Hey guys, thinking of joining but I have a few concerns.

[MEM]

Hi all,

Ive been thinking of joining for awhile now to become a marine engineering mech as I have a mechanical backround and really like the military teamwork/character building mentality. I have a few fears about joining in reguards to having to go into combat, I dont want to end up in ground combat with some foreign force.

 
Since I would be a Mar Eng mech or similer navy trade would I have to worry about going into ground combat? or do they randomly call people from all divisions of the military to go fight?

I would only want to stay on the boat being a marine mechanic without straying too far from that. I know I might be a ships team diver or part of the boarding party and im cool with that, I just want to avoid the ground combat situations.

Do people in the Navy ever have to face thoes types of situations?

 

[Thompson_JM]

Well.... Never say Never.....


However, the odds of a Sailor in a Hard Navy trade going boots on the ground while not impossible, is highly unlikely...

If you are asking, what the odds of you ending up doing infantry stuff is. then the answer is never... We have infantry for a reason. It's the same reason as an MSE Op in Afghanistan I wasn't on Patrols or Kicking down doors... its not what I was trained to do...

However, I did do front gate sentry out at the FOB's, and enough time in the LAV III's on Turret watch out in leagures, and did have to do some dismounted stuff like securing a helicopter landing site outside of Strongpoint Gundy Ghar on my tour... Those things are certainly not in the spectrum of what an MSE Op normally does... They do however fall under the Job of SOLDIER....

What I'm getting at is that while there is a very very unlikely chance you would ever have to do something, never write it off as impossible, nor should you Ever have the attitude of "Oh I dont need to know that, because I am a (insert trade here)"  Basic Soldier skills... the stuff you would learn at St Jean may rear their ugly head at any time in your CF Career...

Any Navy types who can elaborate?

 

[ArmyRick]

OK, you need to seriously think about what you are joining. The Canadian ARMED Forces. That means prepared to fight on land, at sea and in the air.

Your OK with doing Naval boarding party but have issues with potentially being deployed in any "ground combat scenario"?

I have a hard time thinking of when a marine engineer would be doing land combat but then again, I am not in the navy. You never know when and where you will be sent.

Think really hard about what your willing to do. There are alot more people applying than jobs availible. The needs of the service come first, if you can deal with that, then by all means join.

 

[chrisf]

Out of curiosity, if his question was "I get sea sick, I'd like to join the infantry, but I don't want to get posted or tasked to a ship, what's the chances of that happening?" would what would the answers be?

While they're right, you do have to be ready for anything, that's the reality of the job, and anything you learn, be prepared to suck up like a sponge... I challenge anyone to give just one plausible scenario where, aside from maybe port security, a marine engineer would be intentionally tasked in a ground combat role.

 

[George Wallace]

Out of curiosity, if his question was "I get sea sick, I'd like to join the infantry, but I don't want to get posted or tasked to a ship, what's the chances of that happening?" would what would the answers be?

The answer would be yes.  Canadian Infantry have participated in Joint Exercises with Allied nations where they have done Beach Landings.  There have been Exercises on both coasts of the USA where this has been done, as well as Operations where this has happened in recent years.  Think back to when the Australian Navy transported our troops to Bali or wherever it was.  That was by sea.

As for naval personnel being tasked to Land Operations.  There are Navy personnel currently serving in Afghanistan, well away from any large body of water.........any large body of water larger than the poo pool.

 

[chrisf]

The answer would be yes.  Canadian Infantry have participated in Joint Exercises with Allied nations where they have done Beach Landings.  There have been Exercises on both coasts of the USA where this has been done, as well as Operations where this has happened in recent years.  Think back to when the Australian Navy transported our troops to Bali or wherever it was.  That was by sea.

Well aware, I also vaguely seem to recall anti-tank dets being deployed to ships at some point for some reason... which is why I'm curious what the answers would have been.

As for naval personnel being tasked to Land Operations.  There are Navy personnel currently serving in Afghanistan, well away from any large body of water.........any large body of water larger than the poo pool.

Navy personel, yes, are any of them marine engineers?

Sure anything is possible, just seems to me the answers were a bit hard on the original poster.

 

[George Wallace]

........... I know I might be a ships team diver or part of the boarding party and im cool with that, I just want to avoid the ground combat situations.

