Possible to switch posting?

[gyro081]

Hey everyone,

I don't want to come off sounding like a whiner here. But I just got my posting message and I'm being sent to Cold Lake Alberta. I have never been there, nor do I want to. I know a few people there that have been living there for a year now and they say to avoid it at all costs. EVERYONE has told me this place is a total hole, with nothing to do and is just butt - @$$ cold. Hence the name. I might not mind so much if I were an older guy and would like to see all the scenery. Truth is I'm only 21, and do not want to have to waste the next 4-5 years of my life in such a place.

Is there ANY WAY I would be able to switch to a different posting? My top 3: Shearwater, Greenwood, Trenton ... they probably never even considered those. My trade right now is Air Log-O. I will even consider OT to not have to spend the next few years in Cold Lake.

Any input is highly appreciated! (Please don't just reply with "Suck it up b!tch" I'm here for answers, not a$$holes.)

Thanks!
-g

 

[Michael OLeary]

You will need better reasons than "I don't want to go there" for your chain of command and your career manager to consider working on changing your posting.  There is no posting Get Out of Jail Free card.

 

[GAP]

Or being only 21, you could grow up and look for the good in the posting and take advantage of it. I find most people who don't like a place, have never made an effort to find the parts they WOULD enjoy....but that's just me......

 

[gyro081]

Thank you both for your replies. I realize it is a decision made by a higher-up for reasons I will never know. But in all honesty, I don't see why they'd send a kid in such an isolated place. If I do end up not being able to switch postings, I WILL try to make the best of it. But here's a couple  reasons why I shouldn't be there:

It's so expensive... I don't have much equity built to buy a house, and even a nice little cardboard box there is a good 200k+. I could live on base, that's an option. But I was really looking forward to buying a house and "grow up" as GAP said. I can't be renting forever, I want to move ahead in life.

I help my mother while living at home, I pay her rent. If I leave (I live right beside Shearwater), she will be forced to sell the house due to lack of funds

I don't want to be sounding like I'm speaking out of my rear about the place, but I also wonder why these friends of mine are saying don't come here, there is nothing to do. And many people who go there become alcoholics... Definitely not sounding too pleasant. Do you think my financial issues may have an impact on a posting switch?

 

[mariomike]

I don't want to come off sounding like a whiner here. But I just got my posting message and I'm being sent to Cold Lake Alberta. I have never been there, nor do I want to. I know a few people there that have been living there for a year now and they say to avoid it at all costs. EVERYONE has told me this place is a total hole, with nothing to do and is just butt - @$$ cold. Hence the name. I might not mind so much if I were an older guy and would like to see all the scenery. Truth is I'm only 21, and do not want to have to waste the next 4-5 years of my life in such a place.

Reminds me of something similar I recall my sister saying when ordered there many years ago. She got used to it, and learned to love the place. Still there, in fact.

 

[GAP]

Thank you both for your replies. I realize it is a decision made by a higher-up for reasons I will never know. But in all honesty, I don't see why they'd send a kid in such an isolated place. If I do end up not being able to switch postings, I WILL try to make the best of it. But here's a couple  reasons why I shouldn't be there:

It's so expensive... I don't have much equity built to buy a house, and even a nice little cardboard box there is a good 200k+. I could live on base, that's an option. But I was really looking forward to buying a house and "grow up" as GAP said. I can't be renting forever, I want to move ahead in life.

I help my mother while living at home, I pay her rent. If I leave (I live right beside Shearwater), she will be forced to sell the house due to lack of funds

I don't want to be sounding like I'm speaking out of my rear about the place, but I also wonder why these friends of mine are saying don't come here, there is nothing to do. And many people who go there become alcoholics... Definitely not sounding too pleasant. Do you think my financial issues may have an impact on a posting switch?

Hmmm...staying the shacks is what......$88.00/month + rations.....out of approx 1200....and there's no room to help out? Welcome to similiar situations (in various ways) most on here have lived through and were better people for it....

 

[PMedMoe]

I help my mother while living at home, I pay her rent. If I leave (I live right beside Shearwater), she will be forced to sell the house due to lack of funds

Even if you could get your posting changed for that reason, you can't stay in one location for your entire career.  If your mother is disabled, you may want to look into claiming her as a dependent and have her move with you.

Yes, sometimes postings suck, make the best of it and go in with an open mind. 

 

[Strike]

Your trade is not unlike mine (PAffO) when it comes to the branch managing postings.  There is a high rate of service couple and, unfortunately for you, these people's preferences will be seen as more important.  A single member is pretty much the easiest person to post -- no dependents, less likely to own a home, etc., etc.  Compare that to someone who's got a bit more time in -- married with kids, owns a house, spouse is military or working, etc.

