I did my cap this past sept.
Seems to me that the intensity level of the course is entirely dependent on your staff. Mine were pretty hardcore, but they didn't dish out too much bs past beyond the first month, which was nice. It's always the bs that gets to me.
1st month and a bit were in garrison. Lots of cock, lots of PT, lots of cleaning, etc etc. I'm sure you know the drill. The 1st month was pretty tough. PT pretty much every morning. It was nuts. It's pretty much a guarantee that you'll be cb'd for the first 2 weeks. Beyond that we were only cb'd once or twice. If you don't die in the 1st month you should be good to go
After that comes the field stuff. I think there were 6 consecutive weeks in the field. M-F only. As best I can remember, it went:
1st wk - range wk (c7, c9, grenades, 9mm). March back to garrison every night. 4-8km depending on how many circles you go in
. They'll probably give you some stretchers with a ton of sandbags for at least one of the marches.
2nd wk - basic fieldcraft (learn the equipment, field movement, stalking, intro to section attacks, refresh on map/compass). Lots of bug outs and the like. You'll probably get a bit of sleep though.
3rd wk - map/compass/gps. This was our killer week. It's like they gave you a map and compass on Monday and you don't stop until Fri. One good thing about this week is that you get to spend a lot of time on your own. As long as you're not prone to getting lost this can be a good thing. I've always been quick with map&compass so I managed to squeeze in a few naps here and there. I even managed to find a pay phone and made a call to my gf
4th/5th/6th wk - Things start to get blurry here. It was supposed to be Section Attacks, Recce Patrols, and then Defensive wk, but with all the retests and lack of time it ended up being a big mix of everything in the 6th wk. There was one guy who didn't do his Section Attack retest until the last day in the field. The bus was already there and waiting (an exceptional occurence btw ... you usually march back at least most of the way). These weeks were tough. The weather will be crap and you won't be getting any sleep at all. I only pulled out my sleeping back twice during those last 3 wks, and I quickly had to repack it the 2nd time
The following week is range instruction wk. It's a piece of cake. Just make sure you do your orders (you'll start them like a month prior) and you'll be fine. No one fails this part. We got to do a bunch of fun shoots that week as well.
The last week is spent cleaning up and doing admin stuff. You also have the Cowling Cup competition which includes the 13k march. Easiest part of the course
some tips:
1. Don't cock yourself. Don't stay up all night polishing the brass on the floor. Don't clean anything until you get caught on it. Do the essential stuff and go to bed early. Clean your rifle, clean you boots, and make your bed. Our room was almost never up past 11. Other ppl would be up until 1 or 2.
2. Don't give up. No matter what your level of physical fitness, you'll do fine just as long as you don't give up. Sure, it'll be tougher for your if you're not in good shape, but you won't fail because of it.
3. Print the notes up from the CTC website before you get there. You won't have time to copy everything done in class. It's much easier to just make notes on the notes as you go. Great for studying too (3 written tests: offfensive ops, defensive ops, and patrols). Send me your email address if you need any of the notes.
4. Don't stress out about the small stuff. Considering you used to be in the reserves, I'm sure you know this. Just thought I'd mention it to anyone else. So many people just got so caught up on details that they couldn't focus on the task at hand. Couldn't see the forest from the trees.
5. Bring snack food with you. Most staff will be ok with this, just as long as you don't rely on it too much. Every Sunday, I'd make a trip to the Bulk Barn and stock up. Helps with the morale too. If you want to get the best out of your patrol, give them some snack food during orders
6. Gucci kit. Some people will go nuts for this stuff. Everyone will be scrambling around the week before the field trying to get a Stealth Suit
Unless you're Infrantry, you don't need one. Stuff you should get though: lots of gloves (black or dark green), some hand warmers ($1 each at Walmart), lots of ZipLock bags, waterproof paper & a cheap space pen ($8 at MEC). If you don't have the issued thermal, buy some civy stuff. You might get a chance to go to the QM while you're there though.
7. Get out of barracks on the weekend. I spent every weekend at the Amsterdam Inn. Lots of people would do the same. It does wonders for your sanity
They also have free high-speed internet hookups if you have a laptop.
As I mentioned earlier, I'm sure you already know a lot of this stuff. I just thought I'd mention it for completeness. Hopefully it helps answer your questions. Feel free to contact me if there's anything else you'd like to know.
-Mark
