What not to do - No excuse BMQ tips [Merged]

[PMedMoe]

she had resprained it five times on the 14k before dropping out.

No offense, but I find that difficult to believe.  If she had actually sprained her ankle more than once, I hardly think she would be able carry on with a march.  She may have twisted it a few times on the march and the old injury was not yet healed.  Just another reason to hit the MIR before you get really hurt.

 

[ARMY_101]

Would CF98's be kept on the base where the injury occurred, or given back to the unit to be placed on permanent record?  I tore two ligaments in my foot in the infamous Meaford tank ruts this summer and I'd like to keep my own copy of my CF98 just in case.  Would that be something to go through the unit, or base?

 

[George Wallace]

Would CF98's be kept on the base where the injury occurred, or given back to the unit to be placed on permanent record?  I tore two ligaments in my foot in the infamous Meaford tank ruts this summer and I'd like to keep my own copy of my CF98 just in case.  Would that be something to go through the unit, or base?

ALWAYS KEEP A COPY.  Keep a copy before you hand it in.  Keep copies of the Witness Statements before you hand them in.  Never trust the Filing System of any organization, CF or Civilian, to keep accurate records.  It is your life and health.

I might add, keep copies of all your documents, Posting Messages, Crse Messages, Pay Statements, PERs, PDRs, Memos, Redresses, etc.  It is only for your own good at a later date when you MAY need them to sort out an Administrative Problem.

 

[Lil_T]

So... we should keep a binder as soon as we get in?  Sound advice George.  I think my husband has paperwork in our filebox going back to his reserve days way back in 93.

 

[Xx_Chuckles_xX]

This is all such great advice, thank you.
I think I will stay the heck away from ghost kits/shortcuts. They seem to do more harm than good. Besides, a little extra work won't end up killing me in the end.

 

[ARMY_101]

Here's a few someone in our section learned:

- Don't hide your last minute garbage in your sleeping bag.  Staff will check.  And wonder why there's chocolate bar wrappers in the thing you sleep in.

 

[George Wallace]

Here's a few someone in our section learned:

- Don't hide your last minute garbage in your sleeping bag.  Staff will check.  And wonder why there's chocolate bar wrappers in the thing you sleep in.

Obviously someone wasn't acquainted with the pockets of the uniform they wear.    ;D

 

[ARMY_101]

This was the same person who wore mountain bike gloves for the cool factor (another do-not do...) who wanted to get into Intelligence

 

[brihard]

This was the same person who wore mountain bike gloves for the cool factor (another do-not do...) who wanted to get into Intelligence

Ugh. Please tell me this guy wears a different cap badge.

 

[ARMY_101]

Sure does, thankfully.

 

[George Wallace]

Cornflake?

 

[ARMY_101]

I only wish   He passed his training which means he now wears a certain Hamilton-area unit's badge.  He's more than deserving of a cornflake though.  You know the Simpson's book of Don't Do What Johnny Don't Do Does?  He was Johnny    He made us either very happy  ;D or very sad  :crybaby: with his lack of judgement and knowledge.

 

[S.Stewart]

Standards exist everywhere, both in and out of the Canadian Forces, and they are in place for a reason, no matter how pointless they may seem. I have always been taught in any field of work, be it technical or otherwise, to plan ahead, take the extra five minutes and do it right.

I am sure those of you who believe in cutting corners to meet standards at BMQ, would not want to live in an apartment building where the engineer was lazy, and or trying to not cost their contract the extra buck and made the footing for the foundation somewhere between 2inches in and just up to code. For those of you who do not speak geology or engineer, that means your foundation is not strong enough to hold up your structure.

Cutting corners is stupid, in any case, and in any walk of life. You may get away with it once, but eventually it will come back to haunt you, cause their you will screw up and get caught, or your gonna find yourself in a position where you can't do things the "right" way cause you have never done it.

 

[George Wallace]

I only wish   He passed his training which means he now wears a certain Hamilton-area unit's badge.  He's more than deserving of a cornflake though.  You know the Simpson's book of Don't Do What Johnny Don't Do Does?  He was Johnny    He made us either very happy  ;D or very sad  :crybaby: with his lack of judgement and knowledge.

He'll keep many in the CF happy in his future military career as his name appears repeatedly on the Duty List.  ;D

 

[ltmaverick25]

There is more then one way to be effective and save time, besides im willing to bet that most of all of you are guilty of cutting some sort of BMQ type corner in your time.  There is a reason we all know the dirty tricks, its because we are just as guilty of them as any of the current recruits are.