It seems like you're getting the short end of the stick (I know this feeling, trust me) but you have to make it work for you.  Your branch will notice it if you are posted to a place you don't like and you make the best of it resulting in glowing PERs.  They'll then start planning your career path which, if you have made the best of it in Cold Lake, will mean some high-speed postings.

There's a lot to do in Cold Lake if you take the time to look, especially if you like the outdoors.  Sailing, archery (awesome outdoor ranges), off-roading; they even have their own riding club with some extremely competitive rates for boarding a horse.

You really have to approach it with an open mind.

 

[PuckChaser]

But I was really looking forward to buying a house and "grow up" as GAP said. I can't be renting forever, I want to move ahead in life.

Why buy a house in an area you don't want to stay in? You'd just be fixing it up for the next guy to buy it, and if the housing bubble tanks, you're out a lot of cash.

 

[George Wallace]

............. I realize it is a decision made by a higher-up for reasons I will never know. But in all honesty, I don't see why they'd send a kid in such an isolated place.

Probably because they need someone there and you fill that qualification.

It's so expensive... I don't have much equity built to buy a house, and even a nice little cardboard box there is a good 200k+. I could live on base, that's an option. But I was really looking forward to buying a house and "grow up" as GAP said. I can't be renting forever, I want to move ahead in life.

So you want someone else to face that hardship; not you. 

I help my mother while living at home, I pay her rent.

Nothing saying that you can not continue to do so.  The Bank will sort out the paperwork for you.

....... If I leave (I live right beside Shearwater), she will be forced to sell the house due to lack of funds

It doesn't matter where you live, if you stop paying her rent, she will be in the same predicament; or are you still living with your Mom?  It may be time to leave the nest.

I don't want to be sounding like I'm speaking out of my rear about the place, but I also wonder why these friends of mine are saying don't come here, there is nothing to do. And many people who go there become alcoholics... Definitely not sounding too pleasant. Do you think my financial issues may have an impact on a posting switch?

Others have answered your quandry with responses already.  I don't have to cover much more about your speaking out of your rear end as you already recognize that.

 

[PPCLI Guy]

I will be more blunt - feel free to ignore me.

You are not a "kid".  Rather you are a "21 year old Log O".

You are an officer, who is complaining about their first task - in fact will consider OT in order to avoid said task.

That doesn't sound like much of an example - and that is now your full time job - to lead by example.  If you can't do that, then it doesn't matter where you are posted - you will be miserable, and so will those who you have been entrusted to lead.

Time to grow up.

 

[smale436]

      I've been in Cold Lake for 5 years now and came here when I was 24. Sure there are days I would like to be elsewhere. Would I want to drop my life here and take a posting in Shearwater or Greenwood and take the insane provincial income taxes, high heating oil costs, or paying $7.25 for 4L of milk? Not really, but that is what this job entails. Perhaps you should re-think your career choice if you are not willing to go where you are needed. Not to sound harsh but I was contributing by paying my father rent when he got divorced. He learned to deal with it when I left. I met quite a few heavy drinkers working in Shearwater of all ages for the record.

    There are many people much younger than you who come here and make the best of it. I'm partly surprised, but in a way not at all surprised, at your attitude as I have worked for similar supervisors (officers AND NCM's alike). The performance you get out of the people who work for you can be quite proportional to what they think of you. There are thousands of people in the same situation as you. What makes you so special? Just sayin...

 

[navymich]

Considering your age, you still have a few postings ahead of you.  Given the number of Wings across Canada, there is a good chance that you would be posted to Cold Lake at some point in your career.  So why not take this posting now and get it out of the way.  Put on a happy face, learn from the position, and carry on.  If you can show that you have accepted what may be a less then ideal posting, it may give you some bonus points for next time.

As for the "kid" part, there was a 19 year old on my 3's course whose first posting was to Cold Lake.  He was disappointed to say the least, but we got together as a group and talked about the pros and cons of it (adding in a bit of the "suck it up" too, but that is a given!).  We told him similar things to what I mentioned above.  And now?  He's been there for almost 4 years and is absolutely loving it.  Or maybe he's not, but by all indication on the outside, he's doing great, learning tons, and advancing and growing.

You can go there and grumble and moan about, but it will be a long 4ish years.  Or you can take a deep breath, go into the posting with open eyes and an open mind, make some friends and grow.

Good luck.

 

[Zoomie]

I'm with PPCLI Guy on this topic.

When I first started reading your post I felt a bit of empathy, that changed  as soon as I saw that you were a fully trained LogO..  You are an Officer, you have been training for quite some time to be where you are.

