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Questions about joining the Reserves

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zeemek said:
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As suggested above, "Why not post the answer? It might help somebody else someday."

 
Hi everyone I'm applying for the Infantry Reserve here in St.Catharines,Ontario. I was just curious what can disqualify me for service?
 
petrop said:
Hi everyone I'm applying for the Infantry Reserve here in St.Catharines,Ontario. I was just curious what can disqualify me for service?

Welcome to Army.ca. Please review the Recruiting threads/message boards, as there’s a lot of information regarding requirements, criminal records, physical standards, etc. As well, contact and/or pop into the Lincoln & Welland Regiment if you haven’t done so already. The Recuiter is there Mon/Wed/Fri or you can schedule an appointment with the recruiting Sgt also if those days don’t work for you.
 
Hello Army.ca Forums,

This is my first post on the website and I'm extremely excited to learn from you.  Just some background, I'm in my early twenties, currently attending university for an undergrad honours degree in computer science.  I have always thought about joining the army, and I know my time is running out to do so. In a summer or two I will have to start applying for summer internships to get a full time software engineering job when I graduate. I do really enjoy a challenge, and pushing myself.
These are some of my questions:
1) To get "hands on" experience to get a taste of military life in the reserves should I try to join as an officer or NCO?
2) I really want to become a paratrooper(I know on the QOR of C is the only reserve paratroopers) how hard/long will I have to wait to get into get in basic parachute course?  Would being an officer or NCO help my odds of getting into basic parachute course? - I live about 2 hours away and would be willing to commute.
3) Since I live 2 hours away from The QOR of C, would it be easier to transfer from another reserves unit when I get into get into basic parachute or how does this work?

Sorry for the loaded post, as you can probably tell I have a lot of questions about joining the reserves. I look forward to all the information/advice I can get you from.

Thanks,

Gideons
 
Gideons said:
To get "hands on" experience to get a taste of military life in the reserves should I try to join as an officer or NCO?

This may help,

Comparing the job of Officer vs NCM [MERGED]
https://army.ca/forums/threads/171.0
25 pages.

Gideons said:
I really want to become a paratrooper(I know on the QOR of C is the only reserve paratroopers) how hard/long will I have to wait to get into get in basic parachute course?  Would being an officer or NCO help my odds of getting into basic parachute course?

QOR Para Coy & parachute tasking reserve sub-units 
https://army.ca/forums/threads/22247.75
4 pages.

Gideons said:
Since I live 2 hours away from The QOR of C, would it be easier to transfer from another reserves unit when I get into get into basic parachute or how does this work?

PRes Unit Transfer 
https://army.ca/forums/threads/92039/post-1508549.html#new
2 pages.

As always, Recruiters are your most trusted source of information.
 
Please don't join the reserves as an officer just to test it out.

Join as an ncm and if you like the reserves and want to stay then consider switching to officer. 
 
Jarnhamar said:
Please don't join the reserves as an officer just to test it out.

Join as an ncm and if you like the reserves and want to stay then consider switching to officer.

If I enjoyed the reserves after I graduate I would likely join the regular forces. However, why are you against joining the reserves as an officer to test out to see if I like it or not?
 
A few reasons.

1.  More time and resources are put into training an officer than a private. By joining the reserves just to check things out then going regs you may be taking a position away from someone who will stick with the reserves and support the officer corps up to possibly being the CO.

2.  You may have to redo parts of your training to switch over to the regs which is a further drain on resources and man power.

3. Even as a new officer in the reserves you can really mess up a lot of stuff. If your heart isn't in it 100% you could do more harm then good.

4. The reserves are an important part of the CAF in its own right. It shouldn't be treated primarily as a convenient job trial.

5. There are some very big differences between the reserves and the reg force, some positive some negative. Joining the reserves to gauge what the reg force is like won't work as well as you may think.

6. One of the biggest most important assets you have in the military is your connections and essentially who you went through training with.  If you slide into the regular Force and for whatever reason you don't to basic training etc.. over again you'll be at a big disadvantage, at last for a long while IMO.
 
Jarnhamar said:
A few reasons.

1.  More time and resources are put into training an officer than a private. By joining the reserves just to check things out then going regs you may be taking a position away from someone who will stick with the reserves and support the officer corps up to possibly being the CO.

2.  You may have to redo parts of your training to switch over to the regs which is a further drain on resources and man power.

3. Even as a new officer in the reserves you can really mess up a lot of stuff. If your heart isn't in it 100% you could do more harm then good.

4. The reserves are an important part of the CAF in its own right. It shouldn't be treated primarily as a convenient job trial.

5. There are some very big differences between the reserves and the reg force, some positive some negative. Joining the reserves to gauge what the reg force is like won't work as well as you may think.

6. One of the biggest most important assets you have in the military is your connections and essentially who you went through training with.  If you slide into the regular Force and for whatever reason you don't to basic training etc.. over again you'll be at a big disadvantage, at last for a long while IMO.

