# Need alittle help selecting a MOC



## metilhed (24 Sep 2009)

So i just completed my CFAT and I now face before me a big list of available MOCs. Im am trying to become an army reservist, and im not sure what i should consider choosing that will best line me up for reconnaissance patrolling and things along closely related. Im not interested in anything like being a com research op. i should tell you that, i want to get dirty and work in extreme conditions, not stare at a screen ( no offense to anyone who does it!) Any suggestions on what sort of MOCs will lead to that sort of stuff?


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## PMedMoe (24 Sep 2009)

Infantry
Artillery
Engineer (Combat, that is)


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## tree hugger (24 Sep 2009)

What unit's are in your area.  That might limit your options.


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## basrah (24 Sep 2009)

PMedMoe said:
			
		

> Infantry
> Artillery
> Engineer (Combat, that is)



While the engineers are probably the hardest workers in the CF, I dont know too many that do recce patrols. Artillery? Unless he is going as a FOO I doubt it. 

Lets not give out false information.

Dude, you want infantry, plain and simple. Do it.


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## ackland (24 Sep 2009)

Well if it is the Reserves you want and recce patrols is you thing you should look at the Armoured Regiments in your area. The reserve Armoured Regiment task is recce.


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## metilhed (24 Sep 2009)

Ya from what ive been looking into im going to probably want infantry, the advanced training for it is what im after.
thanks folks


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## basrah (24 Sep 2009)

What exactly do you mean by 'advaced' training?

If you are going into the reserves, chances of getting a recce patrollman course are very slim. I doubt more than a couple spots a year will pop up for a unit, and as a new guy you probably will be in competition with senior guys for these spots.

If you want a sure shot at a recce course I would go regular and try and get into one of the light battalions. We run at least 2 a year in house and there are always spots for deserving guys who want them.


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## Neolithium (24 Sep 2009)

Armour!  Granted I'm biased since that is what my Grandfather did and that's what I applied for as my primary choice    :rofl:


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## basrah (24 Sep 2009)

Neolithium said:
			
		

> Armour!  Granted I'm biased since that is what my Grandfather did and that's what I applied for as my primary choice    :rofl:



As was already mentioned, lets keep this to relevant info for what this guy is looking for. Just because you and your grandfather applied for armour, doesnt mean that some other guy who wants to be a recce patrollam should as well.


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## George Wallace (24 Sep 2009)

basrah said:
			
		

> As was already mentioned, lets keep this to relevant info for what this guy is looking for. Just because you and your grandfather applied for armour, doesnt mean that some other guy who wants to be a recce patrollam should as well.



You know.....Looking at your comments in this thread and the other thread you started about Recruiters telling you friend lies, and also looking at your profile, I have come to the conclusion that you are as guilty as the Recruiter you are accusing in the thread that you started.  You really don't have a clue, or perhaps you do, but it is out looking for another.  You have wandered outside of your lanes in talking about Armour.


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## basrah (24 Sep 2009)

George Wallace said:
			
		

> You know.....Looking at your comments in this thread and the other thread you started about Recruiters telling you friend lies, and also looking at your profile, I have come to the conclusion that you are as guilty as the Recruiter you are accusing in the thread that you started.  You really don't have a clue, or perhaps you do, but it is out looking for another.  You have wandered outside of your lanes in talking about Armour.



So the kid is here saying he is interested in recce patrolling, and has already said infantry has what he is looking for, but you think someone saying he should go armoured because his grandfather was is relevant? I would also be interested to hear some stories about armoured recce doing REAL LRRP patrols. I am giving advice that has to do with this thread, do tell how I am guilty of lying.

Oh, and speaking of viewing profiles, I returned the favour. Judging by your age, I am willing to bet that even though I have never stepped foot in a tank, I have more operational experience with tanks than you do. Feel free to bust out some Bosnia and Cyprus stories though....


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## MikeL (25 Sep 2009)

mariomike, although those are good quotes they add nothing to this thread.

A buddy of mine while a member of the QYR did a number of dismounted recce patrols while on Brigade Exs, aswell as the mounted G-Wagon Recce.   Another tasking Reserve Armoured units have these days is Convoy Escort an that seems to be one of the primary positions they get overseas(from what I've seen anyways). An before anyone says thats not the only thing they do overseas, yea I know a handfull of Reserve Armour guys who have gone to LdSH an 1 was a Leo driver, other was a LAV driver other was an ARV driver. An I know of one who was in CIMIC.

