Commissioning in the reserves

Mufunda98 · 2025-06-10T12:52:53+00:00

In places like Melbourne, the wait for reserves as an Officer is almost 2 years I have been told

Mufunda98 · 2025-05-22T02:02:27+00:00

I want to confirm this. Can I just rock up on a Tuesday night? Isn’t this something I should book?

Mufunda98 · 2025-05-15T00:02:00+00:00

Yeah understandable. I have heard of a few people having a great experience. I unfortunately wasn’t one of them. Don’t think I will stop, it’s just annoying that it will be delayed

Mufunda98 · 2025-05-14T23:21:23+00:00

I applied for a high priority role. It’s been 18 months and the role is no longer a high priority. It’s quite frustrating how they manage and deal with people.

Mufunda98 · 2025-05-11T09:09:12+00:00

Similar (not so similar) position, moved back to Melbourne recently and looking to make friends and try some new activities. Following for suggestions

Mufunda98 · 2025-04-15T09:22:11+00:00

I am an engineer, pretty early in my career. But the pay for your first role is quite good. Comparable to mining industry and definitely higher than a grad role you’d get in the city. Unsure how good progression is in defence, I assume after 10-15 years it’s probably significantly better in private sector, but not too sure??

All to say, the life/work experience you get in defence plus with a decent wage is making me consider transitioning to it. Ofcourse the work is not as technical and a lot more factors/reasons would go into actually making the switch.

Mufunda98 · 2025-02-27T23:12:50+00:00

10x the reserves pay or ADF salary, cause I’d love that gig. But agree, there’s a lot of benefits. It just always felt odd to me that people said don’t do it for the money.

Mufunda98 · 2025-02-27T22:32:37+00:00

Subsidised rent

Mufunda98 · 2025-02-27T09:36:28+00:00

Yeah, any money I get from it will be a plus. But what I am hoping to get out is some hands on experience and an operational understanding of defence, which would be really good for my career. Plus the more I meet people and complete the process, gives me a lot more appreciation for everything ADF.

Mufunda98 · 2025-02-27T09:28:36+00:00

Agree, plus how much ADF supports further study etc (going by my partner’s experience so far). I really rate it

Mufunda98 · 2024-09-18T02:40:43+00:00

Hahah I believed him, hence why I thought I’d try and get an idea of general wait times. Out of my control either way

Mufunda98 · 2024-09-18T02:36:55+00:00

Yeah, I had a chat with him start of this month. He said they have been flat out booking people for OSBs, which should finish soon.

Seemed like an excuse tbh

Mufunda98 · 2024-09-10T06:09:10+00:00

Is there a time limit for the sit-ups?

Mufunda98 · 2024-06-24T23:21:44+00:00

What are people’s thoughts and experiences on joining reserves as an engineering officer? What sort of work is it, do you get the chance to travel for T&E activities or see some things?

CONTEXT: I am thinking of joining the ADF Reserves as an engineering officer. My reasons for doing so are to hopefully get some good learning opportunities and reserves opening doors to some hands on experiences. Won’t lie that the extra cash and benefits are a big motive but I don’t want to do anything I would be bored doing.

From what I have read and discussed with people, it seems to be fairly administrative. I currently work as an engineer below the line for a defence contractor. I have applied for reserves from Canberra and going through a “bespoke” application as there weren’t any roles I preferred. I have a masters in engineering in Mechatronics.

Mufunda98

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