- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 60
I've read through the forums and have come up with a little "manual" that I hope helps answer those burning questions, especially the ones I had before going off to my training.
Inspections:
You will be assigned to a platoon which will have 2 instructors (an IC and a 2IC), they will be the main ones inspecting you, but sometimes another instructor will as well to shake things up a bit. There will be a platoon commander inspection, another higher up inspection, and the division officer inspection. On your last week there will be no inspections to say but they will come around and you will be formed up by your beds to have a "maintain standard inspection". They just check to see everything looks good, especially your parade boots and your rifle. If you fail enough of them you can end up on a PRB which can get you recoursed. My suggestion is do your best and don't slack off...it will come back to bite you. The instructors are not stupid, they know who tries and who doesn't.
The C7 rifle:
This gets issued to you on week 2 (though may change to week 5, its still in the talks), sure its all cool and dandy until you have to start maintaining it. The guys were all tickled pink when they got theirs, after a few days that pink wore off as they can be a pain to maintain, especially in the field. You will be issued 5 magazines, keep them clean as they get checked at inspection time, 2 will be on your bed during the inspection and the other 3 will be in your tac vest along with your bayonet (once you get issed it of course).
While in the field, keep it as clean as possible because its tough to clear if the bolt is caked in carbon...hello non-alcoholic baby wipes and lots of CLP. Also, make sure you perform a proper unload of the chamber to avoid a negligent discharge, you end up getting charged and a $250 fine...not good.
The rucksack:
Get an instructor to properly show you how to ensure you ruck is done up. Can make the difference in how much or little of pain you are in after a ruckmarch. In the valise, you will have your inner sleeping bag, valise, ground sheet, bowl, sleeping bag hood, and a garbage bag to line the valise. in the top extra combat boots, extra combats, undergarments, hygene kit (I'd suggest buying those miniature items to cut down on space and weight), boot polishing kit, and rain pants (rain jacket is in tac vest C9 pouch).
ITEMS TO BRING:
Ah yes the big one, I brought my laptop and cell phone and cameras which ended up spending most of the time in civy lockup, we only got these on weekends that we had off. You will start getting weekends off at week 5 provided your platoon behaves and acts as a team...remember they can and will take your weekends if they feel its necessary. Buy locks for your civy lock up baggage and limit how much you bring, don't need your whole room or house...LOL
Extra clothing really depends on the time of year, if you go in the summer, bring a couple of shorts a tee's adn maybe some long clothing as well. Bring your staple hygene items too, keep in mind you will have a Canex run either the first or second week to pick up missing items. They will give all the recruits a $220 advance to go to the Canex (prohibited to buy junk food), I'd suggest stocking up on cold medication as well...trust me on this one...can bring your own, most do. Buy Gortex gloves, especially for those winter candidates.
Winter BMQ or ending in winter, you will be able to buy your choice of BLACK gloves for the final exercise, I'd suggest MEC. Bring a few pairs of gloves and lots of socks. Also purchase a skull cap, goes under your helement and does a good jaob at keeping your head warm Aloso buy a head lamp, PETZL is an excellent brand. Don't buy those ones with the cables sticking arond the band and get something thats water resistant. Another thing, very important, when choosing a headlamp, make sure it can turned on and off ON THE RED light setting, white will give off where you are and the instructors will be on you for it.
All guys will have a haircut and will the pay for one regardless of how much light gleams off their heads. They are about $12 for males and $17 for women.
Camera usage: You can bring one, just don't bring anything overly expensive. If you looking to bring one to the field consdier a Fuji XP10 or something similar...waterproof, crushproof/shockproof. You won't have too much time in the field to whip out your camera, but when you do its a great memory created. I was only able to use mine on downtime in FOB portion, the final exercise. Better than nothing, right? YOu can bring more expensive cameras, I did but they spent most of the time in civy lockup, got to use them more after BMQ. After BMG you will get to use all of your equipment...don't worry.
Internet: I bought a portable stick which I found very useful. There are internet kiosks but they charge like $2 per 15min or 30 block. Keep in mind people will ask to borrow your stick, news flies fast in barracks...charge them for the usage because they could be downloading anything and suddenly you have this huge bill, thankfull I didn't because they were good about it. At both St. Jean and Borden I got excellent reception with my stick. LOCK UP YOUR STUFF IF YOU DON"T WANT IT STOLEN!!!!!!!
The CF Express test: Don't fret! I am not the most physically active person and I got 6 (I'm female), most of use females got 6 and most of the guys got 6 or more. It is the first part of the CF Express that you will do, it will be done in 2 halfs. One half of the platoon does the beep test the other sits there and/or stretches watching the show. From there you will move on to your grip test, then push-ups then situps. For the beep test, a PSP staff will do the fist 2 levels with you then you will be on your own. If you get exemption it will be for 2 years. Keep the yellow piece of paper on you, keep it in a safe place and don't lose it.