Anyways, to the topic starter I'd recommend finding out what units are in your area an going to them on a parade night, talk with the Recruiters an Soldiers an find out what each unit does, etc


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## Flasbang (25 Sep 2009)

Infantry is definately the way to go.


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## X-mo-1979 (25 Sep 2009)

basrah said:
			
		

> Oh, and speaking of viewing profiles, I returned the favour. Judging by your age, I am willing to bet that even though I have never stepped foot in a tank, I have more operational experience with tanks than you do. Feel free to bust out some Bosnia and Cyprus stories though....



I have more operation tank time than you (haul out and measure phallic device).Busting down someones service to their country is lame.I was in Bosnia as well.I did a job and provided to the security of a country for 7 months of my life there.I also served in Afghanistan where I got the majority of my operational tank time.No need to crap on someone else's experience.Congrats on the MSM.

I will however say to thd if your looking for LRRP's join the reserves and see if you end up getting on a course.I understand not everyone can join the regular force due to work,family etc.

ARMD recce will provide you with mud op's, recce patrols, point recce's and on occasion long range patrols.I don't know of any of our guys doing LRRP over there however there were mud op's and patrolling.

Again I would shoot for Infantry,Armd,Engineer. In that order.


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## Burrows (25 Sep 2009)

basrah said:
			
		

> Oh, and speaking of viewing profiles, I returned the favour. Judging by your age,......



The problem with judging by age is that just because the government says we're adults, doesn't mean some people are actually capable of acting like one.

You need to chill out. 

Milnet.ca Staff


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## Jammer (25 Sep 2009)

You're wasting your time with Basrah...you gave him an opening to tell us how great he is...


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## FastEddy (25 Sep 2009)

George Wallace





			
				X-mo-1979 said:
			
		

> I have more operation tank time than you (haul out and measure phallic device).Busting down someones service to their country is lame.I was in Bosnia as well.I did a job and provided to the security of a country for 7 months of my life there.I also served in Afghanistan where I got the majority of my operational tank time.No need to crap on someone else's experience.Congrats on the MSM






I'm trying to follow the continuity of this Tread, but its like, you can't tell the players without a program.

Now your response was directed at "Basrah", but how could he be referring to your age, as your Profile is Blank. Wasn't he  referring to "George's", now his remarks should have been directed at "George" and not you.. Of course I stand to be corrected.

May I complement you on your Service and Deployment Record. It certainly would merit being included in your Profile.

Cheers


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## GAP (25 Sep 2009)

I think X-mo-1979 was criticizing Basrah for dissing Georges' TI....and rightly so....when he's walked a mile...etc.


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## BlueJingo (25 Sep 2009)

metilhed said:
			
		

> .....Im am trying to become an *army reservist*, and im not sure what i should consider choosing that will best line me up for *reconnaissance patrolling and things along closely related*.
> .......i want to get *dirty and work in extreme conditions*, ......



Along the lines of what tree hugger said, joining the reserves does involve picking what is in your area. 

Any of the *combat arms* trades (listed on the CFAT MOC list that you qualified for) will get you "down and dirty" as you mentioned as they all involve their own version of down and dirty/extreme conditions..._just ask any artymn/crmn (armour)/ or infmn for their down and dirty stories... hehe_

...but some of those trades might not be offered in your area....


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## basrah (25 Sep 2009)

You guys love going off topic. I responded to GW judging me based on the limited information he had about me by doing the same to him, of course because I am not part of the 'crew' of the boards I am instantly seen as a troll... or whatever it is you all call it.

I am trying to give this kid relevant advice, as someone who has quite a bit of experience with recce platoon, and patrolling, yet again because I am not part of the clic here my experience is seen as second rate to someone who has been on this board longer.

I would think this forum would be happy to have guys with real time infantry combat experience dropping by, but since I dont have 100,000+ points and subscribe to the board, and buy a army.ca coin, I am wrong for voicing my opinions. While I am the first to admit I am opinionated, I am no more so than many of the moderators on this site.

Im sure Ill get some sort of warning for speaking out.

Kid, go infantry. If you want some advice feel free to send me a message, because this board is so far off topic it is hard to get any real info out of it.