Geez I remember sleeping on top of my covers too so that I wouldnt have to mess around with it in the morning.  Though I used my ranger blanket and still managed to keep warm and get a good nights sleep.  It was easier to shove my blanket back into my valise then it was to make the freaking bed.

The fact is, no matter what happens our new recruits will go through a similar experience as we did, they will also learn to improvise adapt and overcome.  Some will cut corners and turn out to be fabulous soldiers, some will not cut corners and turn out to be lousy none the less.

Whenever I taught on a BMQ I was always much more concerned with how the soldiers handled their weapons and learned their fieldcraft and things like that.

When I did my PLQ we had high stress guys that would flip out on each other constantly and spend far too much time worrying about inspection and not nearly enough time worrying about Battle Procedure or Patrol Orders.  These same idiots are the ones that either failed their POs or barely passed.  Meanwhile some of us would take a hit on the chin over a less then perfect shiny piece of kit and learn to do our jobs.

As far as advice goes, its simple.  DO NOT allow yourself to become stressed out.  DO NOT partake in activities that perpetuate shack feaver and we all know what that is.  There is absolutely nothing worse then being an a BMQ or leadership course and being stuck in the same building/room as a bunch of flinchers.  Treating each other like garbage, yelling at each other and power tripping on each other will not make you a better soldier or a better leader it just prepares you to be a donkey instead of a lion.

Another piece of advice.  If you are a light sleeper like I am, rest assured you will ALWAYS get stuck in a room with the fat guy that snores loud enough to deny you sleep every night.  Bring ear plugs and ear defenders.  Use them both and instruct the fat one to wake you up in the morning.  You wont hear a thing and you will get a happy nights sleep!

 

[Greymatters]

ALWAYS KEEP A COPY.  Keep a copy before you hand it in.  Keep copies of the Witness Statements before you hand them in.  Never trust the Filing System of any organization, CF or Civilian, to keep accurate records.  It is your life and health.

I might add, keep copies of all your documents, Posting Messages, Crse Messages, Pay Statements, PERs, PDRs, Memos, Redresses, etc.  It is only for your own good at a later date when you MAY need them to sort out an Administrative Problem.

In support of George's statement, you may be told by misinformed staff that you ar not allowed to have copies of some of this paperwork, or that you dont need it because someone else will take care of it for you.  If its about you, always keep a copy...

 

[CEEBEE501]

Hmm
I haven't really found an answer to this question, but what if I use a electric shaver/razor, is this accepted at an inspection, or should one get a regular razor for inspection and keep the electric one out of sight, or (as I assume will be suggested) learn how to use a manual razor?

 

[R. Jorgensen]

Hmm
I haven't really found an answer to this question, but what if I use a electric shaver/razor, is this accepted at an inspection, or should one get a regular razor for inspection and keep the electric one out of sight, or (as I assume will be suggested) learn how to use a manual razor?

Start learning to use a Manual.

 

[Radcliffe]

/\/\/\/\ Grab a manual and don't worry about the razor you use. Depending on how intense your staff is, you might have to bring a manual to the field because electrics are noisy.

I think a lot of people in this thread are taking the stupid shit way too seriously.

I can't see any problem with having a second personal kit. Your locker is a museum, the exercise isn't to see how clean you can keep your toothbrush WHILE using it, it's to see how well you can communicate and follow a standard. And seriously, there's enough to pick on that deviates from the standard without having to check if there are shit stains on people's locker underwear.

From the perspective of a platoon commander, it doesn't matter to me if my troops use their own boots or special equipment to clean their weapon. It's just important that they all have the same fighting ability and standard of combat readiness, so I inspect for a minimum standard.

On course you'll be taught a lot of shit that doesn't really apply to your future career. For instance, on my basic for cock (confirmation of combat knowledge) we had to set up hooches in a field with no bungee cords. In real life, you don't even need a hooch most of the time and just sleep in your bivy bag (at least in the infantry that's how we do it dismounted).

 

[danchapps]

I can't see any problem with having a second personal kit. Your locker is a museum, the exercise isn't to see how clean you can keep your toothbrush WHILE using it, it's to see how well you can communicate and follow a standard. And seriously, there's enough to pick on that deviates from the standard without having to check if there are crap stains on people's locker underwear.

Overheard on an inspection:
Sgt: "Pte, did you use this razor this morning?"
Pte: "Of course I shaved this morning Sgt!"
Sgt: "That's not what I asked, did you use THIS razor this morning Pte"
Pte: (sheepishly) "No Sgt"

The Sgt then went on to chew out  my course mate for not using the razor that was on display. Point being, some course staff will be hard on this issue, others not. It's easier doing the 2 seconds extra cleaning than risk getting chewed out for taking a short cut.