An Cosantóir October 2015 www.dfmagazine.ie
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A
t my own retirement function in April 2012, I struck
up an interesting conversation with a still serv-
ing senior NCo. Naturally, he wished me well in
whatever I would do myself in civilian life and I asked him
about others we both knew who had retired in the last
few months. He spoke about a few soldiers who left on
age grounds (60 years of age) and he showed a genuine
concern for their wellbeing and what he perceived as an
abandonment of these men who served their entire adult
life in the military.
Now, all these men left with a pension, a gratuity and
with a relatively good physical health (all would have had a
dis-charged medical), but my friend though that these men
had still something to offer the Defence Forces.
It is obvious that soldiering requires young, fit and ca-
pable men and women to serve. Maybe though there is a
place for recently retired soldiers even to contribute on a
voluntary, part-time capacity in their former barracks and
post? We all know of the myriad of jobs that don't require
any major physical activity within every military installa-
tion, which could easily be done by someone who already
knows the ropes and his/her way around. The list of jobs is
endless and the benefits of allowing retirees to still contrib-
ute are immense - both to the Defence Forces as a whole
and to the individual themselves.
of course, not all retirees will want to come back, but for
those who would like to volunteer on a case-by-case basis,
some mechanism should be looked at. Remember, the govern-
ment is seriously looking at raising the retirement age in Ireland
to 68 - so, it is plausible that a plan could be put in place.
This is not to take away from the excellent, on-going work
that the oNE and IUNVA do on a daily basis for military
veterans. These organisations are vital to promoting the
welfare of ex-soldiers and our military tradition.
by SGT DAVID NAGLE RETD, FORMER EDITOR OF AN COSANTóIR