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## Roy Harding (25 Sep 2009)

basrah said:
			
		

> *You guys love going off topic.* I responded to GW judging me based on the limited information he had about me by doing the same to him, of course because I am not part of the 'crew' of the boards I am instantly seen as a troll... or whatever it is you all call it.
> ...





			
				basrah said:
			
		

> *Going off topic for a sec*...
> 
> ...



(Emphasis added)

What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

Going off topic happens to all of us - and it's very rarely that anyone is called on it.

The perceived problems you're having here have nothing to do with being part of the "clique" (that's the correct spelling, should you have need to use it in future) - they have to do with your fairly aggressive attitude.

Aggression is good - when it's called for.  When it's not called for, it tends to breed more aggression, and so the circle goes.

And that's the extent of the warning you'll get from me on this particular subject.


Roy Harding
Milnet.ca Staff


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## Jarnhamar (25 Sep 2009)

basrah said:
			
		

> Feel free to bust out some Bosnia and Cyprus stories though....



Ohh, I have some wicked Cyprus stories.


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## George Wallace (25 Sep 2009)

basrah said:
			
		

> You guys love going off topic. I responded to GW judging me based on the limited information he had about me by doing the same to him, of course because I am not part of the 'crew' of the boards I am instantly seen as a troll... or whatever it is you all call it.
> 
> I am trying to give this kid relevant advice, as someone who has quite a bit of experience with recce platoon, and patrolling, yet again because I am not part of the clic here my experience is seen as second rate to someone who has been on this board longer.
> 
> ...



Yes you are opinionated, and way off base on a lot of what you have been posting.  

There was one Reply in this whole topic that is very important, more so than any of the advice you have given, correct and incorrectly so far.  That advice was to first find out what Reserve Unit is near you.  The OP can not join an Infantry unit, if there isn't one in their location.


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## X-mo-1979 (25 Sep 2009)

FastEddy said:
			
		

> George Wallace
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yep GAP got it right.
I brought up my service on a tank just to prove a point.No matter how many tours you got etc someone else has a crap load more.I am not a fan of profiling my MPRR/awards/Op's I've been on.While some do put it on their profile I dont think my service merits respect.

Basrah I'm far from being in a "crew" "posse" look at my previous posts here.However why would you bother calling someone out on their service?Keep in mind many of us have been in "da mush" as well.Roto's in Afghanistan have been happening for years,your not the only guy who has been in a TIC or been injured or watched comrades being pulled out of vehicles VSA.
While Kommanding a tank in Afghanistan was the highlight of my career,I still am proud of my prior service to those "other" countries.

You have not seen war.You seen a counter insurgency warfare.So in 15 years time when your on a retirement posting somewhere and the shit hits the fan,do you expect young guys to look down on your service as "only Afghanistan"....... not like it was a battle against REAL armies? Dwell on that for a bit.

Get over yourself man.You went to Afghanistan.So did the rest of the army.


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## Bruce Monkhouse (25 Sep 2009)

Methinks its time for everyone to do thier zippers back up.

The problem here is simply that "metilhed" is asking an impossible question to answer. He states the things that he wants to do but the problem is he doesn't have a clue what that entails. I'm sure we have some Infantry people here who have spent a lot of time "staring at a screen".
He is also going to get answers from folks who love, and are proud of what they are doing, so of course they are going to answer "artinfanmour" depending on thier trade.

I always tell those who are getting out and don't have a plan yet to apply for Corrections, however two of the CO's on this site have recently traded thier walking boots to go back to marching boots................
Does that make my opinion wrong?

Bruce


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## Jarnhamar (25 Sep 2009)

It must have been easy being in Bosnia back in the 90's.
 You know where you had no air support, no real medical support. No permission to return fire. Having to watch people get raped and murdered and not allowed to intervene. No support from the media. No support from people back home. People dying and it doesn't even hit the news. No support the troops stickers everywhere. No MSN hotmail and facebook at your finger tips. No carepackages. No real understanding of PTSD, no help programs for people.

What a walk in the park that must have been.

For a warrior that's a pretty shitty attitude to have, even if your butt hurt for coming on a forum swinging your been there done that stick and getting a cold reception.

Methilhead you'll find reserve infantry regiments in practically every large city or even medium sized city. From what you've spoken about you want Reserve infantry with a view to possibly component transfering to the reg force infantry if you want. End of story.


