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Yeah I figure officers wouldn't see the course a lot since it's more of a corporal type position. I know about five or six guys that got on it, you'll get it if you're a keener for sure. But yeah, you stand a lot better chance trying out for CSOR if you're looking to do CP. Join a combat trade then. 
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Aug 3, 2010 07:56
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Welp, I finished BMQ. Got bumped from BMQ/L in Edmonton for lack of spaces and too many candidates, so I have a month of summer to burn. I also need to invest in more insoles, because goddamn my low arches make PT suck balls.
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Aug 4, 2010 02:41
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Congrats. Yeah arches make everything suck. If you're lucky you can try and scam some wicked sweet rear end orthopedic insoles through the system or at least get a chit to wear your own boots so marches don't suck quite so much rear end. But a lot of the times it's really not so much the insoles and more the shoes you're running in to begin with. If you got a Running Room nearby, head over there for your next shoe purchase. They'll take a look at your gait and how you walk in the shoes and they'll help you find one that's good for you. Running is a learned thing, if you don't do it right everything tend to sucks balls. Especially feet and knees. Ugh.
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Aug 4, 2010 09:10
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stevobob fucked around with this message at 16:56 on Aug 16, 2017 |
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Aug 4, 2010 22:45
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I've been using a pair of those heat-molded SOLEs ($40) they sell at Canexes and CP Gear for almost three years and they're fantastic. I didn't even bother molding them, the only problem is that they hold tons of water so if you're doing a combat arms course you should bring an extra set to the field.
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Aug 6, 2010 02:22
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I bought a set of those civvy-side, and they're probably the only reason I made it through the marches. Still doesn't help on PT runs, though. And luckily I'm Sigop, so... 
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Aug 6, 2010 02:58
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DrakeriderCa posted:There are no ROTP slots for INT O? Weird. Remember that joining as one trade and remustering to another one isn't always guaranteed - I know a few Log O's who have been stuck in it for years now after their recruiter promised them that they'd be able to remuster to Infantry once they were in. ROTP for INT O is RMC exclusive as it requires a Top Secret security clearance where as all other Officer trades only require a level 2 clearance. RMC is the only University in Canada that requires a grade 12 advanced math for a Bachelor of Arts. I got 74 in Calculus and it was not enough. I will have had quite a bit of added work experience since my application for this coming Fall so next year's application should considerably improve my chances. Once I start school all my effort will be going into getting the highest grades possible. I guess I heard rumours CP was being taken away from the MP's in the near future and made it's own thing as well as possibly offering the course to Officers. Drake do you know if it is possible to get "promises" from recruiters in writing that would hold legal grounds? I've heard of guys doing this State side being told they'd graduate Basic or whatever course at xxx pay level with xyz status at abc rank. On another note when it comes to the Physical training side of things, I'm back up to running 25km a week. Can't wait till some cleaner B.C. air and colder temperatures come Fall/Winter then I'll look about pushing it to 50km. Beginning of summer I got to 60 and then got sick. Thinking about starting to run in some actual races so I can show that I really am competitive and active. My Spirit Otter posted:Noooooooooooo. First of all Infantry is full. Second of all, I've only met two or three infanteers who have their close protection course. And finally MP would be your best bet, close protection is part of the QL3s, I believe or its a course readily offered. Infantry is not "full" for ROTP this question came up several times all trades are open for ROTP as these spots are "saved" for several years down the line when person xy graduates from a Officer Cadet to a Regular Force Officer. Infantry is full for NCM's from what I understand. Also I believe CP course is open to any trades primarily drawing from Combat Arms. Either way I'm going to look into switching my options and putting MP as one of my choices.
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Aug 6, 2010 06:21
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Tom Swift posted:ROTP for INT O is RMC exclusive as it requires a Top Secret security clearance where as all other Officer trades only require a level 2 clearance. This is completely incorrect. I would suggest reviewing where you get your info from.
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Aug 6, 2010 06:40
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One of my most favourite platoon commanders was also told going officer would be the quickest way to get a slot in recce and all the gucci courses. Boy did he wish he could go back in time. Recruiters will most often tell you anything to sign a paper. Yes, yes, you'll get CP in the MPs for sure, especially as an officer! Rethink long and hard about what you want to do, cause officer contracts are long.
