# Barracks?



## bojangles (24 Feb 2005)

Can anyone tell me what life is like living in the shacks or barracks? I hope to be in soon and I have been told that I must live in barracks for a minimum of 6 months because I am single. I am ok with that but have a few questions as to what I should expect.
How much is deducted from your pay to live in them?
How many people do you share your quarters with?
Is it like a college dorm type of a deal or is it a large room with lots of cots? I have no idea what they are like and to be honest I have lived on my own for that past 14 years and wonder what type of adventure this is going to be?
Any help is appreciated.

Bojangles


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## Scoobie Newbie (24 Feb 2005)

Its like living in a collage dorm atmosphere wise.
If your lucky you could have a room by yourself, if not between 1 and 3 other roomates.
There are beds with desks normally and some furniture.
Last time I checked it was around $70 a month but it all depends if your on course, in BN with roomates, size of the room etc.
Many have communal bathrooms and showers but the newer ones are having 2 pers share a bathroom.  
There are many different types of rooms out there.


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## bojangles (24 Feb 2005)

WOw only around $70/month. That's dirt cheap! I might be able to pay off that loan of mine faster than I thought! ;D
I also heard that you cannot cook in them, is that true? No kitchen then I suppose?

Bojangles


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## Scoobie Newbie (24 Feb 2005)

Many guys have microwaves but they don't want hot plates there.  When I lived in I had a microwaze and bar fridge.


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## atticus (25 Feb 2005)

Are your roommate(s) randomly chosen? I remember when I was taking my reserve BMQ in Edmonton we lived in the basement of one of the newer barracks and there was a pay-phone on each floor and a little computer where you had to pay a loonie for ten minutes but I never got to see the inside of one of the rooms; does anybody happen to know if you can have your own stuff (I have my own computer and book shelf for instance)?


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## Scoobie Newbie (25 Feb 2005)

It all depends.  When I was in the Shacks if you didn't like your roomate you would try to change up with another guy.  If there are a bunch of empty rooms you'll be in luck however I think the barrack warden usually assigns a room to each member at random.  I had a queen bed, bar fridge, microwave, stero entertainment system, and computer in my room.


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## ps387 (25 Feb 2005)

CFL said:
			
		

> Last time I checked it was around $70 a month but it all depends if your on course, in BN with roomates, size of the room etc.



Don't they also charge you for "rations"? The figures I've heard for Q&R are closer to $350-400 depending on the course and location.


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## who980 (25 Feb 2005)

Upon reading QR&O 208.505 â â€œ DEDUCTIONS FOR PROVISION OF RATIONS 

http://www.admfincs.forces.gc.ca/admfincs/subjects/qr_o/vol3/Ch208_e.asp#208.505

It looks like they have a formula for calculating the cost of rations per month.

I remember it being around 350-400$ a month to be on ration strength at Nelles block in Esquimalt.  If we didnt want rations deducted from our pay, we could chose to de-link from our rations and would just have to pay cash every time we ate at the galley.  People claimed they were saving money doing it this way.

Ryan


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## Scoobie Newbie (25 Feb 2005)

you used to be able to live on and just pay for the room.  Rations is a whole nother story.


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## Kurhaus (25 Feb 2005)

As for rations, depending on where your posted, some bases have gone to the pay as you go meal card. (at least they have in Shilo)   Instead of paying a flat rate for meals, you only pay for what you eat.  That is probably the same as being delinked from rations only instead of paying cash, you have a meal card that charges the meal to your pay account. It is something to look into if you plan on eating out a few times a week and you wouldn't need cash to go to the messhall.


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## Glorified Ape (25 Feb 2005)

You're REQUIRED to live in the shacks for 6 mos?


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## Inch (25 Feb 2005)

Glorified Ape said:
			
		

> You're REQUIRED to live in the shacks for 6 mos?



Only NCMs, Officers can do what they want. I lived in until I was MOC qualified which was about 4 years.

You will have to live in the Mega during SLT, sometimes you can live out but it's not very common. You'll also be in shacks for all of your Phase training. Once you're posted you can do what you want, for Officers that is.


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## pipesnake (25 Feb 2005)

I lived in the barracks for about a year before moving out. For me it was like living in an asylum. My first day there I was introduced to the personal weapons cache of those in the shacks. I won't tell you what they had but we could have left and started our own army. There was a lot drinking and carrying on. Not the place to be if you enjoy your privacy. We use to have a fun little game of bobbing for beers in a barracks box. After you drank one you would smash it and put the glass in the box. The bobbing got more precarious as it went on... Anyway the rule about living in the shacks for 6 months is stupid. You're old enough to have the responsibility of taking someone else's life in your hands, but not old enough to live on your own (aka take your own life in your hands). The irony is just too much.


