The idea for the RCN is to have sailors finish their initial training and be set to go to sea. Sort of like NEP where they can get their sea legs and experience different trades.
The unique environment in which we, you and I both, serve needs to be experienced and the physiological and psychological ability to endure a life at sea needs to be tested before we invest in long and expensive training for them.
Call me a Kool aide drinker but I think we will be better off culturally immersing our recruits in the naval environment right from the get go, as opposed to the current CAF model of initial entry training.
So I did some more research on BMQ at NRD's. The plan is to do initial cadre training at the reserve units
before they are sent on all navy residential training. So they will get a common residential.
So basically they get kit issue, all the admin and then sent to residential,
This is actually the new MPDG plan for the entire CAF. BTL hosting units to get their admin completed and reduce BMQ time. It will also allow for initial evaluation of candidates and early release if they are not doing well at that point, before they even get to BMQ. Still in the planning stages.
It is also a fine way of increasing post-OFP attrition as middle managers are driven to alcoholism trying to document miscreants; sort out their basic character flaws; and spend years trying to release them…
What folks may not know is that we implemented a
Probationary Period Statement of Understanding at recruiting in about November 25. It allows for easy firing of members before OFP, for pretty much all the right reasons (training failures, discipline issues, violation of a whole swath of policies)
We were slow to hire and impossible to fire. Due to the probationary period implementation the training system has a tool to get rid of does not meet standard, and we're able to take more risk, and plan for higher attrition. Because standards are less rigorous in the effort to get more in faster the option to get rid of bad employees early is there, whereas before the training system was handcuffed.
The last numbers I saw were something like 80% of NEPs elect to stay in the CAF after their one year engagement, but not necessarily in the RCN. Something like 60% stay in the RCN, which is not awful.
50-60% stay in the RCN, but of the remainder who stay most choose navy uniform in support trades like MMT. Some of them also choose NavRes/Militia in their local communities.
I have questions like- do the more motivated folks at CFRCs self select NEP as a quicker way into the CAF?
Its not quicker. So nope. But if they don't know what they want to do and are having analysis paralysis we point to that as an option.
Edit: SIP for NEP (SAILOR) is 450 pers this year. So up from 250. It's wildly successful. Even with the higher attrition the greater throughput still ends up with more people that stay in the RCN at the other end. And the word of mouth is spectacular.