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Aug 6, 2010 08:11
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Drama Llama posted:This is completely incorrect. I would suggest reviewing where you get your info from. Sorry maybe I worded it wrong but I was told by the recruiter at my interview that RMC is the only University they'll let people go for ROTP INT O. INT O under ROTP is fairly new and in the past they have always drawn from other trades with experience. I figure if I don't get anything High Speed I can find something after I get out. However regardless I am highly motivated for career advancement.
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Aug 6, 2010 20:15
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Fire Above posted:One of my most favourite platoon commanders was also told going officer would be the quickest way to get a slot in recce and all the gucci courses. What does this mean?
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Aug 6, 2010 20:55
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Tom Swift posted:Sorry maybe I worded it wrong but I was told by the recruiter at my interview that RMC is the only University they'll let people go for ROTP INT O. INT O under ROTP is fairly new and in the past they have always drawn from other trades with experience. My BMOQ was entirely Civi U, and it had 4 INT O's on it from various universities. There are also a variety of other officer trades that require Lvl. 3 clearance, off the top of my head there's MARS, and I believe Pilot and some from the CELE/EME/Sigs people as well. Students requiring lvl. 3 are also permitted to attend Civi U.
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Aug 6, 2010 22:10
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Just finished a seven week stint of BMOQ. I'm in MOTP and our summer is too short to do the full 15 week program, so we do a split of 7 and 8. If anyone else around here was/is at St-Jean this summer, you might have seen our pathetic 18 member health services platoon stumbling around. I hope other platoons didn't make fun of us too much 
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Aug 7, 2010 00:26
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Mantle posted:What does this mean? Gucci courses are courses that give you cool HSLD qualifications or where you do cool stuff. Recce is a reconnaissance course where you learn to navigate in the Neripis hills like a loving boss, and you do crazy super tactical patrolling and stuff. It actually sucks but a lot of people want it because it's a sign of being a pretty switched on officer, even though it's not really as hard as phase 3 infantry at all.
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Aug 7, 2010 00:33
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tuyop posted:HSLD qualifications I'm not actually in the army, so I don't know what these mean either... but I am trying to join!
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Aug 7, 2010 07:47
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Tom Swift posted:ROTP for INT O is RMC exclusive as it requires a Top Secret security clearance where as all other Officer trades only require a level 2 clearance. RMC is the only University in Canada that requires a grade 12 advanced math for a Bachelor of Arts. I got 74 in Calculus and it was not enough. Yeah, the security clearance thing definitely isn't true. CP has already been "taken away" from the MP's and is now open to all trades. Just like CSOR, JTF 2 and almost everything else cool in the CF. Edit: Not everything else, sorry. There are still things that are cool that are only open to specific trades (INT being one of them).  I doubt it's possible. Most recruiters would know better than to promise anything on paper anyways - they know as well as we do that they can't really promise you anything that isn't already on paper somewhere else.
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Aug 7, 2010 08:59
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DrakeriderCa posted:Yeah, the security clearance thing definitely isn't true. Ahh I see yea the CF recruiting process is SNAFU, it's kinda annoying in many ways I want to be in already and getting my courses done with but as I've stated previously my recruiter suggested I reapply to ROTP rather than join the Reserves now. I guess that is a little bit of encouragement and that he definitely thought I should have got in the first time and figures I should get in the second try. I feel like it's going to be a long road ahead, FFL and CSIS are also calling for me at the back of my head when I have doubts that the CF will not come through. I also know UofT has a 2nd year admission program special to CSIS and CF INT types. I'm only 19 and will be starting at UBC this Fall I still think I have lots of time not an old man yet. At the same time I'm pretty sure I know what I want in life.
