Borden Thread- Merged

[kratz]

When searching, it is sometimes hard to know what are the correct terms or phrases to use. Between sites like the CFRC and Navy.ca's wiki you can find most of the terms you need to use.

For example, you have research CFLRS St Jean and you have searched for Borden. Have you searched for CFLRS Det Borden? The difference is that St Jean is the main BMQ school of the CF. Other authorized locations are nothing more than detachments instructing to the same standards that CFLRS St Jean has set out.

The Basic Up videos and other discussions  on Navy.ca or with the online CFRC recruiters about basic will provide more than enough answers for the majority of questions about Borden you may have. The differences between the two locations are generally minor and will not have a great difference in your military career. For example, not as many stairs in Borden or slightly more access to the base Canex in Borden. PT with the PSP staff vice your DS. Thing is, you are still doing the same training to the same standards.

A major difference is that CFLRS Borden does not offer as many BMQ courses as CFLRS St Jean during the year. This is major reason why you do not find as many comments, posts about Borden compared to St Jean.

The Navy.ca search engine has been frustrating at times, but when you know how to use the system, it works well IMO.
Searching the site provides a 3/4 pages of results, here is the most relevant link - http://forums.navy.ca/forums/threads/90068/post-886859#msg886859, reply # 6

If this is a problem, a work around is to use Google and the phrase:
"Navy.ca", "CFLRS Det Borden"
or
"Nacy.ca, borden, bmq

Either method will provide many pages of reading so that you can narrow down any further questions you may have.

 

[davidsonr_91]

How do they determine if you go to st jean or borden? do you get a choice or you just go? that was a dumb question cause i know the answer to the choice question.  I would love to go to borden instead of st jean that's why the question.

 

[Celticgirl]

BMQ is BMQ whether you do it in Borden or St. Jean. The Borden course is designed to mimic St. Jean's as much as possible, and having done 2/3 of the training at both places now, I can assure you that the content of the course is identical in the 2 locations. Any differences will be minimal. The only real difference with Borden that I see is the 'personal touch' it offers. There are only 4-6 platoons at any given time (4 right now, not sure how they do it with 6!). However, consider yourself lucky to be doing BMQ in Borden as the staff and the training are top notch in my not so humble opinion.  8)

Here are a few 'minor' advantages to doing basic in Borden (vice SJ): not having to carry your rucksack and PT bag up umpteen flights of stairs, shorter lines at the mess for meals (and generally more time to eat), your own portable for all classes instead of always being in a different room, Between Meal Snacks (BMS) kept in the classroom to have once a day, an actual lounge in the barracks with a big TV (just steps away from your room) for when you have 'canteen and lounge' privileges, and base leave through the week if you are extra good (don't recall this ever being offered at SJ!). It's kind of nice being able to march out to Tim's for a coffee on a weeknight!

Right now, we have the added bonuses of getting 8 hours of sleep a night and no morning PT thanks to this H1N1 epidemic. Our staff got the orders just over a week ago, and while they are not happy about it, they must abide by it, so it's been a real treat for us this past week and a half.  ;D

For basic info on BMQ itself, though, just follow what is said about SJ and imagine they are saying "Borden" instead. Good luck!

 

[The HUN]

Hello Guys!!

Thank you very much for all the answers... it helped a lot... I had all my research done for the BMQ in St Jean and was not feeling the same about Borden but now I know where to look for and somewhat know what to wait for!!!

Thanks again!!

 

[kratz]

Sadly you are #40+ worth of simular questions [/sarcasm]

You have ever expectation to find answers on this private site. This is why we are here. You just needed to know how to ask the questions.

There is another valuable thread for those who are getting ready to go, Chill Out!!. The military has been offering a version of BMQ before the internet. If people could pass then, you will pass now. Simple as that. read some of the questions and answers that have already been posted.

