Infantry officer specializations?

[shogun506]

I was looking at the infantry position on the website and noticed on their fact sheet they list a multitude of specializations an infantryman can attain. What about officers? Nothing is listed for specializations. Do they all follow generally the same path or are there areas they can specialize into as well? I'm talking about reg. force officers by the way.

 

[Infanteer]

As an infantry officer, you can specialize in harassment by taking the Harrassment Adviser course.  There is also the opportunity to specialize in low-level procurement in an environmentally suitable manner by getting the Green Procurement Qualification.  Other specializations include Unit Ethics Coordinator, Safety Management Course or even a familiarization with MITE or other Peoplesoft products....

 

[Journeyman]

Now don't be glossing over some of the down-side by making it sound too glamorous; there's too many applicants as it is.  :nod:

 

[Jarnhamar]

As an infantry officer, you can specialize in harassment by taking the Harrassment Adviser course.  There is also the opportunity to specialize in low-level procurement in an environmentally suitable manner by getting the Green Procurement Qualification.  Other specializations include Unit Ethics Coordinator, Safety Management Course or even a familiarization with MITE or other Peoplesoft products....

The irony is that lots of young potential officers will think you're joking.

 

[fraserdw]

You guys forgot Adjt.  As adjt you will be responsible for creating and maintaining reams of paperwork mandated by the higher HQ but which they never read.

 

[MedCorps]

You can also look here for an idea of some of the specialty courses that Infantry Officers / Infantry Officers as Any Officer can take.

http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/103901/post-1101000.html#msg1101000

No means a complete list.  Just a snap shot of one year.

I am hoping my friend is still collecting the data and will post again this end of year.

MC

 

[shogun506]

As an infantry officer, you can specialize in harassment

Haha the wording on that one definitely made me laugh. You're right though, that really isn't glamorous at all lol - good to know. MedCorps, that is an awesome list, thanks for that. One of the ones I noticed that was missing from AEC was Forward Air Controller but like you said, that was just a snapshot from the 1 year. There's lots of stuff on there

 

[GnyHwy]

Haha the wording on that one definitely made me laugh. You're right though, that really isn't glamorous at all lol - good to know. MedCorps, that is an awesome list, thanks for that. One of the ones I noticed that was missing from AEC was Forward Air Controller but like you said, that was just a snapshot from the 1 year. There's lots of stuff on there

Forward Air Controller (FAC) is not a priority for Infantry Os.  Infantry Os have far too much command responsibilities in the situations that FACs are needed.  The inf or amrd O in charge of the manoeuvre element, at whatever level, will be in charge of the FAC(s).  As well, Os in general are not ideally the right choice for the FAC role.  They only stay in the position of FAC for a very shot period of time (up to 3 yrs), compared to an NCM that may use it for several years (up to 15 or 20 yrs). 

If you are especially interested in FAC, the good news is, some Os in the combat arms can specialize in FAC and become FAC supervisors and instructors at the school in Gagetown, but this may not be a good choice if you expect to move up the CoC quickly.

 

[shogun506]

Forward Air Controller (FAC) is not a priority for Infantry Os.  Infantry Os have far too much command responsibilities in the situations that FACs are needed.  The inf or amrd O in charge of the manoeuvre element, at whatever level, will be in charge of the FAC(s).  As well, Os in general are not ideally the right choice for the FAC role.  They only stay in the position of FAC for a very shot period of time (up to 3 yrs), compared to an NCM that may use it for several years (up to 15 or 20 yrs). 

If you are especially interested in FAC, the good news is, some Os in the combat arms can specialize in FAC and become FAC supervisors and instructors at the school in Gagetown, but this may not be a good choice if you expect to move up the CoC quickly.

I was just talking about AECs there - when I was in Trenton they gave us an entire presentation to get us all interested in AECs and one of the roles they emphasized was the FAC role.

 

[MedCorps]

Haha the wording on that one definitely made me laugh. You're right though, that really isn't glamorous at all lol - good to know. MedCorps, that is an awesome list, thanks for that. One of the ones I noticed that was missing from AEC was Forward Air Controller but like you said, that was just a snapshot from the 1 year. There's lots of stuff on there

If you re-read the top of that topic it indicates that it is not a complete list but rather and specialty that had been added / modified in that calendar year.  There are also some other notes on how the list was made that are worth reading.

MC

 

[dimsum]

I was just talking about AECs there - when I was in Trenton they gave us an entire presentation to get us all interested in AECs and one of the roles they emphasized was the FAC role.

You're talking about JTAC, right?  (Joint Tactical Air Controller) 

I was working with a bunch of AEC JTACs on EX a year and a half ago.  Seems like they pick them out of the Weapons stream, along with Pilots and some AC Ops as well.  Their Maj was talking about expanding JTAC into an Air Ops officer specialization (meaning ACSOs can also become JTACs).  What he mentioned was that people would take the JTAC course and get qualified, then return to their communities and get called up if/when necessary (and for the quals). 

As I said, that was about a year and a half ago.  Don't know how (or if) that has progressed since then.

 

[MikeL]

Seems like they pick them out of the Weapons stream, along with Pilots and some AC Ops as well.  Their Maj was talking about expanding JTAC into an Air Ops officer specialization (meaning ACSOs can also become JTACs).

Looking at the 2012 QS the following trades can go on the course

Forward Air Controller MITE Crse ID: 103546
Competency Code: AEMA
MOSIDs:
00179.1.N.01 Artillery [ARTY]
00180.1.N.01 Infantry [INF]
00178.1.N.01 Armour [ARMD]
00181.1.N.01 Engineer [ENGR]
00008.1.N.01 Artillery [ARTY]
00010.1.N.01 Infantry [INF]
00005.1.N.01 Armour [ARMD]
00339.1.N.01 Engineer [ENGR]
00183.1.N.01 Pilot [PLT]
00184.1.N.01 Aerospace Control [AEC]
00182.1.N.01 Air Navigator [ANAV]

PREREQUISITES
4. Personnel must meet the following prerequisites to be selected:
a. be selected for employment in a designated FAC position;
b. have successfully completed the applicable physical fitness standard IAW the individuals environment within the last year ;
c. have a CF English language profile of CCC (STANAG 6001 Level 3);
d. hold a Level II security clearance;
e. must have completed the FAC pre course package;
f. one year in a position with operational or mission ready fire support exposure, or an air operations officer with one year of operational experience;
g. be recommended by the unit commanding officer;
h. Regular Force;
i. (Non Commissioned Members must be a minimum appointment of MCpl, and
j. Officers must be a minimum rank of Lt.

The board recommended that the FAC Course be offered to Regular Forces only and the Primary Reserve only for operations

The course length, cost and and the associated stringent currency requirements make it difficult for reserve personnel to complete and maintain the FAC qualification