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Aug 7, 2010 09:51
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Tom Swift posted:Ahh I see yea the CF recruiting process is SNAFU, it's kinda annoying in many ways I want to be in already and getting my courses done with but as I've stated previously my recruiter suggested I reapply to ROTP rather than join the Reserves now. I guess that is a little bit of encouragement and that he definitely thought I should have got in the first time and figures I should get in the second try. You have tons of time. I'm not sure what CSIS' hiring is like right now, but in the past it's been incredibly competitive. Like, a Master's degree or multiple Bachelor's, and multiple languages. I'm also intrigued by this U of T program but can't google anything on it. Tell me more.
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Aug 7, 2010 15:10
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DrakeriderCa posted:You have tons of time. I'm not sure what CSIS' hiring is like right now, but in the past it's been incredibly competitive. Like, a Master's degree or multiple Bachelor's, and multiple languages. I had a coworker this past winter who attended UofT for the program, he was in the CF at the time and hold's a couple Bachelor's degrees after he graduated there was a huge family emergency which he didn't get into to much about and had to bail from the CF to live back home. It used to be called something different but now it is it the ultra poltiically correct Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies. His dad was straight up secret squirrel worked for/with FBI and MI5 who gifted him a Walther PPK for his services for the Queen. From what he told me his dad was some sort of Deputy for the RCMP who also worked with/for foreign agencies jointly one of the benefits he an had ATC in Canada up until 88' when he retired. Pretty interesting stuff. The coworker told me he still gets calls from his buddy in the CF asking if he wants to join. Oh yea he's a Free Mason and regularly attends dinners here in Toronto with the Royal Canadian Military Institute.
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Aug 7, 2010 18:37
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Mantle posted:I'm not actually in the army, so I don't know what these mean either... but I am trying to join! HSLD: High speed, low drag. All the gucci (sweet) poo poo that every rear end in a top hat off the street who thinks that they're hard wants. Things like advanced reconnaissance courses, airborne courses, close protection courses, urban ops instructor, et cetera. Very few people, and even fewer officers get all this stuff because there's a bunch of less glamorous things that occupy your time instead. "Switched on": Good. Phase 3 infantry: Development phase 1.1 for infantry trade qualification. It's the dismounted platoon commander course. Probably the hardest course in the Army, maybe in the whole CF and one of the hardest officer selection courses in NATO. It's a terrible loving time. Training can be read in three or four phases for most trades. Phase 1 is generally basic. Phase 2 is element qualification (in the army this is the Common Army Phase, the course where you learn about an infantry section in battle and commanding an 8 to 10 man group. It's a lot of fun for most combat arms types (infantry, artillery, and armour and sometimes engineers if you ask them) and not very much fun for supporting arms types who still have to take it (logistics officers, medical officers, MPs, intelligence officers, and some others)) For the Navy it's the course that teaches you about living at sea, I don't know anything about this but I heard that the last one was in Hawaii and hated my life. The air force does something else involving hotels I guess. Phase 3 is trade qualification, so you learn the specific jobs of your trade in more or less relevant training. Phase 4 is advanced trade qualification, in the infantry this is mechanized platoon commander. I guess there are senior officer courses as well, but I've never heard them referred to as a phase. What's cool about intelligence again? As far as I know it's all about collating data from troops in contact, patrol reports, and Battalion and Battle Group level recce assets and presenting them to the appropriate commanders so that they can make their Rommel plans. Lots of matrices and powerpoints to Colonels who ignore a lot of the data anyway because a lot of unnecessary detail has to be included. People just seem to hear intelligence and think it must be arcane poo poo where you carry concealed weapons and grow a beard and spy on people. Maybe HUMINT is cool, but again I thought that was open to all trades because I know a SIGS guy who did a HUMINT tour and an infantry reservist who did a lot of HUMINT work overseas.
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Aug 9, 2010 00:28
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tuyop posted:Probably the hardest course in the Army, maybe in the whole CF and one of the hardest officer selection courses in NATO. It's a terrible loving time. This explains a lot.
