So, I start basic training for the military in a week.

Hello ATS,

This is the second thread I authored, but I have posted in a few other topics. I applied to the Canadian Forces right out of college in April of last year and passed all my tests with flying colours in August of that year. I was expecting to get sent to basic training in October, but after reading in my local story about cut backs in the military, my expected date was some time in April of this year.

I was really shocked when I got a call from the military last Monday giving me an offer of enrollment (which is the last step in the application process) and was told too pack my stuff and get ready to go off to basic in 2 weeks. I don't want to add to many more details since it I doubt any government job would look down on an account of a site like ATS.

I'm mostly excited, but a lot of people close to me like my girlfriend are taking it very hard. I just moved in with her and her parents and sister moved out of the country. I don't know what to feel. Hopefully things will pan out in time, they usually do. So in short, I won't be online in a few months.

Live long and prosper,
S. Creep

I don't know much about Canadian military, but I was in the U.S. Army for a good deal of time.
Basic Training was certainly a new experience for me and did have quite a few challenges.
Just remember, pay attention and do what you're told, do what you're told and do what you're told.

Keep a positive attitude and you should do well.

And enjoy it! Seriously, have fun ! Keep smiling inside, but don't smile at your DI. He might think you're "funny"

Originally posted by kyred
I don't know much about Canadian military, but I was in the U.S. Army for a good deal of time.
Basic Training was certainly a new experience for me and did have quite a few challenges.
Just remember, pay attention and do what you're told, do what you're told and do what you're told.

Keep a positive attitude and you should do well.

And enjoy it! Seriously, have fun ! Keep smiling inside, but don't smile at your DI. He might think you're "funny"

Thanks for your support! I always have a smirk on my face, so i'm hoping that won't get me in trouble. Hopefully, it will fade after a few days of waking up at 5am and doing P.T. in the snow. I'm just hoping I will have some time off after my basic training and before my trade training. Chael Sonnen is fighting Silva in the UFC in June and my D.O.B. is in June too. My DOB is the day before Canada Day so Hopefully I will have the day off. If all goes well, my basic training will be done on May 25th.

reply to post by TheSleepCreep


All I can say is if you do your BMQ at Borden, do not touch the railings. I repeat. DO NOT touch the railings! lol You may catch something that they haven't even discovered yet. Just be prepared for the possibility that military life is not all that you expected it to be. The mainstream view of the military is a very glorified vision of what it really is. Best advice I can give you is start going on runs (you should have been doing that right after enrollment), as if you go into your BMQ without runners lungs you will suffer just as I did. Good luck, you're gonna need it. Oh ya and if you make it through, pray that you don't deploy to 2 RCR. If you think the stories about the Airborne reg't were bad, you have no clue lol.

reply to post by TheSleepCreep


I would not be expecting too many days off in the future, if I were you.

Originally posted by xXxinfidelxXx
reply to post by TheSleepCreep

 

All I can say is if you do your BMQ at Borden, do not touch the railings. I repeat. DO NOT touch the railings! lol You may catch something that they haven't even discovered yet. Just be prepared for the possibility that military life is not all that you expected it to be. The mainstream view of the military is a very glorified vision of what it really is. Best advice I can give you is start going on runs (you should have been doing that right after enrollment), as if you go into your BMQ without runners lungs you will suffer just as I did. Good luck, you're gonna need it. Oh ya and if you make it through, pray that you don't deploy to 2 RCR. If you think the stories about the Airborne reg't were bad, you have no clue lol.

I was a smoker for a few years, so hopefully it doesn't impede my performance too much. St. Jean is where my BMQ is, but my trade training will most likely be at borden, since my other two friends in the same trade went there. I not expecting to "fight fear" and all that glorified stuff the commercials say. This is something i've wanted to do for years and financially right now is the right thing for me to do. I haven't heard that about bordens railings. My buddy complains about being on one of the higher floors and not being able to use the elevator to go up and down for smokes. Is it very germy there or something? Thanks for the heads up.

