# Question about Mechanic trade in Army



## fishtooth87 (16 Jan 2021)

Hey Everyone,

One dream of mine has been to join the military, I am 33 and time is flying by so am looking at actually possibly making the jump.
I am a red seal heavy duty mechanic, class 1 license, can operate anything out there, very proficient with all kinds of firearms etc. The one thing that has stopped me from enlisting is the starting wage. Hard to raise a family on the starting salary. But was does a ticketed mechanic make if I tried signing up for a mechanic position? I always wanted to be a Sapper but starting from ground level would be hard financially.

Can mechanics take training that does not have to do directly with the trade? Weapons training and such? Do mechanics get deployed often as that is something I would love to be part of as well. Also, has anything changed in terms of where you are stationed? Can a guy choose or is it wherever they send you?

I have considered the reserves, from searching threads and such it seems chances of deployments and opportunity for extra training seems very low right now. Not sure if it is true but I hear alot of people say the reserves is full of a bunch of 22 year olds screaming at everyone and leading a group when they have no real life experience. I could be 100% incorrect but its just what I have been told.

Any insight on this would be appreciated.

thanks!


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## fishtooth87 (20 Jan 2021)

Emailed recruiting, no reply yet lol


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## daftandbarmy (20 Jan 2021)

fishtooth87 said:


> Hey Everyone,
> 
> One dream of mine has been to join the military, I am 33 and time is flying by so am looking at actually possibly making the jump.
> I am a red seal heavy duty mechanic, class 1 license, can operate anything out there, very proficient with all kinds of firearms etc. The one thing that has stopped me from enlisting is the starting wage. Hard to raise a family on the starting salary. But was does a ticketed mechanic make if I tried signing up for a mechanic position? I always wanted to be a Sapper but starting from ground level would be hard financially.
> ...


I'm not a recruiter but just Googled it and turned up this pay scale thingy:






						Vehicle Technician Salaries in Canada for National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces | Indeed.com
					

Explore National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces Vehicle Technician salaries in Canada collected directly from employees and jobs on Indeed.




					ca.indeed.com
				




This is the official website for CAF pay FYI:





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						Pay rates for non-commissioned members - Canada.ca
					

Pay rates for Non-Commissioned Members in the Canadian Armed Forces.




					www.canada.ca
				




Again, I'm not the expert here but this might get you started...


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## MedCorps (18 Feb 2021)

fishtooth87 said:


> Can mechanics take training that does not have to do directly with the trade? Weapons training and such? Do mechanics get deployed often as that is something I would love to be part of as well. Also, has anything changed in terms of where you are stationed? Can a guy choose or is it wherever they send you?



Some opportunities for this, depending on you and your unit. I have personally seen Vehicle Technicians do all sorts of all-arms drivers courses, armoured vehicle crew commander, communications (radio) courses, basic winter warfare, basic mountain operations, parachutist, chemical biological radiological NCO course, radiation safety, conduct after capture instructor, unit public affairs representative, unit storesman, basic fitness training  assistant, advanced instructional techniques, combat first aider, tactical combat casualty care provider and badic unarmed combat courses. 

Your mileage may vary.


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## brihard (18 Feb 2021)

In Afghanistan we had vehicle techs deployed in fairly substantial numbers doing a ton of really important maintenance/repair work. There were some who would deploy outside of the secure camps for battlefield recovery of damaged/broken vehicles; I think I remember us having a wrecker with us on many of the convoys that I escorted. I had a lot of respect for the transport and maintenance troops I did security for.


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