opk guys..all my "stuff" for the canadian army is done. im through with m y apptitute test, my interview, my medical and everything else.

all im waiting for now is a call form my unit.

but theres whats happened so far:

i intend to join as a signals officer, but alas i only have finished my first year of studies as as an electrical engineer. really wanting to go through military training this summers (i applied on march) i decided to temporarily join as an NCM (signals operator). didnt apply as infantry, since i wear glasses (not all the time, but still).

anyways, now i find out that people with only their first year of university done can also apply as officers in the military.

secondly, theres chance i might not make it to BMQ this summers, since they only have place in the french course, and id rather do it in english. im sure theyre still trying to find me a spot, but nothings promised.

if a spot cant be found, i was thinking about applying directly as an officer right away, which has its advantages. I might apply as either a signals officer or as an aviation engineer in the helecopter squadron, based right off the montreal island.


now why am i soo keen to get into officer? well the thing is that its ahell of a job,and by the time i graduate, i want to beat that catch 22 situation, where u have no experience and everyones looking for someone with experience. now, i could also do internships and stuff before i graduate (i know a few engineers who might be able to help me find internships) but having experience in the military is something totally different, and AWSOME.

hell just imagine, i could either work my summers in some stupid lame job, or i could be in the army (either NCM or Officer)..isnt that simply a better way to spend your summers.

plus just imagine how you would answer later on, at a job interview, when they as "So, do u have any leadership or teamwork experience?"








Made in Pakistan: SSG Commandos, Ghauri 3 Nuclear Missile, Al-Khalid Tank & JF-17 Fighter Aircraft
"...He is a formidable person and I am glad that he is Pakistani not Egyptian..."
- Eizer Weizman, Chief Of Israeli Air Force during the six day war, commenting on Air Marshal Noor Khan (Commander PAF at that time)

k..sorry guys.. apparently i shouldnt post if i havnt served (just read what it says under that picture).

technically i havnt served yet, or been enlisted, though am only a few days (or so i hope) away from officially becoming a soldier.






Made in Pakistan: SSG Commandos, Ghauri 3 Nuclear Missile, Al-Khalid Tank & JF-17 Fighter Aircraft
"...He is a formidable person and I am glad that he is Pakistani not Egyptian..."
- Eizer Weizman, Chief Of Israeli Air Force during the six day war, commenting on Air Marshal Noor Khan (Commander PAF at that time)

what percentile did u score on aptitude test. I'm in infentry and there are plenty of ppl with glasses.

PS why didn't aplly for ROTP. They pay for all your collage and gives you extra 2.5 grand spending money per month.

they never said anything about my percentile for the apptitude test. only that i did really well.

about the ROTP, isnt that for regulars?

dunno much about how i can join. so far, im only doing reserves, and not planning to join full time. i mite consider full time forces once i graduate.




Made in Pakistan: SSG Commandos, Ghauri 3 Nuclear Missile, Al-Khalid Tank & JF-17 Fighter Aircraft
"...He is a formidable person and I am glad that he is Pakistani not Egyptian..."
- Eizer Weizman, Chief Of Israeli Air Force during the six day war, commenting on Air Marshal Noor Khan (Commander PAF at that time)

if u want to go full time for couple of years after graduation then join ROTP as soon as possible. It pay for u tutation and gives you monthly spending money. the catch is you have to work for them for certain number of year. 2-5 depending on how much money they paied for your tutations.

so i just got my call today. i have to show up to an army base to do my final physical, upon which they will give me a paper which will either indicate that i passed or failed.

i will then have to show this to my unit, which will then put me for the summer training (if i pass).

---

what im hoping to do is finish my BMQ this summers, and then as soon as possible, to apply as a signals officer.





Made in Pakistan: SSG Commandos, Ghauri 3 Nuclear Missile, Al-Khalid Tank & JF-17 Fighter Aircraft
"...He is a formidable person and I am glad that he is Pakistani not Egyptian..."
- Eizer Weizman, Chief Of Israeli Air Force during the six day war, commenting on Air Marshal Noor Khan (Commander PAF at that time)

Reserve BMQ is piece of cake. Only 21 days and if you guys don't act like jackas$es then you get weekends off.

The physical is real easy. Funny thing is I didn't even do them when i joined. They just called me and told me "you are swearing in today" i was like "what about the physicals" then this master coporal just told me don't worry about it lol. Turned out later we have our physical at BMQ.

well..hopefully once i get in, ill be in training from the beginning of june to the end of april.

how much can i expect to earn, just for curiosity.




