# Parents of New Recruits



## TeensMom (3 Oct 2005)

???   
sorry,lost the first part,Now modified..

My Son's school had the Army visit last week, he seems very interested, although his grades are not the best & I think he may be going through another goofing-off mode. he is 16 & in grade 10.He has a part-time job & is very committed,he is also a whiz with any hands on work. any suggestions or information,,Please help.. Always a MOM..thanks


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## Big Foot (3 Oct 2005)

What are you asking here?


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## Gayson (3 Oct 2005)

so. . .


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## TeensMom (3 Oct 2005)

sorry, I think the rest of my post was lost.
Son's school had the Army visit last week, he seems very interested, although his grades are not the best & I think he may be going through another goofing-off mode. he is 16 & in grade 10.He has a part-time job & is very committed,he is also a whiz with any hands on work. any suggestions or information,,Please help.. Always a MOM..thanks


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## Michael OLeary (3 Oct 2005)

Teensmom, you may find some useful reading in the Recruiting FAQ, starting with the section Thinking about Joining:

http://army.ca/forums/threads/21101/post-103974.html#msg103974

The rest of the FAQ may also be handy as it covers many questions intersted potential recruits have as the consider or start the process. From there, you may find the search function useful as you become familiar with the terminology in use.

Welcome to Army.ca.


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## TeensMom (3 Oct 2005)

Thank You, I'm reading as much as I can.(and deciphering)


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## CBH99 (3 Oct 2005)

If you have any questions in which you could not find answers in the Recruiting FAQs, please ask.  The Recruiting FAQs should be able to answer your questions thoroughly though.  If you are concerned with information specifically regarding the unit in which he is interested, or particular courses, its best to speak with the local Recruiting Office.


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## Jaxson (3 Oct 2005)

You could always try asking him questions about this, if you arent sure if he is serious or not, try asking if hes interested in the army, navy or airforce and what he might be interested in doing if he followed through with joining the canadian forces, make sure you support him if he does choose to join the forces, even if you dont support the army and you dont like the idea of him joining, if he is going to join, any support you can offer to him, will make things that much easier for him, also tell him to check this site out, he could gain alot of information by searching previous topics or in the event he has a question yet to be answered, he can always ask.   ;D


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## paracowboy (3 Oct 2005)

Mom, send me a private message or an e-mail. You won't be the first Mom I've talked with about their child's enlisting.


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## regulator12 (3 Oct 2005)

I was in the reserves in highschool, i then got a job after highschool and went to college. My first few months in college i got my Regular Force Transfer. So i took it left school and joined the Regular army. I spent 3 years in just recently got out have been on EI for the last few months and am now re joining the Regular Force Army. MY POINT is i think if your son wants to join the army you should encourge him. It will be the best thing he did, its a great job, you learn really cool things, there will be down time lots of it, he may overseas but its really worth it as apposed to working at some crappy civie job for a while and maybe going to school and not saving money. The army will pay for his schooling, he can take college courses anytime. I believe the army is a good start. And if he does join, tell him to Join PPCLI!! Living out west is cleaner air...joking, dont want to start a war here. I think if he wants to join, doesnt want to go to school yet, the army is perfect for him. Hell make friends that no civie job will ever give you. Also there are tons of jobs in the military, he can become anything he wants. Good luck


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## Bruce Monkhouse (3 Oct 2005)

Not that I would ever advocate not finishing school but after a brief stint in the local jail at 16 followed by some probation it was obvious I was going nowhere so at 17 I took the plunge for 10 + years and even now 28 years later life is wonderful.[ still in jail, just on the right side]

I think it takes a lot of honest, open life assessment and communication to make the call that young, it was just easy in my case cause I had nowhere to go but up...... Good luck


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## a_beautiful_tragedy (4 Oct 2005)

i joined when i was 16 (best descision ever) and im now 19 if oyur son wants to do it or maybe hes not even sure let him try anyways (im guessing its reserves because of age), your marks dont have to be great all you need is to be 16 with 5 passing grade 10 credits including english and your good to go. good luck to him


