branches provide very specific “plug and play” capabilities to the RN. The RN will task the RNR with generating that capability in advance of a specific Op or Exercise (for example an LRG) and the RNR branch will call on its personnel to volunteer to fill these billets.
Royal Naval Reservists are capability specialists, not self-contained teams ready to deploy en mass like Army or Royal reservists.
At last. Thank you Jtg. Yes, regards your last sentence I now appreciate the distinction.
Why has it taken so long to replace Cold War-era structures and processes? The Cold War ended over 30 years ago.
I wonder if there is room in the RNR of nuclear engineers say from Rolls Royce. Possibly even make some arrangement with RR along the lines of RR employing more engineers/technicians than needed with a percentage on RNR duties. That would help the sub fleet if the RN and RR could use the same or part of the same work force.
Only a rough idea, but I am sure the detail could be worked out.
There is a model for this although in a slightly different sphere. The city of London police have the national lead for fraud. Withith out being rude to the Police in general they do not have the expertise in Forensic accountancy but are surrounded by civillians who are. Consiquently many large Accountancy firm offer their staff to the Police as fornesic investiagtors It helps with their trainning and the Police get an extra skill set and is seen as a contibution to Social responcibilty. They are paid by thir Companies. Your idea re R-R is I belive workable and perhaps in other areas as well. I have a reserve RMP unit near me which could copy this idea. No doubt many hoops would have to be jumped through and the process would like going through glue but certainly all possible. Oh I forgot its a new idea so it falls at the forst hurdle! .
Nice idea. Unfortunately I think it would take them far too long to earn their dolphins and then too much time to stay in date for submarine specific qualifications. They’d have very little time left for their actual job at RR.
A very valuable force but probably a good bit smaller than needed.
The RN has gone down the route of a small pool of voluntary reserves which, on mobilisation, would fill some of the gaps in regular numbers, enhance some of the support services, such as medics and intel, and provide battle casualty replacements. A force of up to 3,000 is probably adequate for that limited role.
It is basically a force of individual reservists, the units do not have vessels to train on, because their war role does not include formed RNR maritime units. Changed days, in the past they had Ton, then River minesweepers as training vessels.
I think the RN has got the wrong model here, how do you train seamen and women when they don’t get seagoing experience? Serving in a stone frigate is not the same as serving at sea and it’s not surprising that recruitment and retention suffer.
It would be far more useful if those units in the 10 coastal cities had at the least a seagoing training tender, as the University RN units do with their Archer patrol boats. We have a whole fleet of surplus Hunt and Sandown minesweepers currently being decommissioned which would serve the RNR for now.
The RN doesn’t want it, because reserves and reserve ships cost money from their budget, if pretty tiny amounts. The army and RAF are equally niggardly.
I have long thought that the defence budget should be split into one for the regular forces and one for the reserves, it is the only way we are ever going to get a capable, well-equipped reserve which can increase our strength on mobilisation through additional formed units, as well as providing individual reservists for the regulars.
Good Morning!
Sorry to say all to small and under funded! The same to be said with all our forces! Sadly mentioned many times already! When will the government wake up? When will the lack of funding be addressed?
Nick
HMS Prince of Wales sailing past Sandown bay, isle of wight
Reserve Forces are often undervalued by Regulars despite the fact that they often consist of former Defence personnel and people with a wide range of skills not to mention a willingness to give freely of their time. I know I have told this story before(Daniele😉) but the Natal Parks Board was in charge of all the Game reserves in Natal before the 1994 elections and was run on quasi military lines. I was a Honourary Officer for ten years in our Unit of approximately 50 men and women. We had regular and retired former Police Officers, Army personnel, specialists in many aspects of conservation-flora, fauna reptiles etc. and above all many retired Game Rangers from the NPB and elsewhere in Africa including Zimbabwe. Our Unit had several permanent Officers from the NPB assigned to us and we carried out the full range of duties-law enforcement, anti poaching patrols, undercover work, work in the various reserves including big five areas in Zululand. We were generally well received by the Regulars and it was a privilege to have served with them.
All strength to the ladies and gentlemen of the RNR
😀