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Aug 9, 2010 02:56
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tuyop posted:What's cool about intelligence again? Unfortunately, that's what Intelligence became while we were being a lazy, sad peacetime army. Now that we're in conflict again, our military is thankfully re-learning how to actually use intelligence. There's a fantastic document about how our INT infrastructure needs to be changed (It's American, but relevant to basically every NATO nation: http://www.cnas.org/files/documents/publications/AfghanIntel_Flynn_Jan2010_code507_voices.pdf ) Briefing Intelligence is an art that isn't really well taught from what I've seen, which results in a lot of people having a bad experience with a mediocre INT Op or O. This damages the credibility of the whole trade, and results in a misunderstanding of the real role of intelligence in the military. The reality of intelligence is that it's almost 95% information/intelligence management and presentation. It's very heavy on producing documents, reports and powerpoint slideshows. 5% of it is super sneaky HSLD stuff. But that HSLD stuff is really really awesome. Tom Swift posted:I had a coworker this past winter who attended UofT for the program, he was in the CF at the time and hold's a couple Bachelor's degrees after he graduated there was a huge family emergency which he didn't get into to much about and had to bail from the CF to live back home. It used to be called something different but now it is it the ultra poltiically correct Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies. hmm That sounds like most of the other Conflict or Peace Studies programs I've heard of. I thought it would be something Intelligence-focused. On top of that, it's not only called the Trudeau Center, but the program description makes it sound like a politically correct cookie-cutter UN functionary assembly line. Maybe it's really better than it sounds - I can't judge without any experience with it.
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Aug 9, 2010 06:15
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stevobob fucked around with this message at 16:56 on Aug 16, 2017 |
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Aug 10, 2010 00:13
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acumen posted:This explains a lot. Truth be told, it wasn't that hard, they just made drat sure that you didn't get much sleep. It's the course that has fueled my dislike for most officers just on principle. The warrants are what make the course bearable. IODP1.2 starts for me in September, which means I could be badged by February.  The point still needs to be made, though. If you're thinking about becoming an Infantry officer, don't. You will hate your life.
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Aug 10, 2010 01:10
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Simkin posted:The point still needs to be made, though. If you're thinking about becoming an Infantry officer, don't. You will hate your life. So why do you still do it?
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Aug 10, 2010 22:18
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The triumph of hope over experience?
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Aug 11, 2010 00:59
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Quick question. I've looked through the thread and unless I just completely blanked on it, I didn't see this addressed... When going through the application process, they have the whole 'reliability screening' where you need to have 5 references that you've known continuously for 5 years and they can't be family. What happens when you're someone who's moved around a lot in recent history and therefore don't /have/ 5 people you could list?
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Aug 13, 2010 13:10
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Chet from Weird Science posted:Quick question. I've looked through the thread and unless I just completely blanked on it, I didn't see this addressed... I just put down people who had known me for at least five years. Family friends and that jazz.
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Aug 13, 2010 16:43
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Canuck-Errant posted:I just put down people who had known me for at least five years. Family friends and that jazz. So it's not that big of a deal? The way the recruiter is making everything sound, it's all loving life or death. Joining the US Marine Corps was so much easier.
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Aug 14, 2010 01:45
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Guys, I just got off indoc period and I'm home for the first time in a while. All I can say is holy gently caress I made the right career choice. I love this poo poo. My instructors are awesome, PT is awesome,hell i even like inspections. Monday is our range day. Our platoon started off at 72 and is now down to 50 by week 5. 10 got sent to fat camp, a couple got hurt, 8 VRs in weeks 1 and 2 and one guy got PRB'd for having 7 counsellings 5 days after they started counting them. We have one master seaman who is hard as gently caress and just awesome. He's my section commander, but he's leaving this weekend to go do work up training for deployment with his CP unit. Before he left he shoved me into the locker and reminded me not to "do the blow off the stripper rear end". I'm gonna miss that dude. Our platoon commander is hilarious, and most of our staff kick all kinds of rear end. My platoon was completely poo poo the first 3 weeks. We couldn't make timings, we didn't hustle, and people kept loving up (I got 8 counsellings, 4 of them being course senior/fire team partner gently caress ups) but this week we really came together and we're rocking this poo poo. We still have a bunch of shitpumps but they'll either get their poo poo together or get recoursed. I've got the shack hack pretty bad, so I go to the MIR and they give me decongestant, throat medication and... a bottle of codeine. Let's just say drill was a bit hard to follow the next day. Does anyone have any info on EOD? For some strange reason I want to get on the EOD course when I'm a senior sapper or corporal. I know it's faaar down the road, but I'm curious about it. Oh, yeah, I forgot. gently caress powerpoint presentations. Holy loving poo poo, it's like they are specially designed to put you to sleep. ALmost everyday I sit there and my eyes start criss-crossing and I can barely keep myself from sleeping. Also, gently caress the MIR, gently caress bedrest and gently caress restrictions. We had a good guy get bounced back a week because theMIR gave his stupid restrictions for 5 days. gently caress idiots who talk in ranks and gently caress our sister platoon. Samu fucked around with this message at 05:42 on Aug 14, 2010 |
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Aug 14, 2010 05:15
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You went to the MIR for a cold? Cut that poo poo out. The rest of your post was just pretty  horny private stuff. Wait until you're in the training system for four years making -200 dollars a pay and nobody can figure out why you're not being promoted and you might never get there anyway because the physiotherapist wants to put you on temporary category for your sprained loving spine. I mean it's good that you enjoyed your basic! The army is great eh?