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## FormerHorseGuard (4 Oct 2005)

if you are concerned about your son's plan.
ask hima  few questions that  concern you and see what  his answers are. they  might be all good answers and might help you see it from his side of view.

call the recruiting office and ask about your concerns and  i am sure they  are willing to more then answer them honestly.

your son could be making the best decesion of his life.
a career if he chooses to stay that  long,  time in the forces always looks good on a resume. 
most of the soldiers want to improve educational standards, better for promotions and advancement in the forces. shows they want to work hard physically  and mentally.
will make some of the greatest friends ever if he joins, soldiers bonds last a life time
travel chances are there depending on the trade. 
trades training for the most part are good for when he leaves and goes back to the other world of life.
it will not make him a man, or make him grow up any faster.  but you ahve tolet him make the right choices for hima nd you can only guide him. if he goes support his choices and send him care packages, home made cookies help make friends with fellow recruits and staff...


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## a_beautiful_tragedy (7 Oct 2005)

2332Piper said:
			
		

> Your sure you passed english? Sorry my friend, but your posts are really hard to read. Try using punctuation and grammer.
> 
> As to the question at hand; my mom wasn't too happy about me joining the Militia, although she was happy when she heard I got into ROTP. Dad on the other hand was ecstatic about both decisions I made. I think I made the right decision and so far I'm enjoying myself (yeah yeah, no BTDT, I know).
> 
> Make sure he knows what he is getting into. Maybe have him meet with people who are in the CF but do it outside of the CF environment so that they can be totally open and not worry about having to act as a recruiter for the unit (not saying you won't get honest answers at the unit, but you get the idea).



yes im pretty sure i passed english...and the last time i checked i had a 96 average along with the rest of my class', such as advanced physics and chem  8)
its just that im lazzzyyy and dont fell like going over my writing, but i will now ..


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## NavComm (7 Oct 2005)

TeensMom said:
			
		

> ???
> sorry,lost the first part,Now modified..
> 
> My Son's school had the Army visit last week, he seems very interested, although his grades are not the best & I think he may be going through another goofing-off mode. he is 16 & in grade 10.He has a part-time job & is very committed,he is also a whiz with any hands on work. any suggestions or information,,Please help.. Always a MOM..thanks



 ??? a committed kid going through a goofing-off mode? What does that mean? What makes you think joining the CF is goofing off?

I have a few suggestions:

1) talk to your kid about what he found interesting that the army had to say at his school last week
2) if he really is interested in it, help him to re-connect with the recruiter
3) keep an open mind
4) get ready to loosen that umbilicial cord, he's 16 and he needs to do some stuff on his own


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## Seamus449 (11 Oct 2005)

By goofing-off I would imagine that shes referring to his grades in school. Anyways I'm a young reservist, 17 now, 16 at the time I did my BMQ.  A group of recruiters came to my school as well, which is when I really got the idea in my head to join. So I talked to my parents about it and they *helped me get in touch with the recruiter* and fill out all the forms. I joined the Iinfantry, I'm not sure if this was the right choice for me yet, but I'll find out eventually, and the real problem is you can't really know unless you chance it and experience it for yourself. Point being look at all the different reserve units around your area and think about the pros and cons of each trade. The recruiter will tell you all the pros I'm sure, but you'll have to weigh those against the cons yourself. Hopefully your son will choose to do something he really likes, and he'll be on his way to *B*asic *M*ilitary * Q*ualification. Now I'm not sure what kind of personality your son has but I know that everybody on my BMQ course excluding most of the cadets, serisouyl thought about dropping out during the first week. It was a huge shock for me, people yelling at me all day and only being negatively reinforced is a big change from the atmosphere at my high school and my town. I called my parents every night excluding the 2 nights I was out in the field and they alone were the ones that kept me in there and am I ever happy I did. Maybe that sounds weak to some of the people on the boards but I was a kid then and I still am now. My parents are still the most important thing in my life and their reassurance got me through all of the BS. By the end of it though I had adapted to the military way of life, people screaming at me doesn't bother me anymore (unless its my parents lol) and I know basically how it all works haha. A very important thing to have though is friends, I'm sure he'll make friends in the unit but joining with some of your friends from school can really make it alot easier, so hopefully he wasn't the only one that went over and talked to some of the recruiters.

