# the reserves



## william (27 Oct 2004)

I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to join the reserves and then join the army as soon as I'd be of age?

does it give you the same experience as the regular forces?


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## dutchie (27 Oct 2004)

If you are wondering whether or not being a reservist prior to joining the Reg force would be advantageous to you, than I would say yes, particularly if you join the Regs as the same trade as your reserve trade. You will also get a pretty good taste of your trade and the Army in general. 

You may be required to redo a lot of your training once you join the regs. How much you have to redo depends on your trade, and the courses you took. Redoing the courses is not a bad thing, however, as if nothing else, it gives you a refresher and a lot of stuff that is covered in reg force courses is not covered in reserve courses. I know from a lot of friends that went reserve to reg force Infantry that they fought to redo their Battle School (the recruiter offered some to waive it), and they found that they were respected by their peers a lot more for not taking the easy route.

If this does not answer your question, then you should probably rephrase it as it was a little vague.

Good luck and welcome.


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## Bob the builder (27 Oct 2004)

It would probally be easier to just join the regs after highschool, which I'm assuming is what you have planned.  In the reserves you will gain some good experience and learn about whatever you plan to pursue, the only problem is that the paperwork to transfer can sometimes take much longer then you want it to. It might take upwards of a year to transfer to the regs from the reserves. (It took 2 months for my memo asking for  a transfer to reach the desk allowing me to even Start my paperwork.)  So just abit of a warning, seeing as how my plans didn't work out as well as i thought they would 

Of course if you're only 16 years old right now then it might be fun to do a good 2 years in and then switch.


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## bossi (28 Oct 2004)

There's no perfect answer - for some, it's a good idea to try the reserves first - Army life can be a shock to the system if your only prior exposure to the military has been Hollywood ...

Also - when I was in Recruiting, it broke my heart to see so many young recruits quit their jobs, put their stuff in storage, get a hero's send-off from their friends and family ... and then return home with their tail between their legs after failing/washing out ...

However, it's also true that the reserves aren't identical to the full-time Army - thus, some people might enjoy full-time more than part-time ... so, as I said - there's no perfect answer.

And so, the same advice I gave when I was in Recruiting was this:
If you would test drive a car before buying it, why not test drive your career (after all, a career lasts longer than a car ...).

And, the absolute best advice in the world is:  Finish your education!  (and, joining the reserves can help you achieve this)


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## pbi (28 Oct 2004)

Amen to bossi's last post, on all counts! Cheers.


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## JBP (28 Oct 2004)

In response to Bossi's post above,

I heard they recently removed that nice little "boost" for reservists in regards to them helping you finish your education. Read it somewhere on this site (can't find thread atm)... I know it used to be they'd pay up to 50% your tuition+books etc AFTER you finished and IF it "related" to your job in the reserves.

Still hold true/any clarification?

Thanks in advance!


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## Pet_Bailey (28 Oct 2004)

is it true that Army cadets can where cat pat??????


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## fleeingjam (28 Oct 2004)

First of its CADPAT (Canadian Disruptive something.....) and second, it cant be real cadpat I think, they'll either be from canadianpeacekeeper.com or just fake CADPAT, if its real they can be in some real trouble.


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## william (28 Oct 2004)

Thanks for the info guys.


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## william (28 Oct 2004)

Hey Pte_Bailey, are you from 744 Air Cadet squadron? I'm just wondering cause theres a Bailey there too.


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## gun plumber (29 Oct 2004)

And moving right along.........I found it easier to enroll in the reserves first then transfer regs.When I was young I had different plans for my life and the reserves showed me what the military life was like and allowed me to have a civy carrer as well.Also some of my courses that I got as a reservist followed me into reg force.(FMC Driver wheeled and my CFJLC\JNCO-not this PLQ crap either!The real one!)I also had time on promotion , time on pension and a recruit school bypass.If your only going to make the reserves a short term goal,then going reg right out of school might be better because,as was stated here,the paperwork for transfer can be a long haul,but while your waiting for that you can always work class A or B and still earn money.


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## Jarnhamar (29 Oct 2004)

> As for being a reservist, from personal experience I would say that it is a good idea.  Reserves are harder



Armyboi are you in the reserves or cadets?
Maybe you shoul dhold off on giving "personal experience" until you actually do the work.
Your comments about the reserves being harder are right out to lunch. Relax dude.

If someone is interested in joining the army as a carreer I would suggest skipping the reserves all together. Some people will come up with a million reasons why joining the reserves fist is better. Someone else will have a million reasons why going straight to the reg force is better. Don't do something based on someone elses opinions, if you want to be a soldier and make a career out of it finish highschool, join the regular force. Being hot and horny and joining the reserves first to get that extra year or two in uniform seems like a great idea to many (sometimes it is) but it also backfires a lot.


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## axeman (29 Oct 2004)

Ive been in both i wont knock the reserves well the combat arms anyway , but its a small step to see if you want go whole hog if you like it right away get into the regs . but i know a bunch f guys that are in the reserves for many reasons but the big one is they also like what they do civie side also.


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## JBP (29 Oct 2004)

I've always wanted to be A.) Soldier B.) Policeman and could never make up my mind as to witch I wanted more. Since as far back as I could remember I wanted to be a soldier or cop, I was playing with Tonka Trucks when I remember wanting to be a soldier! Every little kid at one point wants to be either of those, but that fascination never left me!

