# A Different Question, Life on Base?



## shawnbradshaw (10 Oct 2011)

Hello all, 

So Here's my question about The military ( Fingers crossed this is in the right section  ;D ) 

I hear a lot people on here ask things about the fitness in the army and drill, the kit ect.. Mostly concerned about BMQ and how hard they have to work, all that fun stuff that's kind of a given. when I get to go to the gym and workout its the best part of my day, I am 22 and I have lived on my own since I was 17.. I'm looking forward to joining the cf for all the responsibility I won't have haha. 

For my trade ( Weapons Technician Land ) I know that it is 13 weeks of BMQ, 35 weeks of school and 1.5 years of apprenticeship ( IF i remember correctly  :blotto: ) That's a fair amount of time on base with your buddy's.. So whats the truth of the matter? What do you guys do when your standing around waiting for something or while your cleaning, laundry.. whatever!? Whats life on base REALLY like? Am I going to have fun and make the best of any situation with unit or am I going to be bouncing my head off the walls with boardom because my unit is a bunch of stick-in-the-mud types? Is there any cool bars around or hangouts? What dose everyone usually do on weekends off? Tell my some story's! The good, The bad, The ugly!


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## PMedMoe (10 Oct 2011)

Sorry, your question is not unique.   

Try reading some of the threads here:  The Home Front - Military Spouses, Families and Lifestyle

As far as what you do on your own time, the possibilities are endless.  What there is to do (cool bars and hangouts) will depend on where you are posted.


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## MikeL (10 Oct 2011)

No, living on base is horrible and there will be NCOs watching you at all times.  You will spend all your time off shining brass and cleaning the barracks.... when you aren't working you will stare at the walls, or deeply into your room mates eyes   


When you are posted to your unit/base and in the barracks it's just like living in civilian places(apartment building, dorms, etc).. You have common rooms with tv, laundry room, washrooms(different barrack types have different bathrooms), etc  In your room you could have a room mate, maybe not as some barracks are designed so you have your own private bedroom, others you may share with 1 other person.  How much you like the shacks and living with people really depends on you, and the other people living in the barracks.   And what there is too do depends on where you are posted, some bases are in better locations then others.  What to do on weekends? What do you normally do on weekends?

And yes, if you are wondering you can have internet/cable in your room.

I believe there is a thread about this already, might want to check that out.


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## shawnbradshaw (10 Oct 2011)

-Skeletor- said:
			
		

> No, living on base is horrible and there will be NCOs watching you at all times.  You will spend all your time off shining brass and cleaning the barracks.... when you aren't working you will stare at the walls, or deeply into your room mates eyes
> 
> 
> When you are posted to your unit/base and in the barracks it's just like living in civilian places(apartment building, dorms, etc).. You have common rooms with tv, laundry room, washrooms(different barrack types have different bathrooms), etc  In your room you could have a room mate, maybe not as some barracks are designed so you have your own private bedroom, others you may share with 1 other person.  How much you like the shacks and living with people really depends on you, and the other people living in the barracks.   And what there is too do depends on where you are posted, some bases are in better locations then others.  What to do on weekends? What do you normally do on weekends?
> ...



are most posts near towns or places within driving distances of other places is more to what I mean.. 

what are the odds you might have a link or something of the nature for me? 

thank you for the info tho.


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## MikeL (10 Oct 2011)

shawnbradshaw said:
			
		

> are most posts near towns or places within driving distances of other places is more to what I mean..
> 
> what are the odds you might have a link or something of the nature for me?
> 
> thank you for the info tho.



I'm not spoon feeding you buds,  very easy to find out the different bases we have across Canada and which cities/towns they are near.

The bases that I've been too there is usually either going to be a city or town outside the base.  If  the base you are in isn't near a large city(ie CFB Edmonton) there is usually going to be a city within a couple hours of driving  - CFB Petawawa to Ottawa is about 1 1/2 - 2 hours away.


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## aesop081 (10 Oct 2011)

shawnbradshaw said:
			
		

> what are the odds you might have a link or something of the nature for me?



Here's a freakin' link......

www.google.ca


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## krustyrl (10 Oct 2011)

:rofl:        :goodpost:


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## The Bread Guy (10 Oct 2011)

CDN Aviator said:
			
		

> Here's a freakin' link......
> 
> www.google.ca


I'll go one better - try here.

Initiative is something that's valued in the CF - may be worth considering arming your "army of one" with some.


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## shawnbradshaw (10 Oct 2011)

he said there was a thread about this already

I have searched for a while and cant find one

I ask for a link

guess I thought a little to highly of the members on this board. 

thanks.