Originally posted by xXxinfidelxXx
reply to post by TheSleepCreep

 

All I can say is if you do your BMQ at Borden, do not touch the railings. I repeat. DO NOT touch the railings! lol You may catch something that they haven't even discovered yet. Just be prepared for the possibility that military life is not all that you expected it to be. The mainstream view of the military is a very glorified vision of what it really is. Best advice I can give you is start going on runs (you should have been doing that right after enrollment), as if you go into your BMQ without runners lungs you will suffer just as I did. Good luck, you're gonna need it. Oh ya and if you make it through, pray that you don't deploy to 2 RCR. If you think the stories about the Airborne reg't were bad, you have no clue lol.

Just to clarify. You suffered, but you made it through right?

reply to post by TheSleepCreep


Yes, I made it through, but the point is not to suffer, but to become as proficient as possible with as little pain as possible. Why make it harder than it has to be. Also, might I suggest a trades MOS instead of Infantry or Armour, as Infantry will leave you with no real useable skills in the long run. What are you gonna put on your resume, "Yeah I learned how to kill people and stuff..."? Having Army experience on my resume never got me a single job. As a matter of fact, the first interview I got after a long dry spell was AFTER I removed the Canadian Forces from my resume. Pretty sad eh? The truth of the matter is that people say that they support the troops, but they are afraid of us. Plain and simple. The word "respect" has nothing to do with honor or commitment or any of those things. It has everything to do with fear. Take it from me, people fearing you is not a good thing, regardless of the short-term ego boost you may get out of it. I have a few friends that were in Signals that seemed to have a reasonably good experience (mostly because none of them were ever deployed....but I digress...), and also a few in Horse Artie that had good things to say, including some that have a couple of tours in the 'Stan under their belt. As far as my experience, all I really intend to share is that I enlisted when I was angrier and dumber, suffered all through basic, kinda enjoyed my MOS training (recce), got deployed, proceeded to get my beliefs handed to me, came back broken, and the same old sob story goes on. Just think real hard about what you want to do with your time in the Forces. Another couple of MOS' that I did some looking into were Weapons Technician (the one I wish I went with) and Recovery (another pretty cool one. Lots of big toys )

reply to post by TheSleepCreep


Most of the facilities (at least on the enlisted side) are pretty germy as far as I know. I've personally been to Borden, the Pet, Trois-Rivieres, Wainwright. None of them are as bad as Pendleton in the 'States though (where I did the recce course). The water down there is just plain almost undrinkable. There were issues a while back with PCBs being dumped into their adjacent water supply, so needless to say, I think we have it a little better (not much) up here lol.

Originally posted by xXxinfidelxXx
reply to post by TheSleepCreep

 

Yes, I made it through, but the point is not to suffer, but to become as proficient as possible with as little pain as possible. Why make it harder than it has to be. Also, might I suggest a trades MOS instead of Infantry or Armour, as Infantry will leave you with no real useable skills in the long run. What are you gonna put on your resume, "Yeah I learned how to kill people and stuff..."? Having Army experience on my resume never got me a single job. As a matter of fact, the first interview I got after a long dry spell was AFTER I removed the Canadian Forces from my resume. Pretty sad eh? The truth of the matter is that people say that they support the troops, but they are afraid of us. Plain and simple. The word "respect" has nothing to do with honor or commitment or any of those things. It has everything to do with fear. Take it from me, people fearing you is not a good thing, regardless of the short-term ego boost you may get out of it. I have a few friends that were in Signals that seemed to have a reasonably good experience (mostly because none of them were ever deployed....but I digress...), and also a few in Horse Artie that had good things to say, including some that have a couple of tours in the 'Stan under their belt. As far as my experience, all I really intend to share is that I enlisted when I was angrier and dumber, suffered all through basic, kinda enjoyed my MOS training (recce), got deployed, proceeded to get my beliefs handed to me, came back broken, and the same old sob story goes on. Just think real hard about what you want to do with your time in the Forces. Another couple of MOS' that I did some looking into were Weapons Technician (the one I wish I went with) and Recovery (another pretty cool one. Lots of big toys

)

Yeah, when I first wanted to join the military a few years ago, I was all Pro-infantry, but when I ended up applying and deciding for my future, I ended up with Veh Tech. It's always in demand since it pays better as a civ and people drop out after. I'm interested in the pension plan, but who knows what the future holds.