If I recall correctly, Ship's Divers are serving in Afghanistan.  What are the possibilities that he may land up in support of those activities, I can not say, but perhaps there is a possibility that he may.  As has been mentioned, the CF will determine where a member's skills may be required, not the member.  As far fetched as it may seem the possibility is there.  At the same time, there is the possibility that the member may never see any change to their current posting, career, etc.  Rather boring after twenty-five years, but a possibility.

 

[hugh19]

GW that would be clearance divers, not ships divers. Big difference.

 

[chrisf]

At the same time, there is the possibility that the member may never see any change to their current posting, career, etc.  Rather boring after twenty-five years, but a possibility.

See, that sounds like a much worse scenario...

 

[kratz]

I'm aware of five trades, and there are most likely more, but the point is that but both RegF and PRes navy have served over in the Sandbox and other locations ashore, such as Haiti.

If the OP's question is to find out if his trade/duties will protect him from such a being required to perform a ground tasking, the simple answer is no. As others have posted, it could happen at any time during your career. If you had of asked how likely it is to happen, that would provide a separate answer.

 

[Michael OLeary]

While the above posts have shown that it is possible to come up with isolated examples of Navy personnel having deployed to Afghanistan, let's condense the original question to its core concern for a realistic assessment.

What is the possibility of a Marine Engineering Mechanic who is not actively seeking out of trade qualifications or experience deploying to Afghanistan or a similar mission?

 

[Pusser]

If I recall correctly, Ship's Divers are serving in Afghanistan.  What are the possibilities that he may land up in support of those activities, I can not say, but perhaps there is a possibility that he may.  As has been mentioned, the CF will determine where a member's skills may be required, not the member.  As far fetched as it may seem the possibility is there.  At the same time, there is the possibility that the member may never see any change to their current posting, career, etc.  Rather boring after twenty-five years, but a possibility.

Ship's Diver is a secondary duty for any individual who wants to do the training and perform the duties.  Nevertheless, their primary responsibility remains with their actual trade.  Clearance Diver is a trade unto itself where the duties include EOD/IEDD.  Although there may be Ship's Divers in Afghanistan, they are there in their primary occupations (e.g. cook, sup tech, etc).  Only the Clearance Divers are there for one of their primary trade duties (i.e. EOD/IEDD).  To the best of my knowledge, the only other hard sea trades that end up in Afghanistan are those who volunteer for general duties and are basically employed outside their trade for the duration of their tour.

A realistic scenario where a sailor of any trade would be on the ground and possibly have to fight would one like what happened in East Timor, where sailors went ashore to deliver supplies, build things, etc.  In those cases, the sailors were armed and had to be prepared to defend themselves.

Basic weapon handling skills are part of the training of every member of the CF as it is realistic that everyone, regardless of rank or occupation, may have to defend themselves or their unit at some point.  We have armed sentries on the upper decks of our ships in some ports and we train to defend a ship alongside.  For the most part, Boarding Parties are voluntary and there is generally no lack of volunteers, but if there was, it is conceivable that individuals could be tasked, especially since the Boarding Party requres certain trades (Mar Eng is one of them -in case they have to operate machinery in a captured vessel).

It is not realistic to expect that anyone will ever be involuntarily taken from their trade and sent to join an infantry batallion.  We don't send people into situations where they would be horribly unqualified and a danger to those around them.  However, that does not mean that you will never find yourself looking out over a desert with a gun in your hand.

 

[PuckChaser]

Friend of mine is a MARCOMM who was also on the NBP. His entire NBP deployed to the 'Stan as a Close Protection team. Definitely not the norm though.

 

[MEM]

So to sum up, It is unlikely but not impossible. I think I can handle that  Thanks for the quick replys.

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

Friend of mine is a MARCOMM who was also on the NBP. His entire NBP deployed to the 'Stan as a Close Protection team. Definitely not the norm though.

Do you mean NAV COMM? If he was on ship, I can't see them sending 20 personnel. That would create a huge gap in the watch and station bill. Not to mention how Close Protection is very specialized training...I think someone is BSing you.

Well aware, I also vaguely seem to recall anti-tank dets being deployed to ships at some point for some reason.

I think you mean air defence dets....while tanks can cross under rivers etc with proper preparation the Navy generally does not see them as a threat.

Any naval trade can serve in A-stan, you just need to put in a request through your chain of command but its still a voluntarily tasking.