If you had no clue why you were posted to Cold Lake, you obviously did not spend nearly enough time researching possible postings while on MOS training.  Did you even ask to talk to your career manager and tell him/her about your mother in Shearwater?  Did your course director not ask you for your choices and reasons for going there?

Most people (single and married) that I know absolutely LOVE Cold Lake.  If you go in to your first tour with a poor attitude, it will be noted and you can be assured that your next posting will not be amongst your top three choices.  You need to be good at your job, exude confidence and get your name out.

 

[old fart]

  ........or paying $7.25 for 4L of milk? ....

Your getting a deal...I just paid 3.69 for two liters....in good old Oromocto.....

 

[dogger1936]

Cold Lake sucks. So do most bases in Canada. I personally hate Petawawa with a passion and on my second posting back to this dive have racked up over a decade in a place I can't stand. However Algonquin park is awesome, the Ottawa river is beautiful, the crackheads in Pembroke provide entertainment , and me and my family enjoy our weekly planning sessions to GO SOMEWHERE!! ;D

The other posters saying your not a kid...I disagree. I was 21 with a tour and 5 years service and two postings.  Unfortunately wither I'm getting old or my memory is fading of previous officers I had but the training system is pumping out spoiled children lately and not young officers to mold.

And believe me I still get sick stomach seeing the signs for CFB Petawawa even coming back from a day trip away, fact is I try to make the best of it. And that's all that's available to you.

 

[Griffon]

So to answer the question...you pretty much have a snowball's chance in hell of not coming to Cold Lake.  For some reason people try to avoid this place like the plague, but in my opinion it is what you make of it.  Even if you try the OT route you still need to APPLY through one of the (normally) annual competitions.  Boards for those competitions either already have or are in progress for this FY, so even if you asked for an OT you would still be coming to Cold Lake and would be staying here until you get accepted, IF you get accepted.

If you want to know more about this town, please feel free to PM me.  Really, IMHO it isn't that bad.  I won't joint the bandwagon and suggest you adjust the attitude, I think you've heard enough of that.

Cheers!

 

[gyro081]

So to answer the question...you pretty much have a snowball's chance in hell of not coming to Cold Lake.  For some reason people try to avoid this place like the plague, but in my opinion it is what you make of it.  Even if you try the OT route you still need to APPLY through one of the (normally) annual competitions.  Boards for those competitions either already have or are in progress for this FY, so even if you asked for an OT you would still be coming to Cold Lake and would be staying here until you get accepted, IF you get accepted.

If you want to know more about this town, please feel free to PM me.  Really, IMHO it isn't that bad.  I won't joint the bandwagon and suggest you adjust the attitude, I think you've heard enough of that.

Cheers!

Thanks to you and many of the previous posters. I'm really honestly trying deep down to make the best of this. I guess it's just all of my personal friends that have been there or lived there is what's putting me down. They have absolutely nothing but negative to say, and who am I to think otherwise since I haven't seen it myself? I trust them, and trust what I read about it. If I grew up in the country this may be easier to adjust to, however that's not the case. I'm going to make the best of this either way, because like the previous people have said. As an officer, you're expected to lead and I will not let the negative attitude fall downwards under any circumstance.

On a side note, Griffon, how long have you been in Cold Lake for? How old are you also if that's not too personal. Do you see the younger guys enjoy themselves? If so what is a common pass-time. I hear the night-life down there is next to non-existent unless your into incest. I guess today was just a real shocker finding out this news, and I didn't take too lightly to it. As the days go on I'll most likely loosen up...

dogger1936 I do agree with you that the military is pumping out spoiled kids. I'm not ashamed to consider myself one too if it comes down to it. However I do have service since the age of 16. Been in the military all my working life. I don't want to sound like one of those spoiled kids, but if that's what it sounds like... i guess the boot fits. I was simply just asking the board whether or not there may be some circumstances in which a switch of posting may be possible.

Anyways, in conclusion to this... I WILL try to make the best of this. I know its a boonie town and I'm a city boy so we're like black and white... But sometimes gray is a nice shade.

-g

 

[Journeyman]

I will be more blunt - feel free to ignore me.

You are not a "kid".  Rather you are a "21 year old Log O".

You are an officer, who is complaining about their first task - in fact will consider OT in order to avoid said task.

That doesn't sound like much of an example - and that is now your full time job - to lead by example.  If you can't do that, then it doesn't matter where you are posted - you will be miserable, and so will those who you have been entrusted to lead.

Time to grow up.

THIS should be on the CF recruiting poster ! ! !

 

[GAP]

gyro081 keep the attitude from your last post and you'll do just fine....luck!!