Good luck!!!


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## Jaxson (12 Oct 2005)

NavComm said:
			
		

> ??? a committed kid going through a goofing-off mode? What does that mean? What makes you think joining the CF is goofing off?




Could be a very commited kid to every he has done in the past and is starting to go through a goof off phase, or is focusing on too many things to be truly commited, thus seeming to be goofing off at the present.


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## NavComm (12 Oct 2005)

Well you've all given excellent advice. It's hard to tell if this Mom hasn't been back to receive any of it.


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## Dwayne19570925 (11 Apr 2007)

My son has just arrived at Gagetown, for training and looking for support forum for parents.  We have not come from a Military family so we are wading in new territory.  Any help or suggestions would be great!


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## c_canuk (11 Apr 2007)

I don't personally know of one, however I'm sure you can find some direction in "The Home Front" section of this site.

The best way to get information is to ask your children who have joined... their information will be slight at first, but with time in it will grow.

I would also issue a cautionary, should your child be delt with in a manner that you or they think is not proper, the best thing is for them to go through the proper channels themselves... parents calling the CO is probably the most embaressing thing in the world, rest assured we know what we are doing.


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## Osotogari (17 Apr 2007)

I would also try the military family resource center with any questions and if there's some sort of family emergency, the base chaplain.  Try to remember that what your son is going through will probably be the most stressful thing he's done up to this point though he'll probably reflect fondly on most of it in less than a year.

Also to be blunt:  though he's your son he's not a child anymore.  As an NCO who's instructed on a few courses I often get the impression that some parents, even a few with military backgrounds, haven't made that distinction and it adds a lot of needless stress to all concerned.  If he works hard and grasps the simple concepts of respect and teamwork he'll do fine.


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## Dwayne19570925 (17 Apr 2007)

I am very aware that my son is an adult and has made a life decision.  I was simply looking for a forum that could perhaps be able to answer some questions we may have along the way.  As previously stated, not coming from a Military Family Background, we are not familiar with all of the terms that are being used and sometimes, just having other parents to talk to.  My son is a very mature awesome young man and I know that he will do exceptionally well in what ever he chooses to do and we are in full support of him.


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## Roy Harding (17 Apr 2007)

Dwayne:

As previously mentioned, you may find what you are looking for here on the "Homefront" forum.

There are additional resources on the internet - try the following:

Military Wives (it's "spouse specific", but is focussed on families):  http://www.renc.igs.net/~tcollier/HOME.htm

"Canada Kicks Ass" - AKA CKA - (somewhat sophomoric, but you may find assistance there):   www.canadaka.net

And of course, the official DND website (this site will lead you to other official resources, such as MFRCs, etcetera):  www.dnd.ca

Good luck - I know you're proud of your son - and you should be.


Roy Harding


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## Osotogari (17 Apr 2007)

> I am very aware that my son is an adult and has made a life decision.  I was simply looking for a forum that could perhaps be able to answer some questions we may have along the way.  As previously stated, not coming from a Military Family Background, we are not familiar with all of the terms that are being used and sometimes, just having other parents to talk to.  My son is a very mature awesome young man and I know that he will do exceptionally well in what ever he chooses to do and we are in full support of him.




Glad to hear it and I hope I caused no offence, a couple of incidents involving some very caustic and arrogant people are still fresh in my mind.  If you have any specific questions, I'm sure they can be sorted out in this forum.


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