Training

[dr.no]

Hello. I have recently passed all of my tests and should be hearing from the PLF soon (the med forms take 1 month). I was wondering if anyone could help me out by giving pointers for what to expect during the basic training, as I will hopefully be heading for Aldershot soon.

 

[Scott]

If you go to Aldershot in the summer expect it to be bloody HOT!!!!

As far as what the rigors are of QL2 now I am not sure, there are plenty here that are more qualified than me to comment. Expect to be pushed, that's always a safe bet. Here's a good thought: Start working hard on your conditioning, get to running and doing push ups, sit ups, chin ups, etc. The better shape you show up in the better time you will have on the course. A guy who shows up in not so good shape has to work that much harder to keep up, thus, he is more tired and has a harder time keeping awake in class, etc. The guy who shows up in shape will still be pushed and will still go to bed pretty tired but he will have it much easier than the fellow who is not in as good of shape. You also will not be as prone to the small nagging injuries that you may sustain throughout training. The fitness standards are there for a reason, it's damn hard on your body, prepare for it.

Do they do all PRes training at Aldershot now? I went to Gagetown for my 2's and Aldershot for my 3's. Spent TWO summers in Tent city while they were building the new barracks. God I miss those tents, so easy to keep clean, so hard to find yours after a night at JR's. Further to that, sand is a real sh&^^y thing to wake up with a mouth full of when you already have a hangover.

GOOD LUCK

Cheers!

 

[dr.no]

Thanks for the tips! I actually don't know where I'm going to be training, but they said gagetown and aldershot.

 

[jmackenzie_15]

im starting DP1 in aldershot on wednesday, im home for the weekend before it starts. Its pretty damn hot and theres some really strange insects ive never seen in my life before lol. Baby wipes are the arch nemesis of cam paint, they bring it off like nothing, bring lots of those.Plus, they keep you at least semi clean in the field sometimes when you try to keep yourself from being a scuzzbgag.One of my pet peeves is not being able to be clean, i wash my hair with a canteen on some nights when i have time =p.Bring your own bug spray too, the stuff they give you sucks.The bugs are all immune i think.Trust me, you want it.One of my section commanders got bit by 'something' in his sleeping bag and his leg swelled right up, another guys face did when 'something' bit him. good luck =p

 

[Scott]

If you want something killer to remove cam paint try Oxy Pads, they sting a bit, but work, just never use one after you've tried shaving the cam off or you will feel pain like nothing you've ever experienced before.

 

[dr.no]

Um... at the risk of sounding a bit stupid, what are PRes, DP1 and QL2?

 

[Scott]

PRes is the Primary Reserves, the PLF are a part of the Primary Reserves.

QL2 is Basic Training (Qualification Level Two, correct me if I am wrong)

QL3 is your MOC (Military Occupation, in your case 031, Infantry) and it goes on from there

The only thing I can think of for DP is Demo Platoon, jmackenzie will have to enlighten us on that

Good Luck and have fun

Cheers

 

[Korus]

What will really screw you up, though, is that the term QL2 is not used anymore...

The old QL2 course is now the BMQ and SQ courses..
QL3 is now DP1 in some trades..

You'll quickly learn that the army has many abreviations, and every so often they like to change them to mess people up.

 

[Scott]

I screwed former members up when I first joined by calling it QL2/3/4/5A, etc. They had all been through TQ1, 2 and so on.

BMQ? Basic Military Qualification??

SQ? Soldier Qualification?

What are the additions/changes to the program? Curious to see how they train now.

Cheers and thanks

 

[ZipperHead]

DP stands for Developmental Period. It replaces QL, TQ, OSQ, and whatever other alphabet soup acronyms they have used in the past. It is used both for NCM and Officer "career progression" courses.

Most people still use TQ3 to describe their MOC trg or Battle School, as everybody is still familiar with what it means.

Al

 

[jswift872]

all i know is i am doing bmq for the plf right now on the weekends in the armouries, we go to aldershot for like 2 weekends at the end, for the firing range...the rest of the time we get to see the many freaky people out at 6 in the morning during pt on the Halifax commons.

 

[patt]

just a quick question when do u do ur SQ?

 

[jswift872]

after bmq.


(sq is the fun one i hear)

 

[portcullisguy]

I didn't think SQ was all that fun.  It was just less boring than BMQ.  DP1 - Infantry was fun.  It was a bit more nitty gritty on the dismounted ops stuff, and included firing the mortar and M203.  I read somewhere on this board that they ahve now moved the hand grenades and Carl G into the DP1 course, and it's no longer in SQ.  I have no idea, but if true, it would make SQ even LESS fun and DP1 even MORE fun.

Range days are pretty good on course.

Just don't volunteer for the butt party on the M203 range.    j/k

Before I did SQ/DP1, I was told that learning and performing the section attack would be one of the hardest things I'd do in my military career, and perhaps the most rewarding.  I was told it was the meat & potatoes of an infantryman's job.

Well, I still think it was a pretty tough, although I'm quite sure there are worse ways the army can beast you around.  But, yes, I take a certain amount of pride in the knowledge that I can do them and make them look convincing.

Last month, in Florida, training with the US National Guard, we took some of their guys through our section attacks, and they showed us how they do theirs.  I think ours is tougher, and I think they agreed.  The dash-he-sees-me-down, even over short distances, does a number on the knees and other joints, especially in 90-degree heat.  I don't think they were going to change their tactics on our account, but I think they held us in high respect.  Not one of us went down to a heat injury during the 2-week ex, and plenty of their lads did.

Enjoy the experience and learn all you can, you will be rewarded.

 

[Scott]

Pepper potting always kicked my a**, anyone who has trained in Aldershot will have "fond" memories of the scrubby vegetation that hurts like a b*&^%rd when you go to fall with the C9 or C6. We had one troop in my section who had pepper potting down to a science. If you watched him you'd see the C9 arc up almost over his head like he threw it as he started his bound and as the gun came back down he was starting to go to ground, knees, hip, elbows.

I recall another time we were doing a section attack in the old Camp Debert training area when one of my counterparts tried to leap a small brook during his bound, he somehow became entangled in his weapon's sling and made a fairly hard impact with the ground. That was the only time I have ever seen an officer completely useless due to gales of laughter.

Cheers

 

[jswift872]

what exactly is pepper potting, if you don't mind me asking..

 

[Infanteer]

Ah young Padewan, not quite the Private you advertise yourself as yet, are you....

"Pepper Potting" is a slang term for fire-and-movement, the most basic individual Infantry tactic for advancing under fire.  It is essentially how we "close with and destroy the enemy."

 

[jswift872]

ahh thanks man, and i will hopefully be a private as of august 15. if all goes good, but until then i think i will change my avatar, lol

 

[D-n-A]

I think DP1 can refer to more then just QL3

my BMQ course title was

P Res NCM DP-1 Basic Military Qualification (Land)

 

[Korus]

My worst pepper-potting experience was when my webbing shifted on me, and my mag pouch, complete with 2 loaded mags, lined up with my nether-regions, then I hit the ground..