getting started late

[cathtaylor]

Hi I‘m a 45 year old woman whom is now in the process of joining the army. Iknow it‘s kinda late in life and most of you are younger I was just wondering if there are any other persons in the same boat. I‘ve done all of the paper work now next week I‘ll be doing the apptitude test then the medical and interview. I would appreciate any feedback. You can feel free to e-mail me at my address or just post. I thank you in advance.
Catherine

 

[Freight_Train]

Catherine
I am 38 and am joining the reserve infantry. I submitted my application several weeks ago and am waiting to have my tests scheduled. I have found this site very informative and am usually able to get most of the answers to my many questions using the search option. I am looking forward to BMQ and all the young folks that will surely outnumber an old codger like myself. Best of luck to you.
Greg

 

[Infanteer]

Apparently, Canada has begun recruiting for Volksturm units.

 

[gate_guard]

lmao, better than the hitlerjugend militia we have right now.

 

[Freight_Train]

Originally posted by Infanteer:
[qb] Apparently, Canada has begun recruiting for Volksturm units. [/qb]

Thats a good one!

 

[Enzo]

If you don‘t mind my asking, what trade are you joining Cath?

 

[cathtaylor]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Greg,best of luck to you as well.
They did offer me a post with Volksturm, I‘m seriously considering it with the Alzeimers and all and they told me that they could offer me quarters in a nursing home, it‘s a great offer, lmao! Actually, contrary to popular opinion, some of us are in great physiological and psychological shape (taking the cane into consideration, of course) you never know who‘s gonna be watching your back.
Enzo, non-commissioned, mat tech, vehicle tech, that sort of thing.

 

[Pte. Bloggins]

Don‘t worry, on my basic there were several individuals in their 40s and even early 50s.
Good luck!

 

[cathtaylor]

Thanks Bloggins, to be honest with you, basic doesn‘t worry me at all. I‘m very disciplined now (for a civie, I guess)and in excellent physical shape. Joining at this age is a positive for me. I‘ve lived a lot of years in my years and you can look at this a thousand ways to Sunday. Maybe I‘ll be the one going out into field someday while they let a young man go home to be with his wife and newborn baby. What do you make of the media‘s recent gossip on military cutbacks?

 

[rolandstrong]

A fellow officer of mine just left the reserves at 53 with a CD. He joined us when he was 40. His maturity brought a great deal to our infantry unit. He was an expert marksman, and moutaineer. A 40 he was more fit than most of our younger recruits. If he is any indicator of what mature individuals bring to a unit, I want to be there.

 

[ab136]

Hi Cath, Just turned 39 and waiting for my MOC to reopen(been waiting for 2 years now). Nice to hear from another old relic like myself. I liked your dig about "knowing who‘s watching your back"..nice touch

 

[1feral1]

Good on ya Cath!

You are lucky, as here in Australia its strictly 17-35 to enlist.

Hope you enjoy yourself, and keep us posted on how its going.

Cheers
from a rainy Sydney,

Wes

 

[CDNBlackhawk]

good luck cathy, i am sure you will do fine, last time i was in basic their was probably 5 or 6 men and women who were over 35
and they all did good

 

[cathtaylor]

Thanks Wes!
Yes, I am lucky. These past few months I‘ve been asking myself why the frig I hadn‘t done this sooner. Everything happens for a reason I suppose.
I‘ll certainly post my goings-on.
Regards
from an icy Ottawa,
Cath

 

[1feral1]

At 44 myself, my knees my back are telling me something. Just did a BFA on Tuesday in the pouring rain (and I mean pouring) (Basic Fitness Assessment), for the 41-45 age group thats 30 situps, 20 pushups, and a 2.4km run in 13 min 30 sec). So, its now Thursday morning, and I am still stiff as a board! At 182cm and 100kg, I am no deer, but always squeak in well in time.

Its been in the mid 20s lately, and not bad. we did a BFA the week previous too, and it was 41C by 1400hrs! So a cool summers day might not be fun for the beach, but for PT is the best.

Cheers,

Wes

 

[cathtaylor]

Thank you Blackhawk, for the vote of confidence. I find myself fixated on the recruitment now. I‘m quite surprised at how quickly I was able to do the psychological "shift" from my comfy civie job to something that may actually make a difference in the lives of many people, including myself and my family, of course. With all of the posts I‘ve been reading concerning the wait time for BMQ, i‘ve used up so much epinephrine on the anxiety!

 

[cathtaylor]

Well at 66Kg and 170cm, I guess I win the deer contest *grin*. I wonder if the CF has a similar BFA. I know the physical requirements to enter BMQ are quite low. I jog about 5 - 10 km every day or so, and the situps are quite easy for me, but I lose if we‘re comparing shoulders, of course, I‘m not so sure about the pushups. Of all of the years being athletic, I‘ve never really added pushups in the routine. Guess I will now! About the 2.4Km run, are we supposed to run fast, jog, or what? On a regular jog, I do that distance in about 12 minutes so is it better to run and do it faster or do they care about that?

 

[Freight_Train]

You can find more info here:
http://army.ca/ubb/ultimatebb.php/topic/18/3
You don‘t actually do the run, you do an "equivalent" step test.

 

[cathtaylor]

Greg;
Anything you can tell me about the aptitude testing would be greatly appreciated.
Cath

 

[Freight_Train]

I haven‘t done it yet. I would suggest you do a search of the recruting section of this site. There has been a lot of info posted recently. Also the CF recruiting site has a piece about preparing for your tests. You can find it here:
http://www.recruiting.forces.gc.ca/html/careers/getting_ready/prep_apti_test.html