As for BMQ being easier at Borden than St.Jean...there's some differences but easy is really dependant on the person. At Borden, after a ruckmarch you go up 2 flights of stairs while at St. Jean yoyu can go up as much as 12 floors...depends which floor your platoon is assigned to. As for field portion of TOPO, in Borden we went out with our fire partners and another fireteam at night. People have said at St. Jean it was half that...so if you go to St. Jean, pay really close attention in TOPO. Another difference was for weapon training. In Borden we got our dummy rounds and bolts, not at St. Jean. They may or may not change it, but for now play it safe and practice, practice, practice.
PT sessions: They aren't that hard don't worry. Bring your own good running shoes, the ones they issue you will never be worn anyways, just inspected under the bed. You will have between 3 and 6 per week, mostly an hour long. The showers after wards are very quick, sometimes have 10 mins to shower and be in full combats and formed up, timings are crucial.
The confidence course: You will be doing this in full fighting order (tac vest, rifle, and helment)....and can be very annoying because it gets caught on things and sticks out from your body so its hard to get over some obstacles. If you can't do a few obstacles don't worry not all of us could and they won't swipe you for it, just try your best. The instructors will help you get over an obstacle if needed. I think we only went on it 3 or 4 times in the 13 weeks.
AFTER BMQ you will be sent to the one which represents your element. Keep in mind a purple trade can be sent to SQ if needed. There might be a wait to go on one of these, you'll be on PAT platoon/PRETC until either sent to one of these or your trades training. For me I'm on PRETC and will be starting my trades training in the new year. Then I'll do my element training.
SQ: Is 28 days long.
Fleet school: Is 5 weeks and covers shipwatching duties, fire fighing, and so forth.
Airforce: 4 days of history or something.
All in all, treat eachother fairly and don't rat eachother out for every little thing that bothers you that someone does, afterall, we all come from different walks of life. The constant whining and ratting will lower the morale and cause unease among your platoonmates. If you are a whiner and complainer, think twice before you complain, put yourself in the other persons shoes. Don't purposely get someone swiped out of the course, how would you like it? Remember you are a team, the key is to acting like one. Listen to your instructors, don't get swiped for stupid things, once you hit 7 you get a PRB (performance review board). Don't shirk on your station jobs either, losts of swipes be received there!...yes this is a warning and a BIG heads up.
8)
Inspections:
You will be assigned to a platoon which will have 2 instructors (an IC and a 2IC), they will be the main ones inspecting you, but sometimes another instructor will as well to shake things up a bit. There will be a platoon commander inspection, another higher up inspection, and the division officer inspection. On your last week there will be no inspections to say but they will come around and you will be formed up by your beds to have a "maintain standard inspection". They just check to see everything looks good, especially your parade boots and your rifle. If you fail enough of them you can end up on a PRB which can get you recoursed. My suggestion is do your best and don't slack off...it will come back to bite you. The instructors are not stupid, they know who tries and who doesn't.
The C7 rifle:
This gets issued to you on week 2 (though may change to week 5, its still in the talks), sure its all cool and dandy until you have to start maintaining it. The guys were all tickled pink when they got theirs, after a few days that pink wore off as they can be a pain to maintain, especially in the field. You will be issued 5 magazines, keep them clean as they get checked at inspection time, 2 will be on your bed during the inspection and the other 3 will be in your tac vest along with your bayonet (once you get issed it of course).
While in the field, keep it as clean as possible because its tough to clear if the bolt is caked in carbon...hello non-alcoholic baby wipes and lots of CLP. Also, make sure you perform a proper unload of the chamber to avoid a negligent discharge, you end up getting charged and a $250 fine...not good.
The rucksack:
Get an instructor to properly show you how to ensure you ruck is done up. Can make the difference in how much or little of pain you are in after a ruckmarch. In the valise, you will have your inner sleeping bag, valise, ground sheet, bowl, sleeping bag hood, and a garbage bag to line the valise. in the top extra combat boots, extra combats, undergarments, hygene kit (I'd suggest buying those miniature items to cut down on space and weight), boot polishing kit, and rain pants (rain jacket is in tac vest C9 pouch).
ITEMS TO BRING:
Ah yes the big one, I brought my laptop and cell phone and cameras which ended up spending most of the time in civy lockup, we only got these on weekends that we had off. You will start getting weekends off at week 5 provided your platoon behaves and acts as a team...remember they can and will take your weekends if they feel its necessary. Buy locks for your civy lock up baggage and limit how much you bring, don't need your whole room or house...LOL
Extra clothing really depends on the time of year, if you go in the summer, bring a couple of shorts a tee's adn maybe some long clothing as well. Bring your staple hygene items too, keep in mind you will have a Canex run either the first or second week to pick up missing items. They will give all the recruits a $220 advance to go to the Canex (prohibited to buy junk food), I'd suggest stocking up on cold medication as well...trust me on this one...can bring your own, most do. Buy Gortex gloves, especially for those winter candidates.