 

[Alpheus]

Right now, we have the added bonuses of getting 8 hours of sleep a night and no morning PT thanks to this H1N1 epidemic. Our staff got the orders just over a week ago, and while they are not happy about it, they must abide by it, so it's been a real treat for us this past week and a half.  ;D

That sounds like a fairly serious response to H1N1.  Have there been many cases at BMQ?  Don't suppose you know how long this change will last, or does it just depend on the length and severity of the outbreak?

 

[PMedMoe]

Not doing PT is certainly not going to prevent someone from getting the flu.  If it's about the 8 hrs of sleep per night, just go to bed earlier.  :

 

[Celticgirl]

That sounds like a fairly serious response to H1N1.  Have there been many cases at BMQ?  Don't suppose you know how long this change will last, or does it just depend on the length and severity of the outbreak?

We've had only 3 removed from our platoon due to H1N1, but there were several more from the other platoons. The week before last, 8 were removed from one platoon alone and more than a dozen total. When the changes came into effect (10 days ago), we were told it was for an indeterminate period of time, but "at least 2 weeks". So by the end of this week, it may change. We also received the H1N1 shot a week ago Friday, so that will hopefully mean a noted reduction in recruit losses.

Not doing PT is certainly not going to prevent someone from getting the flu.  If it's about the 8 hrs of sleep per night, just go to bed earlier.  :

The 'no morning PT' is because they just couldn't fit it in with the new bedtime. It's hard enough to get things done before 2130! The first day this rule came into effect, we were preparing for our Pl Comd inspection the next morning, so no one was happy about it. Fortunately, we all passed the inspection anyway.

Our fitness classes with the PSP staff also ended that day (just coincidentally), so we're finding that we need to do some PT on our own time to keep in shape. We have weekends for that and some base leave (I've seen people going for runs on base leave, which is a great idea and I think I'll start doing that myself instead of the Tim's march). In any case, I doubt this new bedtime will stay for too much longer. I think by the end of this week, we'll be back to the old timings, and I don't imagine anyone will be complaining about it. Our platoon actually enjoys morning PT.

 

[NoCashBob]

This week I received a job offer for SigOp, and while originally slated to do BMQ and SQ in St. Jean I've been notified that my BMQ and SQ will now be at CFB Borden.

I'm requesting some feedback from other CF members who've done their Basic at Borden as well to let me know what it was like. I've heard conflicting talk about it, some claim the trades training takes vast precedence over the recruits training and as a result the training quality suffers, while others have claimed the opposite; the training is better as a result of the larger focus on soldiers with more training.

I've heard talk of Borden being a 'Showbase' but not enough talk of how this might effect a recruit.

In general, could anyone who have been a recruit at Borden give me the lowdown?

EDIT: This post was originally a topic of it's own, moved from the Comms and Elec. thread

 

[George Wallace]

Perhaps the topic on BMQ in Borden should be a good read.  It is late, so I'll not be doing a Search for you, as I much prefer to read some of the other topics and not do a search for someone else.  Hope you find your answers and the many answers to all of the other questions that you have which have been answered in these forums.

 

[DCRabbit]

.. is falling apart. It's a safety hazard. Man, they need to either fix those old hangars or raze them and put something useful in there. I can just see some kids sneaking in there and it collapsing on them. And the siedwalsk around the remaining PMQS are falling apart.. big chunks coming out.. again, someone is gonna get really hurt. Money is tight but they have money to keep demolishing PMQS. Ehh.. was just at my father's RCASC reunion ceremony there and it just hurts to see parts of my old home falling apart.

 

[PuckChaser]

I'm sure Borden is in line behind Petawawa and Kingston who both have buildings occupied by troops which are among the oldest in the CF.

Unfortunately these things happen with older infrastructure.

 

[DCRabbit]

I'm sure Borden is in line behind Petawawa and Kingston who both have buildings occupied by troops which are among the oldest in the CF.

Unfortunately these things happen with older infrastructure.

Yes, true.. there are far more important places. I'm just of the opinion that if they can't use it and can't use it in the future.. just buldoze it and plant grass or something. At least the old south side MQ site is gonna be put to good use as a tactical driving range.