Made in Pakistan: SSG Commandos, Ghauri 3 Nuclear Missile, Al-Khalid Tank & JF-17 Fighter Aircraft
"...He is a formidable person and I am glad that he is Pakistani not Egyptian..."
- Eizer Weizman, Chief Of Israeli Air Force during the six day war, commenting on Air Marshal Noor Khan (Commander PAF at that time)

you talking about BMQ?

Here is lots of tips about BMQ
http://forums.army.ca/forums/index.php/topic,34712.0.html

Depending on your trade i don't know what you have to do after BMQ. I went for SQ which is personaly easier for me than BMQ.

sq is much easier than bmq. physically its harder but by then ur pretty much used to it. bmq u get yelled at for everything, and some staff are @ssholes and yell at u for things even when u do them right so alot of people including myself stopped caring. either way i don't regret joining if u have any questions just post em here and i'll answer them. biggest tip i can give u is don't stand out. don't be the center of attention. don't be the best, and don't be the worst and u'll get along fine.
my biggest mistake when i was on my bmq is i tried to be a hero representing my section coming in first on a bunch of crap and putting my hand up answering questions. but the end of it i was getting asked everything, and demonstrating everything, (when they were teaching us i had to do sh1t first) eventually it starts getting stressful and when i made mistakes it stood out much more than when others did and the staff were constantly trying to push me harder than everyone else. by the end of the course i was really pissed off and tired. the last day our sections staff took me aside and told me the reason they were harder on me is because they expected more out of me, so basically i brought all the bu11sh1t on myself. sq i didn't do anything like that. i was quiet and more expereienced, i didn't volunteer for anything i let other guys have the spotlight and in the end i got through it fine

-----------------------------

ok..well i have a pretty basic question.

i have my final physcial for the army at an army base in exactly 9 days. i have to how up at the base, and then they'll do a test, after which ill either get a pass or a fail, and if its a pass im in for the summers.

now how hard is it? what can i expect to be told to do? like run 2.4 km and stuff.

secondly, im gonna be leaving in july, and probably will come back at the end of august, or start of September (definitely before school starts). how much money can i expect to earn? i mean i have been wanting to buy my own car for a while now.

whats the average age of people i can expect with me in the BMQ..im 19 right now, but ive heard people as young as 16 year old can join. am i gonna be out of place there?

and oh..right now im ranked as a private..how long before the "private" jokes dye out. do they keep making them in the army? lol.

-----------

now for other quesitons, which arent really that urgent.

i had two reasons joining as an NCM.

1) the officer course had already started and there was no way i could am eit into the army as an office rby the summers, and i really wanted to do somrthing with the forces right there.

2) i was told its better to join as an NCM first and then apply as an officer (cuz thats what the best officers do, apparently).


now heres my questions.

i only have my first year of university done. can i still apply as an officer right away (which is what im planning to do).

secondly, im 19 right now..will that work against me. should i wait a bit before applying, like lets say when im atleast 20 or 21..cuz not a lot of people might want me as an officer at this age.

thirdly, IF i am accepted as an officer later on this year, do i get ranked as an officer cadet or as a second lieutenant.






Made in Pakistan: SSG Commandos, Ghauri 3 Nuclear Missile, Al-Khalid Tank & JF-17 Fighter Aircraft
"...He is a formidable person and I am glad that he is Pakistani not Egyptian..."
- Eizer Weizman, Chief Of Israeli Air Force during the six day war, commenting on Air Marshal Noor Khan (Commander PAF at that time)

now heres my questions.

i only have my first year of university done. can i still apply as an officer right away (which is what im planning to do).

apply right away, deadline is late februrary everything year for the next following school year. Go to your local recruting center they have all the info you need to know.

secondly, im 19 right now..will that work against me. should i wait a bit before applying, like lets say when im atleast 20 or 21..cuz not a lot of people might want me as an officer at this age.

You should usually apply before your first year of university if you want to be in the ROTP program or apply at any stages of post secondry edu. Otherwise you can apply after finishing university.

thirdly, IF i am accepted as an officer later on this year, do i get ranked as an officer cadet or as a second lieutenant.

you are an officer cadet until you finished you training courses, like i said local recruit center will provided you will the best answers.

