Single Quarters & Rations (R&Q) [MERGED]

[PMedMoe]

RatCatcher,

Because of the mixed ranks on your course, you will more likely be in the quarters that we had on course last year.  IIRC, these are located on Rafah Cres just behind the Mail room and next to where PSP (CFPSA?) is.  Walking distance to Bleacher's!

You will be required to go through a civilian company for internet in the quarters.  There is internet available at the Snr NCO's mess.

 

[aerobat]

Hello just completed BMQ in St Jean Oct 31. Got to Borden and settled in was happy to find good internet here. Once i got hooked up I found out i am moving to Kingston to start my AVS course (POET). Any one have any idea of the possibility of internet during that course and how the barracks compare to Borden? Like to I have acces to my computer/cell phone etc?


Future AVS Tech

 

[Eye In The Sky]

I can't comment on the barracks that POET candidates stay in.  My buddy did POET recently and he never complained too much about them, so they can't be that bad.  According to the LCIS Tech Sgt in my shop, new shacks are being built close to the soccer field.

Re: Internet connection, from Para 48 of the CFSCE Joining Instructions: (IntraNet/DIN link)

48. Installations of telephone, Internet and Cable television services are permitted in quarters at the individual's expense. Requests for the installations of these services must be made through the chain of command. A common area is provided with Televisions and VCR's for students' use. Pay phones and a Base phone are also located in each Barrack Block.

Also, from the JI's, Para 49 (c)(iii):

iii.  Personnel on TD here (from Borden), i.e. AVN, AVS or FCS techs will not live out;

CFSCE Intranet/DIN Site Homepage

 

[fire_guy686]

If I remember correctly POET students stay in B6. B6 and B7 from what I saw when I was there are pretty much identical. 4 person rooms, but quite a bit of space to keep your personal kit. As far as Internet goes, my course wasn't allowed to get it until after the fourth week of course and you had to send a memo up though the chain to get approval. That was all of course based on your performance during the course. If you were a pump, chances are they aren't going to approve your internet request. Cell phones were good to go as long as they were off during classes.

 

[Eye In The Sky]

You were a Traf Tech at CFSCE ???

 

[Strike]

Wireless is available at the JRs.

 

[fire_guy686]

You were a Traf Tech at CFSCE ???

Negative. Started out 052 and wasn't quite comfortable with the climbing side of things. Did a COT and am now a Tfc Tech. So I was at CFSCE as a student and during my time at PRETC in the lovely posistion of duty driver taking troops to CFSCE for course.

 

[Eye In The Sky]

Negative. Started out 052 and wasn't quite comfortable with the climbing side of things. Did a COT and am now a Tfc Tech. So I was at CFSCE as a student and during my time at PRETC in the lovely posistion of duty driver taking troops to CFSCE for course.

Roger that.  I think the folks on POET run things differently.  Everyone who wanted it got Internet on my friends POET.  It wasn't a privilege as they were the ones paying for it, or something like that.

 

[Nfld Sapper]

While on my WSO Course the Armoured DP 1's up stairs had internet while on course. Now only if I could have broken their encryption  >

 

[fire_guy686]

Roger that.  I think the folks on POET run things differently.  Everyone who wanted it got Internet on my friends POET.  It wasn't a privilege as they were the ones paying for it, or something like that.

More than likely. It is different between every course so who the heck really knows. They'll find out when they arrive.

 

[fire_guy686]

While on my WSO Course the Armoured DP 1's up stairs had internet while on course. Now only if I could have broken their encryption  >

I remember doing that at CFSCE actually. Stealing wireless off the Sig Op's downstairs or the Lineman on their QL5 course. Until they figured us out and changed the settings on the router.

 

[Havic]

The mess in Borden is terrible if you want to eat healthy you better get their early, The fruit is limited, and when it is available its rotten or tastes bad.  if you want a sandwich your waiting 15min at lunch. And the selection on food is awful compared to other bases, . They always run out of salad. They run out of cups, don't fill the juice machines myself and many others are extremely angered at the price we are paying for such bad service. The mess is over crowded and they must be understaffed. The dessert table is huge and plentiful though. And no one in CFSATE can opt out of the mess food unless living out. Is their anything we can do to fix this. It seems like no one cares, or maybe we just have to suck it up.