Anyway, found the perfect route for myself. Work civvy job fulltime+martial arts=join reserves=go to college 1-2 years=get black belt=do community/volunteer stuff=apply for civvy cop job. If I don't get accepted for a cop after 2-3 applications I'll apply for fulltime reg force MP. We'll see what happens.

So in my situation the reserves is a perfect fit.

Joe


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## rounder (29 Oct 2004)

> As for being a reservist, from personal experience I would say that it is a good idea.  Reserves are harder



    How do you mean harder? Sure, maybe somethings, but not enough to say reserves are harder...


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## dutchie (29 Oct 2004)

I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to join the reserves and then join the army as soon as I'd be of age?

I would agree that if you want to join the regs, and you are 18, don't bother with the reserves unless you are unsure or you have a really good civie job. But I think this kid wants to know if he should join the res at 16, do it for 2 years, then join the regs at 18, or just wait and join the regs at 18. 

In that scenario, might as well try the reserves while your waiting to be of age for the regs.


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## rounder (29 Oct 2004)

GET A DEGREE FIRST... in anything, you'll have your whole life to pound dirt.


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## Jarnhamar (29 Oct 2004)

> How do you mean harder? Sure, maybe somethings, but not enough to say reserves are harder...



Are you quoting me or armyboi, rounder?


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## rounder (29 Oct 2004)

Quoting armyboi... I want to know what his definition of harder is. The reserves sucks sometimes, but so does everthing else you do in life.


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## KaptKain (29 Oct 2004)

Rounder said:
			
		

> GET A DEGREE FIRST... in anything, you'll have your whole life to pound dirt.



I agree with Rounder. If you know theres a profession ya like alot, go for it and get a piece of paper behind ya. If you end up joining military it can help you get into all kinds of doors easier (Officer, or first choice ats election boards on trade that ya want). I do not have a degree, but I have diploma (IT). It helped me get 3year fulltime employment in the reserves as a IT tech. Even though that job is out of my trade as a Trucker. Now that I know I like fulltime military life I am going in as LCIS. The paper helped me get dibs at the open positions...at least I was told that.


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## william (29 Oct 2004)

What Ceasar said was what I was thinking of doing.
I'm not quite 16 yet but I think I'll give the reserves a shot.
And if I like it I'll try the regs.


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## dutchie (29 Oct 2004)

In that quote Reserves would have to be trained harder because they have to be trained just as hard as the Regular Forces, but in less time (because you don't liive on a base).

This has gone far too long......

The reserves are not harder. They have some unique challenges, like balancing a civie job and your reserve job (makes for some long stretches of days without a day off), but it is not harder than the regs, its different. 

This debate is like debating which country has the best special forces unit, or which Ghost Recon character is the best soldier, or who's dad could beat up whos dad....it's silly and its not possible to come to any agreement. It's personal choice and personal experience, but in the end it's totally irrelavant.


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## rounder (29 Oct 2004)

> In that quote Reserves would have to be trained harder because they have to be trained just as hard as the Regular Forces, but in less time (because you don't liive on a base).



     We don't train to the same standard, there is ALOT they do we don't.


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## Jarnhamar (29 Oct 2004)

Exactly rounder

Armyboi, do some checking before posting.


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## the 48th regulator (29 Oct 2004)

to be a soldier or a copper....

join the reserves mate.   It will give you a chance to explore the army and at the same time be amongst others who are cops.   That way you have both worlds and you can get the path you most desire.

You join the reg force and don't like it, you are back to scratch one.  , you will be 3 years older and disgrunteled at the instatuional life, making it harder if you still want to be a police officer

trust me you will dig the reserves, as remember, there is no life like it!

'cause there is no life in it!

tess


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## pbi (30 Oct 2004)

Rounder said:
			
		

> We don't train to the same standard, there is ALOT they do we don't.



Actually, that isn't completely correct (but I know what you're driving at...)

There is normally only one standard for any skill or any Battle Task. There is not normally a "Reserve" standard for a section attack and then a "Regular Army" standard. The primary difference is not in the _quality_ of tasks (they should be identical) but in the _quantity _ of tasks: the Regular Army has more time so it can train to do more tasks.

Cheers.


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## ARMY 523 (30 Oct 2004)

I choose the reserves because i didn't know what to expect. And of course i was 17. But when i look back i was glad that i did it but i can't say that the reserves are harder because when u look at the reg force they are physically trained harder. I had 2nd rcr infantry training my platoon for the QL3 Infantry and they treated us like the reg force there was no ending to the punishment and physical fitness where as i had a friend doing the QL2 and QL3 in the same summer and he said it wasn't bad at all, he didn't find it hard until i told him what i went through daily and it was nothing at all he was going through. When i was going through my paper work until Math held me back i heard that when u go through to basic in quebec that u don't use the elevators in the barraks u have to ise the stairs no matter what floor u may be on . MY leaders for the QL3 told me what they put infantry recruits through. Monthly marches into the field that last months with out seeing the inside of a building and other things. SO from a reg forces eyes they think reserves are just a little junior kindergarten class. Not that the reserves are not all that but they have more time to be trained in better conditions. So either which way u want to go it is all good.


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