Now the most important question is your commitment. Do you just want to work for the army during the collage years to make some extra dough or do you really want to make a carrer out of it. If you intend to put at most 5 years of service after you graduate then go ahead and sign up for ROTP.

ps i'd personaly apply to be in to ROTP program asap cause officer's pay is way better.

ok..well i have a pretty basic question.

now how hard is it? what can i expect to be told to do? like run 2.4 km and stuff.

it's very easy if you are in average shape. To perpare do 30 pushups and 30 situps everyday. by push-up i mean real push ups, no girly or half pushups, arms at sholder length apart lower u self fully to the floor and back up. DO not work out the day before your test have a good meal and a long rest. The run is timed so figure out a good pace for yourself and by far the hardest is the pullup. Grip test is simple don't worry about that.

secondly, im gonna be leaving in july, and probably will come back at the end of august, or start of September (definitely before school starts). how much money can i expect to earn? i mean i have been wanting to buy my own car for a while now.

around 1500

whats the average age of people i can expect with me in the BMQ..im 19 right now, but ive heard people as young as 16 year old can join. am i gonna be out of place there?

very few 16year olds in my course, don't worry about it once it starts you'll be so busy that you will simply forget about fitting in.

and oh..right now im ranked as a private..how long before the "private" jokes dye out. do they keep making them in the army? lol.

Acctully you are not a full privet, recruits aren't even qualified to wear the privet single chervon ROFL. Making fun of the new recruits is an essienial part of the army. Just laught it off and don't take anything personal. be a good sport lol. One day you'll be making fun of recruits you self."

don't start as an officer cadet. you'll get no respect whatsover. plus the officers are a little more laid back so u won't get that strict discipline and you won't learn how to be an intimidating SOB. the best officers are the ones that applied as NCM and then reapplied once they reached the rank of MCPL or up. i think if ur a SGT u can be an automatic Captain once u crossover and that's much better than being an officer cadet or a 2nd Lieutenant.

-----------------------------

i had my enrollement ceremony the day before yesterday..oficcially called Pte.Bokahri now.


anwyays, im preparing for my physical. started joggin a few days ago. physical is on the 5th..

i know im starting late..but ya..i was busy with exams and school before, so didnt have a chance to work out properly.

in a few mroe days i think i hsould have the stamina for the 2.5km jof in 12 minutes..

my biggest worry is the grip strength. apparently i need 50 kg each hand..my right hand is mroe than enough, but for some reason my left has always been bit weak.

im really worried about that.

another thng..i was hearing afew motnhs ago that the canadian army had taken off any physcal requiremnts to join the forces (they said theyd make u strong ocne u join anyways)..and one of the sargents once told me this aswell.

so whats with this physcial i have to go through now??

anyways, wish me all the best guys... i have nmo idea how to judge my grip strength..and am really worried about that.




Made in Pakistan: SSG Commandos, Ghauri 3 Nuclear Missile, Al-Khalid Tank & JF-17 Fighter Aircraft
"...He is a formidable person and I am glad that he is Pakistani not Egyptian..."
- Eizer Weizman, Chief Of Israeli Air Force during the six day war, commenting on Air Marshal Noor Khan (Commander PAF at that time)

"i think if ur a SGT u can be an automatic Captain once u crossover"


That is not possible. No NATO army will make a SGT into s Captain. Just doesn't happen dude.

i meant once they get commissioned, so they don't have to start from officer cadet. i heard this from another private so it may be wrong

-----------------------------

i have my physical tomorrow, which may decide if i go to basic trainign this summers or not.

im tyring to get it delayed a bit, so i can get in better shapr before it.






Made in Pakistan: SSG Commandos, Ghauri 3 Nuclear Missile, Al-Khalid Tank & JF-17 Fighter Aircraft
"...He is a formidable person and I am glad that he is Pakistani not Egyptian..."
- Eizer Weizman, Chief Of Israeli Air Force during the six day war, commenting on Air Marshal Noor Khan (Commander PAF at that time)

don't worry about the grips test. No one fails that.

i passed!!!!!!




Made in Pakistan: SSG Commandos, Ghauri 3 Nuclear Missile, Al-Khalid Tank & JF-17 Fighter Aircraft
"...He is a formidable person and I am glad that he is Pakistani not Egyptian..."
- Eizer Weizman, Chief Of Israeli Air Force during the six day war, commenting on Air Marshal Noor Khan (Commander PAF at that time)

told ya lol.

and oh..right now im ranked as a private..how long before the "private" jokes dye out. do they keep making them in the army? lol.

-Don't worry, Private jokes are not as bad as Leftennant jokes. The most dangerous thing in the army is a Leftennant with a map and compas..

officer cadet or a 2nd Lieutenant.

-Canada doesn't have Lieutenants. Read above :p

i know im starting late..but ya..i was busy with exams and school before, so didnt have a chance to work out properly.

-I have to warn you about this though. The army is not a place to go to get into shape. You either show up in shape or you're going to hurt, and your buddies are going to pay.

i meant once they get commissioned, so they don't have to start from officer cadet. i heard this from another private so it may be wrong

I wouldn't rule it out. I have heard similar things, but it was a WO that got commissioned as a Cpt, not a Sgt. I also know a Mcpl who got commissioned as a 2LT.


Also, make sure you read these posts well. There is a lot of good information in them, and most importantly, GOOD LUCK!