I know reserves aren't the same as reg forces. However, I need something to justify turning down good software engineering jobs on something that I have no clue what I'm getting myself into. Which is why I think the reserves is valuable data point to help make that decision, because if I don't have any data on if the military is for me, I won't be turning down my job offers. I also currently do have a good summer job in the tech field, so any reserves training I want to be the best/most useful as possible because I will have to turn down my return offer and I will lose that position forever. See my dilemma?
 
Gideons said:
However, why are you against joining the reserves as an officer to test out to see if I like it or not?

To add to what Jarnhamar said,

Switching from Officer to NCM ??? 
https://army.ca/forums/threads/25874.0
 
Gideons said:
I know reserves aren't the same as reg forces. However, I need something to justify turning down good software engineering jobs on something that I have no clue what I'm getting myself into.
Duty. Service is it's own reward. :)

Which is why I think the reserves is valuable data point to help make that decision, because if I don't have any data on if the military is for me, I won't be turning down my job offers. I also currently do have a good summer job in the tech field, so any reserves training I want to be the best/most useful as possible because I will have to turn down my return offer and I will lose that position forever. See my dilemma?

So join as an NCM.
If you like the reserves and think you can serve the reserves better as an officer then apply to be an officer.
If you think you can serve the regular force better as a regular force NCM or officer and want to make a career out of soldiering then join the regular force.


Zeal makes all things possible. Duty makes all things simple ;)

Just to add- thats just my opinion. If your heart is set on joining the reserves as an officer then by all means go ahead. I just think if you're testing things out then ncm is the best for everyone.
 
Jarnhamar said:
Duty. Service is it's own reward.

So join as an NCM.
If you like the reserves and think you can serve the reserves better as an officer then apply to be an officer.
If you think you an serve the regular force better as a regular force NCM or officer and want to make a career out of soldiering then join the regular force.


Zeal makes all things possible. Duty makes all things simple ;)
Sage advice by Jarnhamar, each path we take is different but his counsel is pretty bang on.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Jarnhamar said:
Duty. Service is it's own reward. :)

So join as an NCM.
If you like the reserves and think you can serve the reserves better as an officer then apply to be an officer.
If you think you can serve the regular force better as a regular force NCM or officer and want to make a career out of soldiering then join the regular force.


Zeal makes all things possible. Duty makes all things simple ;)

Just to add- thats just my opinion. If your heart is set on joining the reserves as an officer then by all means go ahead. I just think if you're testing things out then ncm is the best for everyone.

I don't have my heart set on being an officer, honestly I was thinking of join as a NCM until speaking to some guys I know in the reg force who recommended joining as an officer. Yes, I do agree joining and serving is it's own reward. I just like to have what i'm doing planned out to make it as efficient as possible, so if being an officer would help me get Basic Para and maybe join The QOR of C para unit then I would take that route, if not I would probably go in as a NCM. I would also be willing to transfer from my current university to University of Toronto to make it work.
 
Gideons said:
I don't have my heart set on being an officer, honestly I was thinking of join as a NCM until speaking to some guys I know in the reg force who recommended joining as an officer. Yes, I do agree joining and serving is it's own reward. I just like to have what i'm doing planned out to make it as efficient as possible, so if being an officer would help me get Basic Para and maybe join The QOR of C para unit then I would take that route, if not I would probably go in as a NCM. I would also be willing to transfer from my current university to University of Toronto to make it work.
I'm not sure if I completely understood your post, but from what I interpreted as, you shouldn't apply for a specific trade just to get into a certain regiment. You SHOULD have your heart set on the trade(s) you want however, and you have to remember that the reserves is a part time job. It is an important part of your life but it is not the only one, you need to find a balance between your life as a reservist and in your civilian career, and if you have to change your university just to make this work, it probably isn't a good sign. Try to find something that works WITH the rest of your life, or at least around the rest of it.
 
war2001v said:
I'm not sure if I completely understood your post, but from what I interpreted as, you shouldn't apply for a specific trade just to get into a certain regiment. You SHOULD have your heart set on the trade(s) you want however, and you have to remember that the reserves is a part time job. It is an important part of your life but it is not the only one, you need to find a balance between your life as a reservist and in your civilian career, and if you have to change your university just to make this work, it probably isn't a good sign. Try to find something that works WITH the rest of your life, or at least around the rest of it.

Yes, the the specific occupation I want to be is a paratrooper.  The issue is, only in Toronto would that be possible. I'm not sure of how often reserves meet, I've heard just weekends during the school year or some places one day a week and once a week. Since I live two hours away from Toronto, the commute could become difficult. However, the reason I'm willing to make a change for this is I only have two years left in university and I need to figure out if I want to go into the military after I graduate. I honestly doubt I will have time sadly once I go into my field of choice to be in the reserves for awhile at least.  Maybe this is wrong, but I'm viewing my time in the reserves as  a try out to see if I want to go into the reg forces. So, I'm not really focusing on long term at this moment.
 