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Aug 14, 2010 05:48
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I was coughing up blood so my section senior told our section commander who made me go to the MIR. Trust me I didn't want to go. I wound up avoiding bedrest and only missing one PT class and nothing else since we went to the Canex/haircuts that morning, so it was worth it. I did the morning PT and inspection, then reported to the MIR and got back without missing anything. And whatever man, I like my job so far and it's what I've wanted to do for a long time. I'm not doing this for the 600$ paycheck after 14 consecutive 12 - 16 hour days. I'd make more working full time labouring or some poo poo. Maybe I'll get bitter when I'm at where you're at, but for now I'm gonna have my fun and let everything soak in. I know not everything is great and there's lots of horror stories about the CF but I'm loving my job so far.
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Aug 14, 2010 06:25
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Don't let Tuyop get you down. Enjoy the poo poo out of basic, because training only gets more serious after that. The shitpumps will never be completely weeded out, but the percentage does slowly decline. Don't try to calculate your hourly rate of pay or you will die a little inside. Where are you going through basic?
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Aug 14, 2010 14:40
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St.Jean, and my hourly rate of pay is $2.41
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Aug 14, 2010 18:15
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Your experience isn't complete if you don't blow all your feeble pay in Montreal
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Aug 14, 2010 18:17
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Ideally at the end of every ex and every course you should have actually lost money.
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Aug 14, 2010 18:39
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I'm blowing it in Ottawa this weekend, then Montreal next weekend. A bunch of guys booked like half a floor of some hotel in Montreal this weekend but I'm too sick for that poo poo so I decided to go home and rest up, see the parents and buy a camera and stuff.
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Aug 14, 2010 18:39
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The only responsible place to spend all of your money in the St-Jean area that doesn't involve Montreal, is in Marysville (I think that was where the peelers was). $2.41/hr isn't so bad. We made the mistake of doing the same calculation when we were on an 8 day field ex with 6 straight days of no sleep.  I'm not sure how it is in the other branches, but I know that being on course as an Infantry officer, I ended up spending ~$60 per week on stuff for the course, including foodstuffs, boots, clothing, etc. I wasn't spending the most on kit by a long shot, either. Some of the stuff they really should issue to you as necessary kit - Neos (or gortex socks) for pretty much any course in Gagetown aren't gucci, they're loving mandatory.
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Aug 14, 2010 19:05
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Those goretex socks are the greatest piece of issued kit you can get. They will keep your feet warm, and DRY. When morale is poo poo, you've been up for a million years, you can take comfort that your feet are dry at least.
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Aug 20, 2010 09:18
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MA-Horus posted:Those goretex socks are the greatest piece of issued kit you can get. They will keep your feet warm, and DRY. When morale is poo poo, you've been up for a million years, you can take comfort that your feet are dry at least. Getting trench foot, while not being in a trench on sleep dep week is always fun. We had 2 people on my platoon got trench foot.
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Aug 20, 2010 14:50
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