# Help choosing a trade, and questions regarding the reserves



## swordth (13 Mar 2016)

I'm looking to apply to the The Canadian Scottish Regiment as a reserve as one of:

Infantry Officer
Infantry Soldier
Artillery Officer
Artillery Soldier

I'm having trouble picking one. I have a degree, so choosing to be an officer makes sense, and sounds impressive, but I don't want to join the reserves and just push a pen all the time. To be honest, I don't really want to lead people either - I just want to learn, have a good challenge, and meet good people. NCM makes sense then, no? 
But between artillery and infantry? Artillery sounds like a heck of a lot of fun, but I will I actually get to use an artillery piece in the reserves? Heck, in the Infantry, do I even fire real rounds? Any advice?

- Education assistance: can I get assistance for part-time studies, or is it full time only? I'm doing OH&S on a part time basis, and having some tuition help would be a great perk.

- Full time work & the reserves. I know BMQ is offered either full time in the summer in Wainwright, or for 13 consecutive weekends (is it always saturday/sunday?). If I did full time in the summer, am I entitled to get a protected leave of absence from my job, or is that only for deployments and deployment preparation (British Columbia)?

- The subsequent training - are they offered as weekends or nights as well? Or do they require weeks or even months at a time off from work? Are those eligible for protected time off of work?

- Weekly parades - what typical stuff can I expect to do on a weekly parade night?
- The 1 weekend a month - is that a Saturday & Sunday away, or just 1 weekend day? What do you typically do here?

- Do reservists ever get called to natural disasters within the country? If there is a disaster, how quickly can you volunteer and be deployed to the area? I'm hoping the answer is "soon" if I'm in the reserves I don't just want to be a mooch, I want the ability to do something.

- Is the pension worth contributing to as a part-timer? What realistically could you ever get out of it, if you're only doing 4 nights and 1 weekend a month?
Thanks!

Thanks folks.


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## George Wallace (13 Mar 2016)

We can cut your list in half right away.  There is no option for Artillery officer or Artillery soldier in The Canadian Scottish Regiment.

Now all you have to do is seriously contemplate your feelings of being a soldier or an officer.


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## mariomike (13 Mar 2016)

swordth said:
			
		

> I'm having trouble picking one. I have a degree, so choosing to be an officer makes sense, and sounds impressive, but I don't want to join the reserves and just push a pen all the time. To be honest, I don't really want to lead people either - I just want to learn, have a good challenge, and meet good people. NCM makes sense then, no?



This discussion may help you decide,

Officer/NCM differences  
https://army.ca/forums/threads/171.0
23 pages.

Reserves: Officer or NCM?
http://army.ca/forums/threads/105093.0

etc...



			
				swordth said:
			
		

> - Is the pension worth contributing to as a part-timer? What realistically could you ever get out of it, if you're only doing 4 nights and 1 weekend a month?



Reserve Pension- Merged  
http://army.ca/forums/threads/28418.1100
46 pages.



			
				swordth said:
			
		

> Education assistance: can I get assistance for part-time studies, or is it full time only? I'm doing OH&S on a part time basis, and having some tuition help would be a great perk.



Education Reimbursement  
https://army.ca/forums/threads/782.150.html
7 pages.



			
				swordth said:
			
		

> am I entitled to get a protected leave of absence from my job, or is that only for deployments and deployment preparation (British Columbia)?





			
				swordth said:
			
		

> Are those eligible for protected time off of work?



Reservists Job Protection Superthread  
http://army.ca/forums/threads/2552.0
20 pages.

You may find these discussions of interest. You can search many discussions about NCM/Officer differences, the Reserves, Infantry Reserves etc.

Reserve questions,
https://www.google.ca/search?q=site%3Aarmy.ca+infantry+reserve&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-CA:IE-Address&ie=&oe=&rlz=1I7GGHP_en-GBCA592&gfe_rd=cr&ei=_J3lVu7iKoaN8QflxaHQCA&gws_rd=ssl#q=site:army.ca+reserve+questions

Divining the right role, capabilities, structure, and Regimental System for Canada's Army Reserves  
http://army.ca/forums/threads/24381.0/nowap.html
97 pages.


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## swordth (13 Mar 2016)

George Wallace said:
			
		

> We can cut your list in half right away.  There is no option for Artillery officer or Artillery soldier in The Canadian Scottish Regiment.
> 
> Now all you have to do is seriously contemplate your feelings of being a soldier or an officer.



My bad, its 5 field artillery regiment, 56 battery, at the same location as the Canadian Scottish Regiment, in Nanaimo!


@mariomike

Thanks for the resources, I'll start churning through them.


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## mariomike (13 Mar 2016)

swordth said:
			
		

> @mariomike
> 
> Thanks for the resources, I'll start churning through them.



You are welcome. Good luck.


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## Loachman (13 Mar 2016)

Welcome to Army.ca, swordth.

There is much discussion about these matters here already, as you can see from mariomike's links. Please take the time to explore older threads on this Site and try the Search Function. This saves others' valuable time repeating earlier answers, saves DS the effort of merging threads of repetitive questions and answers, saves new people the effort of wading through them, and rewards you by providing answers to other questions before you even think of them.


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## swordth (13 Mar 2016)

Loachman said:
			
		

> Welcome to Army.ca, swordth.
> 
> There is much discussion about these matters here already, as you can see from mariomike's links. Please take the time to explore older threads on this Site and try the Search Function. This saves others' valuable time repeating earlier answers, saves DS the effort of merging threads of repetitive questions and answers, saves new people the effort of wading through them, and rewards you by providing answers to other questions before you even think of them.



Fair enough. It's that typical millennial behavior - the need for instant gratification, ha!


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## Loachman (14 Mar 2016)

swordth said:
			
		

> the need for instant gratification, ha!



You're trying to get into the right place if you want _that_ need to take a faeces-kicking.


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