That is not possible. No NATO army will make a SGT into s Captain. Just doesn't happen dude.

Bull****. It happens in the Australian Army all the time. It's called ASWOCS (Army SGT/WO Commisioning Scheme). Ditto with the New Zealand Army, the British Army...

It does take at least 12 yrs to make CAPT that way though, and your ceiling rank will be Major. It takes less than 6 yrs if you just become an officer to begin with.

- Sarge

for a NCM to get a commision is very very hard. You are looking about around at lest 4 years in the forces. IMO being an officer is not really worth it if you are looking for money. 2nd LT get paied the same as corporals in the reg forces.

Trooper is right. If you or anyone of u buddies fk up in basic the whole group of you get the ****. Don't be that jackass and ask for help when in need, in turn help anyone that has diffculities because if he scarews up the instructer will make all of you pay. Remember you are all in this togather.

If you are going into infantry, i suggest you to try and join one of the light battlions in the 3 regular regiments. They are the ones who supports special forces on missions and in turn have the highest rate going into one of the special forces. Also they have a para company so it's a more advantureous and more fun lifestyle than going into a mechanized infantry battlion.

@ sarge
you are right. No offance but i strongly disagree with NCMs getting commisioned as officers. I know senior NCMs have lots more exprience and leadership skills than a raw 2nd leuits but NCMs excell at section level command and they just lack the education and traning that Officer cadet recieve in military schools to function effectively at a platoon+ level.

just got back from basic military qualification and soldier qualification.

im starting my process to beocme an officer right away. i need to become an officer, since i need mey resume to start looking better, and maybe get a chance to start practicing whatever ive learned in my first year mcgill engineering.




Made in Pakistan: SSG Commandos, Ghauri 3 Nuclear Missile, Al-Khalid Tank & JF-17 Fighter Aircraft
"...He is a formidable person and I am glad that he is Pakistani not Egyptian..."
- Eizer Weizman, Chief Of Israeli Air Force during the six day war, commenting on Air Marshal Noor Khan (Commander PAF at that time)

sdo ya, i wa stold i have to send up a memo to my chain of command to tell them i weant to become an officer. i plan on doing that as soon as i find out whose in my chain of command.

how long will that take? cuz i really need to become an officer by january...or an officer cadet. cuz then i can do my officer coruses rather than engineering internship.




Made in Pakistan: SSG Commandos, Ghauri 3 Nuclear Missile, Al-Khalid Tank & JF-17 Fighter Aircraft
"...He is a formidable person and I am glad that he is Pakistani not Egyptian..."
- Eizer Weizman, Chief Of Israeli Air Force during the six day war, commenting on Air Marshal Noor Khan (Commander PAF at that time)

quickest way is to go to your local recruting center and fill out the paper work and get an interview with the personell selection guys ASAP. THe chain of command bull**** takes month and you file has a pretty good chance of getting lost in the process.

[THe chain of command bull**** takes month and you file has a pretty good chance of getting lost in the process.]

-That really depends on how on the ball your OR is. We had someone who finished university (he was a Corporal who had just finished his PLQ) and wanted to become an officer. He was on the next Phase Training course.

We also had a guy who wanted to CT to the Regs.. his paper work was done in a couple of months (where as some regiments take a year or more).

ya my unit's clerks aren't that good. I still have a lost kit report from more than a year ago in their system. I just put in my CT 2 weeks ago and the naval guy at CFRC told me it shouldn't take longer than 3 month. But when I first got enrolled into the primry reserves, the whole process took 8 month from the day I handed my application. CTs generaly shouldn't take a year long if you don't change trades.

Jamal, do you have any operational experience?

nope, so i proberly will be demoted to a fresh privet. I'm pretty lucky that I took the reg force infantry trade course. That gets me a bypass for the 4 month long battleschool.

BTW have you gone on tours? If not did you sign up for one yet? TF 1-08/1-09?

I was supposed to be on 03/07, but my pre-deployment process hit a snag at the last minute.

It's too late for 01/08. I believe the ramp up for 01/09 is starting soon. The thing is, I just started working for a new company in August. Money is amazing.. I don't want to walk in one day and tell them that I'm leaving for 2 years...

Thats one thing that sucks afor a Canadian Army Reservists. We dont have any job protection for military service.

Ya and TF 1-09 is not 100% sure to go anywhere since the current mission ends in feb 09.
I hope I get a tour in before 09. As it stand i'm pretty sure the gov't won't extend our stay in A-stan.

I agree that our goverment should make a policy that prevents reservest from losing their job when they go on tours. However some provinces already have this law passed. For example in saskatchewan employers can't fire reservests when they take time off to go on courses or deployment overseas.