I just completed the first weekend of my BMQ course. I will use this thread to talk about my experiences. Feel free to ask any questions about each weekend.
We got our schedule for the rest of the course and in total it will last 12 weekends (including the one that I just completed). This will bring us to the weekend of 18-March expecting to graduate on 20-March. We have a 4 week break over the Christmas holidays, as a result Nov/Jan have 3 weekends of course while December only has 1 weekend.
Day 1: Up at 0450, brush teeth, shave (if you have time) and get ready for morning PT. We did baseline testing on day 1 using stations. Burpees, Push-ups, Squats, Pull-ups and sit-ups. In 5 weekends or so we will be retested to ensure we are making progress. After PT, the first day was mainly "Drill". For those that don't know, drill is coming to attention, standing at ease and standing easy. From there you build upon standing at attention by learning how to properly turn while in formation (45 degrees called an Incline Turn, 90 degrees called a Turn, and 180 degrees called an About Turn). Once turns are drilled into your head/muscles you will begin to learn how to March, Halt, Mark Time, and turn while Marching in Formation. This was mostly completed on the first day in between classroom lessons where we learned about CAF rules and regulations etc. In order to train effectively, we were split into 5 sections with each section having 8/9 guys/girls. As far as I know you will remain in your section for the remainder of the course.
Day 2: Up at 0445, brush teeth, shave then morning PT. This time we did a relay race with our sections using stretchers and water jugs. Afterwards you have 45 minutes to shower and get ready for inspection. It's a good idea to prepare for inspection as much as you can the night before. Lay out your uniform and get your boots polished because you won't have time after PT. After inspection we learned more drill as well as Marching with our entire platoon (all 5 sections together). In the late morning/early afternoon we started weapons safety and handling. How to properly conduct group safety checks as well as individual safety checks. This is very important so make sure you are paying close attention and take these lessons very seriously.
Overall the first weekend was pretty good. Inspections weren't too bad but I have a feeling they will get more and more detailed as we progress through the course. Also, the food was actually quite good. Not sure how it will be as the course progresses but rest assured that you will be fed well!