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## aesop081 (10 Oct 2011)

shawnbradshaw said:
			
		

> guess I thought a little to highly of the members on this board.



I think too much of new members too. Thanks for proving me wrong once again.



If we're gong to throw thinly veiled insults around, i'm not letting you have all the fun......


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## PMedMoe (10 Oct 2011)

Guess my link was no good.   :'(

 :


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## dapaterson (10 Oct 2011)

Sigh.  There is no "magic answer" because each location is different.

Posted to Longue Pointe?  Great.  you're in east-end Montreal, with all the amenities the city has to offer.

Posted to Cold Lake?  Very different situation - isolated, but much more available in terms of outdoors activities.

But, the easiest way to think of it is this:  a posting is what you make of it.  if you think it will suck and go in 
with that mindset, it will suck.  if you think it will be an opportunity to learn and try things you've never done before, it will.

The only constant in a posting equation is you.  You will determine how the posting goes.


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## shawnbradshaw (10 Oct 2011)

dapaterson said:
			
		

> Sigh.  There is no "magic answer" because each location is different.
> 
> Posted to Longue Pointe?  Great.  you're in east-end Montreal, with all the amenities the city has to offer.
> 
> ...



I may have been a bit vague, maybe I can be a bit more specific

Is there any kind of games room on base?
basket ball court?
gym?
a couple of wheels and a stick?
is the food the same everywhere or better / worse some places than others?
is the toilet paper all cardboard?  
Should you invest in a good laptop because its all the entertainment you'll have?

I never make big decisions without being as informed as I can be. 

There is ample information on 9-5 but not much on anything else

If there is another thread about this, then post the link and a MOD can close this one because I sure haven't found much, and what I could find was OLD


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## aesop081 (10 Oct 2011)

shawnbradshaw said:
			
		

> Is there any kind of games room on base?



This will vary from bases to base. You have been told things will vary from base to base.



> basket ball court?
> gym?
> a couple of wheels and a stick?
> is the food the same everywhere or better / worse some places than others?
> is the toilet paper all cardboard?



Will vary from base to base............



> Should you invest in a good laptop because its all the entertainment you'll have?



I would but not for the reason you bring forth.........



> There is ample information on 9-5 but not much on anything else



Thats because what YOU do outside of 9-5 will not be the same as the next guy........



> I never make big decisions without being as informed as I can be.



Yeah, i got that from your toilet paper question........


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## PMedMoe (10 Oct 2011)

Is there any kind of games room on base?  - Might be
basket ball court?  - Should be
gym?  -  More than likely
a couple of wheels and a stick?  -  What?   ???
is the food the same everywhere or better / worse some places than others?  - Better/worse some places than others
is the toilet paper all cardboard?  -  Not if you buy your own.     Sorry, are you thinking of the U.K.?
Should you invest in a good laptop because its all the entertainment you'll have?  - Up to you



			
				shawnbradshaw said:
			
		

> I never make big decisions without being as informed as I can be.



dapaterson answered it the best it can be answered.



			
				shawnbradshaw said:
			
		

> If there is another thread about this, then post the link and a MOD can close this one because I sure haven't found much, and what I could find was OLD



Why don't _you_ try the search function?


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## shawnbradshaw (10 Oct 2011)

PMedMoe said:
			
		

> Guess my link was no good.   :'(
> 
> :



The link was good, I appreciated it, I have been searching that forum ( a little bit every day haha ) and I will get through it eventually, In the mean time, it never hurts to ask while I'm looking

After all the point to this board is to assist people wanting to join the CF, I figure if your on the recruiting board and your not new to the CF then the only reason would be TO help? 

But some may be here to poke fun at the new guys? maybe because someone poked fun at them at some point.. who knows

Thanks tho!


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## shawnbradshaw (10 Oct 2011)

CDN Aviator said:
			
		

> This will vary from bases to base. You have been told things will vary from base to base.
> 
> Will vary from base to base............
> 
> ...



So how dose the 35 weeks in the trades school work? like standard deployment where you can do whatever you like or is there restrictions like in bmq?

cardboard toilet paper is a deal breaker for me.. 

nobody likes a not nice feeling on there bum


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## the 48th regulator (10 Oct 2011)

Locked,

Sorry Shawshankredemtion, I am not interested in seeing some lazy ass new poster, with barely enough time on this board to consider a waste of bandwidth, fly off with post after post of insults because you don't get the exact answer you want.

This bad boy is locked, and you can use the search function.

dileas

tess

milnet.ca staff


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