 

[Trueblue]

.. is falling apart. It's a safety hazard. Man, they need to either fix those old hangars or raze them and put something useful in there. I can just see some kids sneaking in there and it collapsing on them. And the siedwalsk around the remaining PMQS are falling apart.. big chunks coming out.. again, someone is gonna get really hurt. Money is tight but they have money to keep demolishing PMQS. Ehh.. was just at my father's RCASC reunion ceremony there and it just hurts to see parts of my old home falling apart.

1. A lot of the old hangars are being refurbished and the ones that aren't are closed to the public... I don't think any kids are going to be sneaking around on that part of base and if there are I believe the military member who is the parent should do a better job educating their kids of the dangers of living on a military base.

2. The flight line is not operational except for a very minute part used by 400 squadron helicopters, tearing up the entire flight line would be extremely costly.

3. The reason the PMQ's were bulldozed was because of money constraints, the base gets taxed on PMQ's whether they are occupied or not and at the time there were way to many empty PMQ's.

 

[Neill McKay]

the base gets taxed on PMQ's whether they are occupied or not

Taxed by whom?  Federal property is normally not taxable by provincial or municipal bodies.

 

[Scoobs]

1. The really old hangars that are literally falling down are not being worked on.  There is no money.  I agree that they are a safety hazard, but I believe
that there is more to this story since I believe that the old hangars have been declared "heritage buildings".  Thus, they can't just be torn down.
I have never seen kids around these old hangars, but this doesn't mean that it doesn't happen on the wknds.

2. The flightline is active with 400 Sqn and with Air Cadets on the wknds, but the gliders/tow planes take off and land on the grass stirps.

3. The runways and majority of the taxiways (minus the ones that 400 Sqn use and the ones in front of the existing hangars) ARE being torn up.
We wonder why this is being done as this costs money, but it is being done anyways.

4. Bases don't pay taxes.  They pay "payments in lieu of taxes".

 

[jacob_ns]

What I've heard about the old flight-line hangars is that they're classified as heritage buildings now so they're not able to tear them down because of the designation, and there is obviously no money to restore them. Those that aren't caving in structurally are sealed off and locked up. What was depressing was the Air Show this summer was down along that flight-line, so the public got a perfect view of the condition of those areas.

400 SQN has an active flight-line at the other end of the airfield which is up kept pretty well. They share the area with CFSATE and 17 Hangar, which are the AVN, AVS and ACS training hangars.

 

[DCRabbit]

1. The really old hangars that are literally falling down are not being worked on.  There is no money.  I agree that they are a safety hazard, but I believe
that there is more to this story since I believe that the old hangars have been declared "heritage buildings".  Thus, they can't just be torn down.
I have never seen kids around these old hangars, but this doesn't mean that it doesn't happen on the wknds.

2. The flightline is active with 400 Sqn and with Air Cadets on the wknds, but the gliders/tow planes take off and land on the grass stirps.

3. The runways and majority of the taxiways (minus the ones that 400 Sqn use and the ones in front of the existing hangars) ARE being torn up.
We wonder why this is being done as this costs money, but it is being done anyways.

4. Bases don't pay taxes.  They pay "payments in lieu of taxes".

So there is money to tear up the runways and taxiways.. which were not a safety hazard... but there's no money to make the older hangars safe. That almost makes sense.

I guess the objective is to wait until they collapse.. then claim there's no way they can be restored and the only thing left to do is clear away the debris. Hands are tied, I guess.

 

[TN2IC]

Just more FYI.

But, us MSE Ops use the old run way for the Trucker Nationals each year. Plus our ETAD course is ran there. (Very fun course BTW)


Regards,
TN2IC

 

[DCRabbit]

Just more FYI.

But, us MSE Ops use the old run way for the Trucker Nationals each year. Plus our ETAD course is ran there. (Very fun course BTW)


Regards,
TN2IC

Pardon my ignorance but what's ETAD? Is that the tactical driving course for driving VIPs? If so.. isn't the old southside MQ patch area being used for that now?