# Gap Year



## Hax24 (2 Mar 2013)

The Royal Australian Navy had a gap year program which stopped running this year, in which participants would spend a year aboard a ship learning about all of the different trades and gaining experience and knowledge about life in the Navy. Is there a program like that in Canada? I couldn't find any online.


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## Michael OLeary (4 Sep 2013)

Hax24 said:
			
		

> Is there a program like that in Canada?



No.


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## Pat in Halifax (5 Sep 2013)

If you are talking about someone straight off of civi-street, Michael is indeed correct. If, however you mean an exchange of personnel (I wasn't 100% sure what "participants" you were referring to), there actually is...or at least our version of it. In anticipation of fewer platforms being available for Force Generation with HAL class MLRs, OP REGULUS was stood up. It's purpose was two-fold: training experience and learning how things are done in our allied Navies. The idea works for some trades where there is a lot of common ground; navigational, all-ship evolutions, some operator trades but for some the benefits were just not there so these trades generally are no longer part of it. I know of two stokers, one who served in the RAN and the other the Norwegian Navy and as exciting as it was at the time, trade related learning due to different systems and practises as well as both Navies have ISSC in place meant training value toward RCN quals was more or less non existent. As far as I know, it is still running albeit scaled down. I think there are still a few MARS officers doing this regularly if one of them wants to chime in(???).


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## Blair Gilmore (21 Mar 2017)

Here's my OP REGULUS experience as a MARS officer down in Chile back in 2013:

http://www.happydiver.space/?p=328


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## Oldgateboatdriver (21 Mar 2017)

My understanding of the RAN gap year program was that they were taking kids that wanted to take a year off school, and perhaps quit school before getting their diploma, into the RAN as "ordinary seaman" totally unqual so they could find for themselves if they wanted to join in the trades that don't require special qualification after that year, or go back to school with an incentive to graduate should they want to join after graduation in more technical trades.

Wasn't one of the seaman in the later years of "Sea Patrol" one such gap year kid (Bird)?


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## dimsum (21 Mar 2017)

Oldgateboatdriver said:
			
		

> My understanding of the RAN gap year program was that they were taking kids that wanted to take a year off school, and perhaps quit school before getting their diploma, into the RAN as "ordinary seaman" totally unqual so they could find for themselves if they wanted to join in the trades that don't require special qualification after that year, or go back to school with an incentive to graduate should they want to join after graduation in more technical trades.
> 
> Wasn't one of the seaman in the later years of "Sea Patrol" one such gap year kid (Bird)?



They're now part of the <a href="https://m.defencejobs.gov.au/mobile/education/gap-year/">ADF Gap Year Program</a>.  Now it's open for all 3 elements, and for some "specialized" trades too (like Crew Attendant/Flight Attendant).


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## Oldgateboatdriver (21 Mar 2017)

You just know you're dealing with Australia when they use words like "mateship" in the advertisement  [.


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