Question on Combat Engineering

[LanJ]

Hey, I'm Jeff I live in Montreal, Quebec ( English )

I'm going back to school this  next week and realized it will soon be time to sign up for the CF
witch i Have planned to do about two years ago.

I want to become a combat engineer, ( Got the idea seeing as i had 2 relatives who were combat engineers. One in the first world war, and another in the second. )  I plan to get my grade 9 finished then sign up for the CF and later on down the road, go to school again to get my diploma.

Anyways my question is. With just my grade 9, can i still become a combat engineer? Or would i need to finish school first?

Thank you .
Jeffrey Langevin

 

[Scratch_043]

Grade 10 is the minimum level required for joining the CF.

But I would strongly urge that you complete high school first, if you do not, you will end up regretting it. This coming from someone who at one time entertained the idea of not completing.

Cheers,
Nic

 

[LanJ]

Grade 10 is the minimum level required for joining the CF.

In Quebec you only need grade 9

I know i should finish school  :'(
But I want to stop saying I'm going to help . and people giving me looks like . " you say that now " . and get up to do something . I want to be able to stand up and proudly say "I Fight for my country"

 

[Scratch_043]

True, but what you can do instead, is join a reserve unit (I assume you are 17+) and complete high school. Then transfer to the regs. I say this, because once you're done your time in the CF, and want a good civilian job, you are most likely going to require your diploma, and "going back" will be a much harder thing for you when you are older. (Or so the people I know who did not finish when they were there tell me) The most common thing that I am told by people who have to go back is "I wish I would have stuck with it in the first place, coming back after so long away from it is a b****.

Especially with the Engineer trade, you are required to have better than average math skills to be competent in the trade.

I know where you're coming from, wanting to apply and serve ASAP, but wait it out, and you will have the satisfaction of having the extra education (and it will come in handy too, as much as you don't want to believe it)

Looking back at your post, I see that you are in gr. 9 (I assume that you are 16/17) I almost forgot to mention, that in order to join the Regular forces, you need to be 18 years old.

Nic

 

[LanJ]

I'm 17 Tomorrow

and yes i have thought about that plan . I even went to the RMR (Royal Montreal regiment) to get the papers.
I'm probably stubborn for saying this but i don't really like where I'm living and I wanna get out of here . hehe

 

[LanJ]

Looking back at your post, I see that you are in gr. 9 (I assume that you are 16/17) I almost forgot to mention, that in order to join the Regular forces, you need to be 18 years old.

even in quebec ?  :'(

 

[Scratch_043]

I apologize, my earlier statement was incorrect, I was off by a year. For reserves, you can be 16 with parent's consent, but cannot be deployed, for Regular forces, you must be 17 with parent's consent, but the educational requirements remain the same, grade 10 (secondary III in Quebec)

Nic

 

[villecour]

TorN is correct, but somehow LanJ, keep in mind that finishing high school will also benefit you better in joining the army specially with the engineers and future life.
By the way why do you really want to get ou of where you are ??...... ???

 

[Roy Harding]

... Or would i need to finish school first?
...

Well, you wouldn't NEED to, but you SHOULD (do a search on finishing high school - many, many, many discussions on the topic).

(BTW - I'm fairly certain that MINIMUM Grade requirement is Grade 10)

Roy

 

[LanJ]

Taken from Forces.ca

To be eligible for consideration for the Canadian Forces, you must meet the following minimal conditions:

be a Canadian citizen;
Citizens of another country who have landed immigrant (Permanent Resident) status in Canada may also be considered for enrolment when the CF has need of their skill, when the position cannot be filled by a Canadian citizen, and if the national interest would not be prejudiced. However, only under exceptional circumstances will authority be granted to enrol a citizen of another country.


be 17 years of age (with parental/guardian consent) or older;
junior level Military College applicants must be 16 years of age;
you may be enrolled in the Reserves providing you are 16 years of age;


meet the minimum education requirements for your entry plan and/or occupation;
this can vary from Grade 10 (Sec III in Quebec) for combat arms occupations to a university degree for the Direct Entry Officer entry plan.

 

[Scratch_043]

I already corrected myself on that point.

I apologize, my earlier statement was incorrect, I was off by a year. For reserves, you can be 16 with parent's consent, but cannot be deployed, for Regular forces, you must be 17 with parent's consent, but the educational requirements remain the same, grade 10 (secondary III in Quebec)

Nic

But this is not the point, the point is that you should make every effort to complete your education now, rather than having to go back when you're 40.
Also keep in mind that part of the application process is an interview, in which they will most assuredly ask you "I see that you left school after completing the bare minimum required by this position... Why is that?"  And you had better have a damned better reason than "I didn't like it, so I quit." you can be sure that you will not be recommended for a position anytime soon.

Why do you ask this is? Because your ability to stick with something that you have started until completion (or lack of) tells the recruiter A LOT about what kind of soldier you will be.

Nic

 

[LanJ]

Yes . I see your point , although the reason i left school wasn't because i didn't like it . The reason for me leaving was, Ill tell you the story . hehe

While I was still in school I was doing good in all subjects . I mostly needed math (For Engineering) and i was doing fine i had a 72 first term then second term . My math teacher left and they switched teachers about 5 times in one term ( no kidding ). The class was so lost and they started acting up. For example all the desks ended up broken the teachers couldn't teach because there was a group constantly acting up  . I went to the office to see if i could get out of the class . They were goiong to put me in IBO ( Witch is the most difficult , But nothing i couldnt handle) but i missed a important project so IBo was out of the question. They had no more teachers for math at my level and if i stayed i wwoudl have failed for sure . So i went to the guidance counciler and she told me how if I went to adult ed it would go alot faster then if i were to stay in school and i was failing my math in school anyways. so it seemed like the choice to choose at the time.

 

[geo]

I'm 17 Tomorrow

and yes i have thought about that plan . I even went to the RMR (Royal Montreal regiment) to get the papers.
I'm probably stubborn for saying this but i don't really like where I'm living and I wanna get out of here . hehe

If you are interested in becoming a Combat engineer, .... skip the RMR and go down St Catherine st +/- 5 blocks (east) and visit 34 Combat Engineer Regiment (formerly 3 Field Engineer Reg't) at 3 Hillside Lane (next door to westmount High.

You can work on your reserve trade qualification .... which is portable to the Reg force - so you won't be wasting your time & will get you a position in a reg unit a lot faster once you do a Component transfer - after high school.

That is - if you're serious...

 

[LanJ]

Thanks . Ill look into that

 

[Fraser.g]

The huge thing in this whole post is AFTER HIGHSCHOOL!
As a Combat engineer, you have to deal with fundamental physics and math including geometry, and formula manipulation.
Finish your secondary education.

GF

 

[aesop081]

The huge thing in this whole post is AFTER HIGHSCHOOL!

Agreed

As a Combat engineer, you have to deal with fundamental physics and math including geometry, and formula manipulation.

You are making it sound worse than it is.  I barely made it through HS, did very poorly at math and managed to do very well on my Fd Eng QL6A doing the demolitions and bridge designs. As a DP1 candidate, his biggest math worry will be F= W/B +0.3 and keeping track of how many pushups he still owes the staff  ;D

Finish your secondary education.

GF

Again, i couldnt agree more, finish highschool, you never know what you are going to want to do later in life, its best to keep your options open.

 

[Fraser.g]

Perhaps I did make it sound a bit too harsh but I think those who have gone through the school can agree that a strong grounding in HS math and science makes the calcs easier to understand, manipulate, and comprehend.

GF