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## bojangles (25 Feb 2005)

This maybe a stupid question but i would assume that they would put females together or would I have to share my room with "boy germs".  ;D

Bojangles


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## pipesnake (25 Feb 2005)

When I was in they would absolutely not mix ranks. That was 14 years ago but I can't see them changing that. Imagine the results. Oh but in basic training you may be mixed in the same barracks but you will have your own floor most likely.


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## brin11 (27 Feb 2005)

Bojangles,

whether or not you are mixed with males in garrison or not, be prepared to share your tent/hootch/modular/truck with males.  It is common practice in the field to mix males/females.


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## bojangles (27 Feb 2005)

well ok....but only if he's cute!  

Bojangles


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## MJP (27 Feb 2005)

> that I must live in barracks for a minimum of 6 months because I am single



If you really wanted to move out of the shacks before 6 months( or not even move in at all), all it really takes is a memo outlining your reasons.   In most cases that I have seen, as long as the troop in question wasn't a complete moron, they were allow to live out.


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## atticus (27 Feb 2005)

MJP said:
			
		

> In most cases that I have seen, as long as the troop in question was a complete moron, they were allow to live out.



Do you mean as long as he's not a complete moron? Or do they not want the morons mingling with the rest of the troops?


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## MJP (27 Feb 2005)

LOL...BOTH

That's what I get for typing while my son is playing cars on the computer desk.


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## Scoobie Newbie (27 Feb 2005)

I think the RCR are a little more strict in applying this policy.


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## Yeoman (28 Feb 2005)

CFL said:
			
		

> I think the RCR are a little more strict in applying this policy.



naw I haven't seen it. a couple of boys on my course didn't even move into the shacks, they got a room till they sorted everything out and then they moved out as soon as they found a place to live. couple of em didn't even put memo's in, just moved out. lol weirdo's. I don't know about 2 or 3, but they say you "have" to live there for six months, but they don't really care.
Greg


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## chrisf (28 Feb 2005)

bojangles said:
			
		

> This maybe a stupid question but i would assume that they would put females together or would I have to share my room with "boy germs".   ;D
> 
> Bojangles



Expect the unexpected, but with that being said...

You can assume that your roomates will be of the same sex, and the people you share washroom/shower facilities with will be of the same sex, at least in garrison.

That being said...

My BMQ had all the troops in the platoon in one large room for sleeping quarters (At the begining, that meant if I recall correctly, 27 males and 4 females). We had seperate washroom and shower facilities. Generally however, if (example) we were given 30 seconds to change from our uniforms into our PT gear, everyone stripped off and changed on the stop anyway, as if you had time to be looking, there was somthing wrong. The theory of punctual equilbrium proved true when the females on the course always managed to take as long getting showers after PT as the males did (By graduation, 2 females using 3 showers managed to take as along as 19 males using 3 shower).

Further, in the field, it's all dependant on the unit and the situation, but it's generally accepted that setting up seperate facilities for the seperate sexes is just more work. 

If you're sleeping in hootches, space is exponential, the more groundsheets you have zipped together, the more room you get. A hootchie hotel (3+ groundsheets) is more spacious then the a 2 man hootch, which in turn is more spacious then 1 man hootch, as such, you'll want to join with as many people as you can as the tactical situation allows., male or female, it doesn't mater, as it all means you've got more dry room out of the rain.

If you're sleeping in mod tent, consider that you can probably fit 10 people comfortably in a section of modular tentage. Unfortunately, space for modular tentage is generally limited, and access to parts for modular tentage is always inversely proportional to the space you've got (If you've got a large open field to set up in, you only have 1 section mod), so again, work to set up a second facility always exceeds the need for sleep, now.

For five man and ten man arctic tents, a section of infantry drags a 10 man arctic tent. And arctic tents are heavy. Everyone I've ever met would just as soon share the tent rather then drag a seperate tent for the sole purposes of segregating males from females.

As far as bathroom facilities go, we generally have port-a-potties dropped in the field with us (If you ever have the opportunity to have a look at sattelite or aerial photographs of Canadian field operations, I reccomend it. Nothing like a properly camoflauged command post with a half dozen bright yellow porta potties sitting just outside the cam net). Sometimes you'll have seperate facilities marked for males and females, but generally you'll have to accept the fact that it's just as well to wipe the seat before sitting down (Personally, even as a male, I curse the fact that there are some members of my sex who still couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, despite humping around their little gun for their entire life).

In short after my ramble, while yes, I'm male, I can assure you, that any problems you'll find with the coed work enviroment with the Canadian forces are the exception, not the rule, and if you have any problems, simply bring them up with your superiors, male or female, and they will be dealt with swiftly, whether it means a quick informal chat with the offending party rerference SHARP, if it's exterme enough a charge parade, or even just taking the member out back for generator maintanence.


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