Army Reserve Restructuring

[Furniture]

'm not saying that we should get rid of the Cadet Program, but I am saying that it should be re-amped to have more applicability to the CAF or at least more exposure to it. At present there are no qualifications that carry over that the average cadet will have. It causes me to ask questions if someone spends seven years in the Cadet program and then is told to hide the fact that they were a cadet when they join the CAF.

Fair enough, you raise two interesting points.

Point 1; Cadet training vs. CAF training. Everything I learned on PLQ I had learned 8-10 years earlier as a cadet, even as far down as preparing and instructing lesson plans. I spent 6 weeks learning pace stick, and company parade drill as a cadet. By the time I was a Pte on BMQ I had spent as much time teaching drill in cadets as some of the instructors on my course had been in the CAF.

Point 2; Cadets hide their experience as cadets, because it is used against them by the CAF members teaching them BMQ. I didn't tell anyone I was a cadet in basic because I didn't want a target on my back. My course staff figured it out when I did too well on the individual drill test for my cornflake in week 4. I got called out by another section's MS, because my score was too high and my drill was too sharp.

Neither of those problems are problems with the cadet programme, they are problems in the CAF. Weak jr leaders pick on former cadets because they feel threatened, and want to find a person to make an example of.

I will grant you this, there are some former cadets who are insufferable, but they aren't the majority.

A Re-amp of the Cadet Program would need to start with the CIC. I'm not convinced that the vast majority of CIC need to be officers to perform their jobs. Many of them could be NCM's or we could create a third category of ranks for them similar to US Warrant Officers. Either way, I don't think that anyone who doesn't have a university degree or sufficient service that would allow them to CFR should be given a commission. I also think it would do hugh things for the Program if CIC had to go through BMQ/BMOQ mixed in with everyone else.

CIC is a bit of a separate topic from the cadet programme writ large.

I agree 100% that the CIC has no business being CAF. Like the Navy League, they should be civilians who hold military sounding titles within the cadet organization. I also think there should be more Res and Reg involvement in the programme, but that has risks.

 

[FJAG]

I'm a big fan of the cadet movement as a whole although I never was one giggle: went from boy scouts right to the Militia).

I tend to look with some envy at the UK system.

They're organizational structure is not much different from Canada, but the general appearance and deportment of their cadets (they wear a proper looking multi-cam combat uniform), and more applicable fieldcraft and other military training produces a sharper looking kid. Sharper appearance and decent training (they receive 5.5 million rounds 5.56mm every year and use a semi auto only version of the SA80) leads to more recruits and a higher transfer to reg and res forces on reaching the right age to join.

I must admit I haven't been too fond of the general CIC that I've dealt with although there are some good ones. If I can sum it up the general lot of CIC that I see are slovenly with poor standards for themselves which translates into poor standards for their kids. I doubt many of them could turn out this product.

Our kids deserve better support.