Pink Sheets-NoMoney so Reservists Told to Stay Home-Article

[2Lt_Martin]

Back to the original subject here, the whole budget thing stinks. I am personally affected as a member of a 33 BDE unit. Kind of hard to keep soldiers around when you can‘t pay them or train them for 2 or 3 month periods. A lot of people in my area are talking about leaving their units. I hope talk is all it comes to, but you can‘t really blame people for taking this stancee.

As for who is responsible, I think this is anyone‘s guess. Oh I‘m sure somebody in the upper echelons knows who is responsible for the state of the budget right now, the question is what will be done to prevent this happening again in the futre?

I love the reserve world and the things it has taught me so far. I guess we will all have to stay tuned to see what hapens with next years budget.

Waiting for April...

 

[humint]

Yes, the budget cuts are hitting everyone. I‘ve talk to a few people from different units in 32 & 33BDE and they are all tight with cash. Some have even shut down all extra training for March, including March-break for secondary school students.

I think the difference is that some units were prepared for the cash flow problem, and held on to some $$ for such as thing, and others did not anticipate the cash crunch. I guess everyone will have to sit tight until the new fiscal year starts.

This whole thing does not bode well from a moral standpoint. I‘m curious to see if a lot of people will just give up and leave.

 

[muskrat89]

Not to disagree with the points made, and maybe the severity is different, but budget woes are not new. It seems like every year between 83 and 96, my Unit underwent some kind of budget thing. Short money and restricted training some years. Excess money, bring in anyone you can, for whatever you can - other years. As I rose up the chain a little, I began to understand more, the specifics of goofy budgets, at least on the Regimental level. It‘s not only the Military, either - I work with budgets in my civilian job, and stuff happens. It‘s hard to try and maximize your spending, while keeping a reserve for unforeseen circumstances. Not saying the Military is not underfunded, not saying there are not "fiscally bad" COs and Area Commanders (not sure what they‘re called these days), just saying that variations of springtime budget games have been around for a lot of years.

 

[fortuncookie5084]

Speaking strictly based on my experiences in a reserve unit in Montreal, I can say that the training is particularly deficient. In my four or so years I have never once rapelled, fired a 9mm, been trained on a mortar of any calibre, and until three months ago never did fibua--nothing!!!---and what we did do was limited to one half day. Go to Ft Drum? No. Go on ex with the rest of the bde at the annual ex at Ft Knox? Never. Now we‘re one of the flat broke units in 34 GBC. When I signed on the dotted line I expected a basic level of training in all pertinent areas. I was wrong. All I got was much drill and inspections instead. At least my time in Canada‘s reserves is coming to an end.

 

[Jarnhamar]

I would try and find out where the money is going my friend, that much lack of training isn‘t right. My old reserve unit in one year sent half a platoon to belgium for a few weeks doing fibua training with the brits, sent another half a platoon to the arctic doing winter warefare training not to mention sending the regiment to fort drum. For that year (among a couple others) we had more live fire excersises then the reg force infantry battalions. We also had about 30 recruits sent away to be trained in meaford.
(CO was Col.Sandy Robertson)
Sad thing is that the reason why you guys are missing all the good training probably won‘t be found until its too late. ie the person responsible has quit or been transfered

 

[Gunner109]

Money is always a factor in anything we do. Long gone are the days of firing loads and loads of ammo. It is the units responsibility to budget their money. I budgeted the ammo for 2 RCHA when I worked in the RCPO‘s shop. Not an easy task when the arty has almost 2/3 of the Bde‘s ammo budget. With 3.8 Million I was able to buy 935 HE PD 155mm rounds and 935 green bag proppelent for them. and 600 rnds of 105mm HE PD ammo. Now 3.8 million seems like alot of ammo but that is all that it bought. besides some very small amount of 5.56 and pyro. This is what the Regt had to train with for the year. thats 2 X 109 Bty‘s and 1 X LG1 Bty. Its not alot. The Regt‘s have to do what they can with the budget they have. I can only hope that we may some day get back to doing larger and longer trg ex‘s with more concentration on live fire.

 

[fortuncookie5084]

Ghost, the question about where the budget money is going has been asked and answered by many at my unit. I am not suggesting misappropriation or suspicious wasteage of funds. However, I am lamenting the pathetic lack of standardized infantry training in the Canadian Forces. I joined to do all the stuff you mentioned (which I‘ve heard a lot of from others elsewhere). All I‘ve done is the bare bones and a heck of a lot of ironing shirts and shining boots (I believe it was a US Marine colonel who stated that the modern soldier has no time to shine boots). I‘m almost but not quite in favour of numbered units that all march to the beat of the same drum. Doesn‘t matter to me though, I‘m checking out of the net soon---found a job where the grass really is greener.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

fortuncookie....I take it they make you iron those same shirts where the tags and regs say "do not iron", and polish those boots that the regs say "do not polish" ?

 

[Spr.Earl]

pom

n : (Australian and New Zealand) a disparaging term for English immigrants to Australia or New Zealand [syn: pommy]

/P-O-M/ n. Common abbreviation for phase of the moon.
Usage: usually in the phrase `POM-dependent‘, which means flaky.

Actualy it is an Australian term for Brit‘s which mean‘s ;Prisoner of Mother England.

 

[Tyler]

I haven‘t heard anyone from 31BDE sound off yet, so I just thought that I‘d mention that the Lincoln and Welland is in the same position as some other units in 32BDE. We have a total of 5 parade nights from January untill the end of March. There won‘t be any trips south either. It wasn‘t this way last year. But that‘s as far back as my experience takes me.

I have been told that our BDE ex will be a live fire ex in Pet starting in mid August. Anything similar in other units?

 

[Spanky]

I guess it MUST depend upon the unit. We‘re currently running a QL4 crse in addition to regular training. Between now and the end of the fiscal year, we have three weekends of unit trg and three weekends of QL 4. This is in addition to 1/2 day a week. We are also sending 10 to 12 pers to Fort Knox with another unit for five days.

We are in 31 Bde

 

[Marauder]

Hey Spanky, you on the ML crse? If so I‘m one of the balmoral wearers.

 

[Pugil]

__________________________________________
Speaking strictly based on my experiences in a reserve unit in Montreal
__________________________________________

Fortunecookie, Im from a unit in Mtl too and correct me if im wrong, The Guards primary tasking is to provide enough people for summer ceremonial duties and most of their budget are put in there, fieldcraft is only their secondary tasking (I hope that the person that recruited you told you that).

I think the current fiscal year ends around april, my unit to have cut some ex, we dont have ex until the fist week of april( we going to have 3 big ex during that month). Because of budget cuts we had to cancel 2 ex in Ft. Drum and a trip to England, just to name the cool ones.

 

[Spanky]

Marauder re: your last. Nope. Crse WO for the recce QL4.