 

[PMedMoe]

Isn't there still a suggestion box there?  Either that or go through your staff at the school and complain.  I have to admit, I never thought much of mess food, but Borden wasn't too bad each time I was there, just very busy at lunch so I used to avoid it.  I used to make a PB&J or get a hard boiled egg and make an egg sandwich at breakfast so I didn't have to go for lunch.

Edit to add:  Isn't your family in Windsor?  If so, you shouldn't be paying for rations and quarters.

 

[Michael OLeary]

Is there anyone on the forums who is staff at Borden that can confirm the complaint process.  It may be that any complaints collected by the kitchen staff themselves (contractors?) aren't being reviewed by the contract management team.

 

[TCBF]

- On every base in the CF, there are unit and base duty staff whose functions include taking their meals in the Junior Ranks dining facility. This includes Regimental, School and Base Duty Officers, Duty Warrant Officers and Duty NCOs. Those staff are often tasked with gathering comments from the diners.  If you find a menu item lacking, bring the menu item to the duty staff (often sitting with the ones checking meal cards).

- You can approach the kitchen staff at the steam line and request to speak with the Shift NCO i/c.  Speak clearly and politely, with forethought.

- You can also bring up your concerns to your chain of command.

- My mess hall dining experience ranges from the 1970s to last year.  Our CF military cooks have always been, in my opinion, second to none.  If there were quality control issues at a CF kitchen, all of the CF cooks that I have met in the last few decades would bend over backwards to fix the problem.

 

[geo]

Ummm... isn't the CF school of cookery at Borden ???

I know that my visits to the kitchens in most bases has been very positive.  Mind you, my last visit to Borden goes back to the early 80s

 

[aesop081]

Food is bad in Borden........well i hate to tell ya but it doesnt get much better elsewhere. Winnipeg and Greenwood have reached their own unseen levels of crapiness for instance.

 

[Pea]

I have to second the original posters opinion of the healthy food being few & far between. Many a day my course would arrive for lunch and the salads, vegetables & fruits would be completely picked over with barely anything left. The hot meal "healthy" options were generally gone by then as well. And we usually ate about 1 hour into the lunch service. Same goes for milk and yogurt in the morning. Meanwhile there is always tons of bacon to go around. I know myself and many course mates filled out the comment/suggestion cards during both our stays in Borden. I also spoke with the Duty NCO on one or two occasions. When I left Borden recently I was paying $477 a month to eat there, which to me is pretty steep when half the time there wasn't much to eat other than very greasy options. So then a person has to buy their own food and pay even more money out of pocket. It's frustrating to say the least.

 

[1feral1]

Our messes all have a register in which you can write comments both good and bad. This book is addressed by the Catering WO daily, and any shortcomings are taken seriously.

The food for the ORs here is not that bad. As DO on many occasions, this meant sampling a meal in the ORs Mess.

Current ADF cost Gallipoli Bks Mess/DFAC is $3.64 for brekky, and $4.65 for both lunch and dinner. Thats for as many times as you want., but no food is to leave the Mess.

I am sorry to hear that such a facility as Borden is has such a negative feel regarding food.

Napoleon said an Army marches on its stomach.

Our Messes have steak and potatoes every night, all with veggies of course.


Regards,

OWDU

 

[Armymedic]

The mess in Borden is terrible

I think you need to get more specific as to which mess you are discussing.

I eat at a mess in Borden...and the food there has been anything but terrible. Occasionally, they run out of the favorite (ie steak on steak night), but the food is always hot and flavorful.

The largest problem, IMHO, is not that they do not prepare the food well, but the sheer number of diners (esp in the T lines) who eat there. Quantity always trumps quality when it comes to mess food.

edit to add - casual diners pay $10 per meal for breakfast and lunch at the mess I eat at.