PRes Officers...

[Meridian]

Ok.. another realistic question here:

For the most part, the enrollment pages of all my local units, and the main forces page barely says a thing about life as an OCdt-2lt/Ens-LT in the PRes, and the flexibility (or lack thereof) when it comes to training for officers.

Even when I‘ve called the local units, I was met with confusion and uncertainty, and this makes it hard for me to a) make a decision, b) discuss it seriously with my employer c) understand my options


My situation (if it helps):

I work full time mon-friday days for an IT company. Boring stuff, but at least I have nights off.

I am a part time student in 2nd year university. Essentially this means 1-2 nights a week of classes.. study time is already taken care of, and I can adjust the nights to fit around trng night for the most part.

weekends are free.


now I heard that for the most part, in the smaller areas, officers are only trained on normal reg force courses during the summer, as there are not enough of them to warrant a weekend course. this summer is an impossibility with my career, and I was told in effect it may take 3 summers (again with uncertainty) to achieve basic training through to phase IV status in the reserves.... I dont know that I can convince my employer to give me 3 straight summers off, and it would mean the the reduction of school courses I could take (which are a requirement of the forces)


But I have an extreme interest in being in the reserves.


so:
a) am I hopeless?
b) should I just wait till I finish school (I‘ll be about 27 then)
c) who is the best person to talk to about this? both the CFRC and the unit clerk tell me to talk to the other person, as neither has any current information.

 

[Eowyn]

PRes Officers do not take Reg F phase training except for a few trades like EME. The first course is BOTP which can be split into 2 courses BMQ and a 5 day additional training for the leadership component. The BMQ can be taken during weekend or during the summer, with the Ptes. It is my understanding that BOTP isn‘t being run as a separate course this summer.

The second course is CAP(R) which is 6 weeks but can be taken in 2 week blocks.

I can only speak to the basic trades training in Log. BCT1 is home study, with BCT2 being 2 weeks in CFSAL.

I hope this helps.

 

[Ex Ranger Instructor]

There‘s nothing to stop you from joining as a NCM, even if your goal is to eventually become an officer. If you do join that way, you can often do your BMQ as a weekend course, and then once you have been in the army for a little while, you can apply to become an officer. In fact, you‘ll probably find that the additional experience you‘ll gain in the ranks will make you a better officer than you would be just off the street.

I of course, am a NCM, so I‘m biased. But that‘s my opinion.

 

[Meridian]

Ive considered it... and may go ahead and do it.. I have a year in as an RMC/ROTP-er, so i already have been the lowest of the low (an OCDT) for a year.. its worse than being a private, because at least the NCM‘s respect the privates

 

[Meridian]

also.. Im generally a leader. I just like to be up at the front.. leading.. maybe being a PTE might be good for me, to learn from the ground up, but if I learned anything from my time in the Reg Force, changing/remustering to anything at any time is always an arduous task.

 

[Northern Touch]

Originally posted by Meridian:
[qb] Ive considered it... and may go ahead and do it.. I have a year in as an RMC/ROTP-er, so i already have been the lowest of the low (an OCDT) for a year.. its worse than being a private, because at least the NCM‘s respect the privates [/qb]

Huh? You have a year in at RMC? So are you not there anymore, because wouldn‘t that make you already in the military?

Im finishing up my first year now and I‘m joining as an NCM. I figured getting experience first as an NCM would be good, and I could always apply to be an officer when I‘m done uni. Plus, from what I‘ve heard, being an NCM first will get you a little more respect from those you are leading, and it will help you understand where they are comming from as well.

 

[Meridian]

personally, I already believe I have an idea of where they are coming from and ideally I find it kind of a waste of everyone‘s time if my intent is to become an officer and I just join as an NCM to hopefully earn respect.. I think the point is that if you are a good enough NCM for them to ask you to be an officer, then you have the respect...

what I mean is, I don‘t think you can go into anything looking to earn respect.. it should just happen as a result of your actions. I‘ve been a leader (management) in the private sector, and I understand what it means to be management versus one of the grunts.

anyway. it is something to consider.. and I do like the idea of training with the recruits for "basic", as you then know exactly what they learned and how they learned it. I know the argument is that then you f-up in front of your future men, but hey.. just shows you are human.


I VR‘d due to financial and personal administrative reasons majoritarily based on a lot of BS I was fed before joining the ROTP program. A wonderful program for sure if you are just out of high school and living with mommy and daddy... doesn‘t work so well when you have debts and a well-established adult life.

 

[Meridian]

Eowyn:

You positive of this? last fall when I asked the recruiter and the unit, they were fairly positive that this did not exist in this matter for teh national capital region as there were not enough officer candidates (maybe 10 amongst all the local units at one time) to warrant it?

 

[Eowyn]

I can only tell you what is going on here in Calgary. We had 2 Jnr Officers on a BMQ running here now. One is slated to take the 6 week CAP(R) later this summer. The other has to retake the BMQ this summer.

 

[kurokaze]

In the toronto area, if there aren‘t enough officers to run a complete platoon, they can be merged into a split NCM/Officer platoon. It happens, it happened to me.

During BMQ/BOTP there is very little difference in the course, the officers end up doing a little extra which means we usually don‘t get to go to sleep at 11.

 

[Meridian]

Ok thanks for the info....

I‘m just confused and have no idea who to ask....CFRC or unit I mean.... because the poor corporals never know what to say to OCdts.

At this point I would be looking at enrollement for the fall anyway... fitness wise I need that much time to get myself to a level where I feel I can competently lead.. or at least stay with the front group.... and because of past service, we all know how long the red tape takes to clear...


why is one of them redoing BMQ? please tell me medical, and not a failure.

 

[Eowyn]

This BMQ was on the weekends and the individual‘s work required that they were out of the city for too many. Sometimes it‘s not easy juggleling Army, work and family commitments.