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## basrah (25 Sep 2009)

Flawed Design said:
			
		

> It must have been easy being in Bosnia back in the 90's.
> You know where you had no air support, no real medical support. No permission to return fire. Having to watch people get raped and murdered and not allowed to intervene. No support from the media. No support from people back home. People dying and it doesn't even hit the news. No support the troops stickers everywhere. No MSN hotmail and facebook at your finger tips. No carepackages. No real understanding of PTSD, no help programs for people.
> 
> What a walk in the park that must have been.
> ...



I did my time in Bosnia. Nice try though. Ive also done my time in Iraq in 05/06, 14 months to be exact.As well, Ive also done time in Cyprus as a matter of fact... dont remember it so well though.

I guess as jammer would say,this is just me talking about how awesome I am. I think Im gonna go look at myself in the mirror for a while.


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## Bruce Monkhouse (25 Sep 2009)

Sigh.   Another fine speech wasted....................


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## BlueJingo (25 Sep 2009)

Bruce Monkhouse said:
			
		

> Methinks its time for everyone to do thier zippers back up.



Hmmm.... yet my pants dont have a zipper, but the back of my skirt does!

I'd love to hear your fine speech Bruce


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## FDO (25 Sep 2009)

Back, front, side, pants, skirt, doesn't matter. EVERYONE - ZIPPERS UP 2..3!

PS: the seech was a winner in my books too!


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## Jarnhamar (25 Sep 2009)

I guess being banned he'll have lots of time to reflect on his awesomeness in mirrors.


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## Fusaki (25 Sep 2009)

Anyhoooooo.... back to original poster's question (what was his name again?)....

I'd suggest to him that he goes infantry.

While it's not very common for infantry reservists get the Basic Recce Course, it is VERY common for any and all infantry soldiers to participate in recce patrols.  It's a basic skill that all infantry soldiers are expected to have and even infantrymen who are not recce qualified can expect to participate in and later lead recce patrols throughout his career.  

This is common knowledge for most of us, but for the sake of the original poster I'll elaborate a bit:  

-On exercise in Canada recce patrols are ordered by rifle company commanders because they are an excellent vehicle for training fieldcraft and battle procedure. 

-On operations overseas they provide company commanders the ability to check things out in their local areas without having to call for assets outside of their own sub-units.  Because the actual Recce Platoon is controlled by higher level commanders, sometimes it's just easier of a rifle company commander to just task his own guys to do the job - especially if the patrol is expected to be straight forward and of relatively short duration.

Now the original poster is probably asking "So then what's the point of the recce course?" Well...

The Basic Recce course just builds on skills that all infantry soldiers have from the time they qualify on their DP1 courses.  On the course you'd go into detail about the finder points of recce patrols, and learn from NCOs who are Advanced Recce or Pathfinder qualified.  On completion of the course you may be selected to work in the Recce Platoon, and overseas the Recce Platoon works for ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, Reconnaissance) and take orders from the same commander who would also control the Armoured Recce guys, the snipers, and the UAV operators.  To put it another way, ISTAR is a mix of different "kinds" of recce and made up of Armoured soldiers, Infantry, and Artillerymen.

Hopefully I've provided a bit of context for the original poster, and others who are unsure of whether they want to join an Armoured Recce or an Infantry unit.

My opinion is that if you're the kind of guy who thinks he would enjoy getting muddy and sneaking up on the badguys, then infantry is the place for you.  The job is a pleasant mix of sneaking up on badguys then shooting them, and sneaking up on badguys and watching them so you can shoot them later.


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## ballz (25 Sep 2009)

Wonderbread said:
			
		

> if you're the kind of guy who thinks he would enjoy getting muddy and sneaking up on the badguys, then infantry is the place for you.  The job is a pleasant mix of sneaking up on badguys then shooting them, and sneaking up on badguys and watching them so you can shoot them later.



Oh God that's poetry... I think I've found a new signature.

To the original poster, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the Combat Arms trades... Before you get into you may feel preferences towards one or the other, but on my BMOQ this summer when we were exposed to a couple Infanteers, a Artyman, and a Sapper, on our staff, and an Armoured guy during our weapons-handling classes, I think those of us who were going Infantry quickly realized.... They're all awesome! 

EDIT TO ADD: I guess when you're that kinda guy, once you get into these trades you grow to love them pretty quick anyway. They all satisfy what it is you're looking for.

E


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