Commitment
By joining the TA you are committing yourself to giving up a portion of your spare time and to serving the community to which you belong. Anyone joining the TA can expect to be mobilised for operational service within five years, unless you join within 3 years of leaving the Regular Army when mobilisation can be deferred for up to 3 years.
Your TA time commitment will vary, depending on the type of unit you join:
Regional Units
Most of these units recruit locally; they make up the majority of the TA and have TA centres in most areas, so finding one near to you should not be difficult (try our TA near you search page). TA soldiers serving in Regional Units complete a minimum of 27 days training a year, comprising some midweek evenings, some weekends and an annual two-week camp. The training commitment reduces to 19 days per year, and no mandatory camp for up to 3 years, for ex-Regulars who have recently left the Army.
National Units
These units usually recruit their members from a wide geographical area. They specialise in a very specific role or trade, such as logistics, IT, communications or medical services.
Members of National TA units attend centrally-located training centres of the Arm or Corps they join. Because of the travel involved, members of these units have a lower level of commitment and complete 19 days training a year, divided between two to three weekends and an annual two-week camp.
There are also some highly-specialised National Units, dealing with such areas as media relations, chaplaincy and civil/military liaison. They are structured and operate in the same way as other National Units, although their training commitment may be the same as for a Regional Unit.