Gideons said:
Yes, the the specific occupation I want to be is a paratrooper.  The issue is, only in Toronto would that be possible. I'm not sure of how often reserves meet, I've heard just weekends during the school year or some places one day a week and once a week. Since I live two hours away from Toronto, the commute could become difficult. However, the reason I'm willing to make a change for this is I only have two years left in university and I need to figure out if I want to go into the military after I graduate. I honestly doubt I will have time sadly once I go into my field of choice to be in the reserves for awhile at least.  Maybe this is wrong, but I'm viewing my time in the reserves as  a try out to see if I want to go into the reg forces. So, I'm not really focusing on long term at this moment.

There is no occupation known as "paratrooper" in the Canadian Armed Forces. Certain units received jump training, but even then, there is no guarantee that you will be doing much jumping at all. Even in WW2, "jump" companies spent most of their time fighting and being deployed just like normal infantry, but we're called upon to perform combat drops when their specific skills were needed.

I can't say for sure, but I doubt that as a member of QORC you would be doing much jumping. Maybe during a big exercise once per year. Again, I have no authority on this other than my two years working in the (Naval) reserve, but working alongside 6 Army Reserve units in my city. There is limited budget, limited time, and limited effort available to make things like jump exercises happen.

If you go the ref force route, your best bet is to join the infantry (obviously), and then once you are fully trade qualified you can request to your jump specialization, and then get posted to one of our jump companies (C Company of the 3rd Battalion of all 3 Regiments, I believe). Although I may have it backwards; perhaps you get posted to C Company and then they train you to be a jumper? Again, I'm a sailor, and this ain't my part-ship.

What I do know is that if you want to jump ALOT, you need to join the SkyHawks, which is Canada demonstration para-shoot team. They are more like circus performers than infanteers, but they get to jump all year.
 
Lumber said:
There is no occupation known as "paratrooper" in the Canadian Armed Forces. Certain units received jump training, but even then, there is no guarantee that you will be doing much jumping at all. Even in WW2, "jump" companies spent most of their time fighting and being deployed just like normal infantry, but we're called upon to perform combat drops when their specific skills were needed.

I can't say for sure, but I doubt that as a member of QORC you would be doing much jumping. Maybe during a big exercise once per year. Again, I have no authority on this other than my two years working in the (Naval) reserve, but working alongside 6 Army Reserve units in my city. There is limited budget, limited time, and limited effort available to make things like jump exercises happen.

If you go the ref force route, your best bet is to join the infantry (obviously), and then once you are fully trade qualified you can request to your jump specialization, and then get posted to one of our jump companies (C Company of the 3rd Battalion of all 3 Regiments, I believe). Although I may have it backwards; perhaps you get posted to C Company and then they train you to be a jumper? Again, I'm a sailor, and this ain't my part-ship.

What I do know is that if you want to jump ALOT, you need to join the SkyHawks, which is Canada demonstration para-shoot team. They are more like circus performers than infanteers, but they get to jump all year.

Yes, the reason I used that terminology paratrooper is not an occupation, but the guy I was responding was speaking of occupations/trades when I wasn't. Also, the reason I want to is I want to find out if those type of tasks are something I could enjoy or not.  As I've stated, I'm getting a degree in software engineering and I won't just blindly turn down job offers for something I have no practical experience in knowing if it is for me or not. If I went reg force, my goals would be to get into even more specialised units like the pathfinders etc, however with the two year time frame I currently have, basic parachute course I feel would be the most accurate test on which route I should proceed with.  Hopefully this kinda clears up my questions.
 
Just to muddy the waters a little, Sigs is a good fit for someone pursuing a degree in Software Engineering and some Signallers with 32 Signals have had the opportunity to do jump training with the QOR in the past.  That being said, this is rare.

If you decide on Reserves, I strongly recommend doing Basic and Trades training while you're still a student and can get time off in the Summer.  Once you start a full-time role in IT it will be difficult to get the time.
 
Mike5 said:
Just to muddy the waters a little, Sigs is a good fit for someone pursuing a degree in Software Engineering and some Signallers with 32 Signals have had the opportunity to do jump training with the QOR in the past.  That being said, this is rare.

If you decide on Reserves, I strongly recommend doing Basic and Trades training while you're still a student and can get time off in the Summer.  Once you start a full-time role in IT it will be difficult to get the time.

I do have a summer full time IT job already, so joining the reserves would me turning down that job that I would not able to get back. Also, if I joined the military I don't want  to do anything in tech or that would use my degree.
 


Greetings, this is my first post and these questions likely have been answered somewhere on this forum already. Help direct me if necesairy or answer in your own way please.

1) I hear its one night a week, one weekend a month. How many nights can you miss and how many weekends can you miss?

2) On weekends do you stay somewhere there or do you go home at end of each day?

3) BMQ is spread out among the one nights and weekends?

4) What is the cost to join and is there a minimun stay requirement?

Thank you so much for the help.






 
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