Winter BMQ or ending in winter, you will be able to buy your choice of BLACK gloves for the final exercise, I'd suggest MEC. Bring a few pairs of gloves and lots of socks. Also purchase a skull cap, goes under your helement and does a good jaob at keeping your head warm Aloso buy a head lamp, PETZL is an excellent brand. Don't buy those ones with the cables sticking arond the band and get something thats water resistant. Another thing, very important, when choosing a headlamp, make sure it can turned on and off ON THE RED light setting, white will give off where you are and the instructors will be on you for it.
All guys will have a haircut and will the pay for one regardless of how much light gleams off their heads. They are about $12 for males and $17 for women.
Camera usage: You can bring one, just don't bring anything overly expensive. If you looking to bring one to the field consdier a Fuji XP10 or something similar...waterproof, crushproof/shockproof. You won't have too much time in the field to whip out your camera, but when you do its a great memory created. I was only able to use mine on downtime in FOB portion, the final exercise. Better than nothing, right? YOu can bring more expensive cameras, I did but they spent most of the time in civy lockup, got to use them more after BMQ. After BMG you will get to use all of your equipment...don't worry.
Internet: I bought a portable stick which I found very useful. There are internet kiosks but they charge like $2 per 15min or 30 block. Keep in mind people will ask to borrow your stick, news flies fast in barracks...charge them for the usage because they could be downloading anything and suddenly you have this huge bill, thankfull I didn't because they were good about it. At both St. Jean and Borden I got excellent reception with my stick. LOCK UP YOUR STUFF IF YOU DON"T WANT IT STOLEN!!!!!!!
The CF Express test: Don't fret! I am not the most physically active person and I got 6 (I'm female), most of use females got 6 and most of the guys got 6 or more. It is the first part of the CF Express that you will do, it will be done in 2 halfs. One half of the platoon does the beep test the other sits there and/or stretches watching the show. From there you will move on to your grip test, then push-ups then situps. For the beep test, a PSP staff will do the fist 2 levels with you then you will be on your own. If you get exemption it will be for 2 years. Keep the yellow piece of paper on you, keep it in a safe place and don't lose it.
As for BMQ being easier at Borden than St.Jean...there's some differences but easy is really dependant on the person. At Borden, after a ruckmarch you go up 2 flights of stairs while at St. Jean yoyu can go up as much as 12 floors...depends which floor your platoon is assigned to. As for field portion of TOPO, in Borden we went out with our fire partners and another fireteam at night. People have said at St. Jean it was half that...so if you go to St. Jean, pay really close attention in TOPO. Another difference was for weapon training. In Borden we got our dummy rounds and bolts, not at St. Jean. They may or may not change it, but for now play it safe and practice, practice, practice.
PT sessions: They aren't that hard don't worry. Bring your own good running shoes, the ones they issue you will never be worn anyways, just inspected under the bed. You will have between 3 and 6 per week, mostly an hour long. The showers after wards are very quick, sometimes have 10 mins to shower and be in full combats and formed up, timings are crucial.
The confidence course: You will be doing this in full fighting order (tac vest, rifle, and helment)....and can be very annoying because it gets caught on things and sticks out from your body so its hard to get over some obstacles. If you can't do a few obstacles don't worry not all of us could and they won't swipe you for it, just try your best. The instructors will help you get over an obstacle if needed. I think we only went on it 3 or 4 times in the 13 weeks.
AFTER BMQ you will be sent to the one which represents your element. Keep in mind a purple trade can be sent to SQ if needed. There might be a wait to go on one of these, you'll be on PAT platoon/PRETC until either sent to one of these or your trades training. For me I'm on PRETC and will be starting my trades training in the new year. Then I'll do my element training.
SQ: Is 28 days long.
Fleet school: Is 5 weeks and covers shipwatching duties, fire fighing, and so forth.
Airforce: 4 days of history or something.
All in all, treat eachother fairly and don't rat eachother out for every little thing that bothers you that someone does, afterall, we all come from different walks of life. The constant whining and ratting will lower the morale and cause unease among your platoonmates. If you are a whiner and complainer, think twice before you complain, put yourself in the other persons shoes. Don't purposely get someone swiped out of the course, how would you like it? Remember you are a team, the key is to acting like one. Listen to your instructors, don't get swiped for stupid things, once you hit 7 you get a PRB (performance review board). Don't shirk on your station jobs either, losts of swipes be received there!...yes this is a warning and a BIG heads up.
8)
