Disturbing rumor about phase 4 at the infantry school

[AmphibousAssult]

Lately I've been hearing that CTC Gagetown will be running a severely reduced number of phase 4 infantry courses (readne, perhaps less a year, starting next year). Is there any truth to this rumor or is it just more of the usual scuttlebut? What would happen to all of us infantry officers in training who still have phase 3 and 4 to do? Any info would be appreciated.

 

[Bird_Gunner45]

They only ever used to run 1 phase 4 a year, same as the Artillery... they just added the extra phase 4's to get over the "hump" the last couple of years.  The guys I knew at the inf school finished their phase 3 in Aug than were sent on OJT in Meaford, Wainwright, etc and came back for phase 4 in may of the following year.

 

[SeanNewman]

I concur with the above response.  It's not that one per year is cutting back, it's that any more than one was a temporary surge.

For a very long time it was 3 x CAPs per year, 2 x Ph3s, and 1 x Ph4.

The reason the extra courses were required in the last couple years is that French was cut out after SJ.  What used to be a steady stream of 1-French-2-3-4 became all of a sudden the guys who graduated Ph1 last year (who have been on French) and guys who just graduated Ph1 last week all coming to Gagetown at the same time. 

So what you had was a hose that was used to a steady stream of water, and then this football-like bulge of extra candidates coming through, and in order to accommodate that extra courses were ran.

Now, the system has caught up from the French being eliminated part, and it's back to a steady stream of only one SJ serial at a time showing up here.

If you are lucky enough to pull off a fall CAP, winter Ph3, and summer Ph4 then you’re fine.  But say for example you get injured or just show up in the winter so your Ph3 (DP 1.1) is in the summer, you would then do what everyone used to do and go do On the Job Training (OJT) somewhere for 8 months as a sort-of-qualified helper before returning to Gagetown for Ph4.

Whatever you do should that be the case, beg and plead your way out of Personnel Awaiting Training (PAT) Platoon so you can get some real-world experience.

 

[dapaterson]

The really scary rumour I heard about the school is that they now employ Vikings on the staff...

 

[Nfld Sapper]

The really scary rumour I heard about the school is that they now employ Vikings on the staff...

And one that is into techno too.......

;D

 

[Journeyman]

The really scary rumour I heard about the school is that they now employ Vikings on the staff...

And one that is into techno too.......

While I'm certainly not qualified to comment on 

Staff  at Close With and Destroy U....

I've heard......

that the Viking's not into techno -- techno is into him

 

[SeanNewman]

Not only do they employ vikings at the Inf Sch, they put them in Officer Commanding positions!

 

[the_girlfirend]

French is out!?! Really?!?  :
Well... that makes it so much easier now... :rofl:

 

[SeanNewman]

I think that it falls under the category of "nice to have" when you're not deploying the force in record numbers.

On a personal note, I am extremely happy that I had that experience because I used it to learn a second language during the day and then beast myself at night with PT so I would be fit for CAP.

Still though, I think the decision to cancel it was largely one of common sense when they found out how many people they were sending there and how much money they were spending vs the amount of officers who would genuinely use it in their career.

There is a benefit for the upper echelon to be able to say that the officer corps is bilingual, but out of the 100+ who I was on French with less than 10 years ago, probably just over 1/2 of those are still in the CF, and of those, how many will ever work in a bilingual environment?

You'll probably see more of a train-to-need environment now, at least until op tempo slows down.

 

[vonGarvin]

The really scary rumour I heard about the school is that they now employ Vikings on the staff...

The Technoviking doesn't adhere to the TP and QS












The TP and the QS adhere to the Technoviking!

 

[Jammer]

Does Planbucks serve instant?

 

[SeanNewman]

Planbucks only serves the finest single malt beans from vendors such as Kicking Horse, Starbucks, and Gold Star.  Not only is it not instant, it is ground fresh for every carafe...even in the deserts of Ft Bliss and Panjwayi.

We even had $60/pound Jamaican Blue Mountain to celebrate Wainwright End Ex.

 

[MARS]

The Technoviking doesn't adhere to the TP and QS

The TP and the QS adhere to the Technoviking!

:rofl:

Now I can start my day...

 

[dapaterson]

The Technoviking doesn't adhere to the TP and QS












The TP and the QS adhere to the Technoviking!

Yeah, but a little soap and water will solve that problem...

 

[SeanNewman]

There is still technically a Ph4 scheduled for this winter, but as with most things it is not in stone.

The problem with winter Ph4 is that you can not offer the same quality of trg that you can in the summer...it's not like Ph3 where you can still conduct the same trg and it's just a matter of cold or hot.  The tactical options are very limited in the winter while mechanized.

 

[George Wallace]

At the same time, those doing the Summer course, do not benefit by learning the lessons of Winter Warfare.

It is a 50/50 proposition, and they will have to learn both eventually to be effective in their jobs.

 

[SeanNewman]

Ph4 has its training aim.  It does not include winter warfare.

Odds are that either on Ph1, 2, or 3, they would have had a winter warfare week already...but even if they did not it would not be required to be trade qualified.

I fully agree that it is important to know, but it is not the aim of Ph4 to teach 10 man tent routine when you would just sit in the LAV with the heater blaring anyway.

 

[AmphibousAssult]

ha, hadn't looked at this in awhile thanks for all the info guys, reason i ask is that I'm goibn on phase 3 this summer and was hoping to not be spinning my wheels waiting for a phase 4, but it looks like an OJT may be in store for me. oh well no biggie.