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Joining The Infantry

Is our infantry a bunch of “grunts”

  • Yes

    Votes: 2 12.5%
  • No, we have an intelligent infantry

    Votes: 2 12.5%
  • Some are intelligent, most are not

    Votes: 5 31.3%
  • Most are intelligent, some are not

    Votes: 7 43.8%

  • Total voters
    16
  • Poll closed .
LPsOLB54 said:
I'm also concerned about the administrative workload that the officer has to do... What does this look like?

I'm not an Infantry Officer, but I currently hold a position known as Adjutant, which is a position that many Infantry Officers might have after their first few years in Garrison. Just to give you an idea, here are some of the jobs I've been working on lately:

Prepare Presentation on Voluntary Occupational Transfer Program
Prepared Presentation on Operation Honour
Prepare a summary of Non-Effective Strength Regulations
Write the semi-annual Report of Proceedings
Write Terms of Reference for a Summary Investigation
Write nominations, narratives and citations for Commander's Certificate of Achievement
Write Professional Devlopment Review (PDR) for the Chief Clerk
Proofread the PDRs written by my subordinates
Sign a metric shit-ton of pay sheets
Conduct an audit of all the security clearance of everyone at my unit
Write an article for a naval newsletter about activities at the unit
Proofread the PAO's various articles
Proofread memos from everyone on everything because they all suck at it

That's just the last little while...
 
Lumber said:
I'm not an Infantry Officer, but I currently hold a position known as Adjutant, which is a position that many Infantry Officers might have after their first few years in Garrison. Just to give you an idea, here are some of the jobs I've been working on lately:

Prepare Presentation on Voluntary Occupational Transfer Program
Prepared Presentation on Operation Honour
Prepare a summary of Non-Effective Strength Regulations
Write the semi-annual Report of Proceedings
Write Terms of Reference for a Summary Investigation
Write nominations, narratives and citations for Commander's Certificate of Achievement
Write Professional Devlopment Review (PDR) for the Chief Clerk
Proofread the PDRs written by my subordinates
Sign a metric shit-ton of pay sheets
Conduct an audit of all the security clearance of everyone at my unit
Write an article for a naval newsletter about activities at the unit
Proofread the PAO's various articles
Proofread memos from everyone on everything because they all suck at it

That's just the last little while...

That looks about right, although the weight of the paysheets for you to sign seems a little light.

Don't forget about the endless array of online courses you're obliged to complete as well...
 
dapaterson said:
That looks about right.....
Plus the periodic "we're one team; there is no 'us' and 'them'....but you RegF bastards did this...." 

And higher HQ's default setting of "I know this has absolutely nothing to do with your line serial, but you're the full-time guy, so bend over..."
 
I'm also an Adjutant (and an Infantry Officer) - This is what the "Staff" side of being an officer looks like.

Lumber said:
I'm not an Infantry Officer, but I currently hold a position known as Adjutant, which is a position that many Infantry Officers might have after their first few years in Garrison. Just to give you an idea, here are some of the jobs I've been working on lately:

Prepare Presentation on Voluntary Occupational Transfer Program
Prepared Presentation on Operation Honour
Prepare a summary of Non-Effective Strength Regulations
Write the semi-annual Report of Proceedings
Write Terms of Reference for a Summary Investigation
Write nominations, narratives and citations for Commander's Certificate of Achievement
Write Professional Devlopment Review (PDR) for the Chief Clerk
Proofread the PDRs written by my subordinates
Sign a metric crap-ton of pay sheets
Conduct an audit of all the security clearance of everyone at my unit
Write an article for a naval newsletter about activities at the unit
Proofread the PAO's various articles
Proofread memos from everyone on everything because they all suck at it

That's just the last little while...
 
Ayrsayle said:
I'm also an Adjutant (and an Infantry Officer) - This is what the "Staff" side of being an officer looks like.

You left out the one key part of the job description of every officer: Other duties as required.
 
If you're looking to get a lot of high speed courses and technical training, don't become an officer.  If you are interested in planning and administration, Officer is what you want.

typical career of a Regular Force Infantry Officer is as follows:

Complete Occupation Training (Basic Training, Common Army Training, Platoon Commander, Mechanized Training 1-2 years) you will be badged and posted to a Regiment upon completion of your last phase.  Your choices are RCR, PPCLI, R22R.

Once you're badged in, you will be posted to one of your Regiments three Battalions.  The 1st and 2nd Battalions of each Regiment are Mechanized Infantry Battalions while the 3rd Battalions are Light Infantry Battalions with 1xParachute Company each.

Once you arrive at the Battalion, if you did well/near the top of your phase training, you'll be immediately given a Platoon Commander billet, if you don't receive one you'll go in to an Administrative role until a position opens up which could take anywhere from 6 months to 1 year.  This may sound crappy but if you don't have a platoon you may have the opportunity to go on some courses (Parachute Training, Mountain Ops, Unarmed Combat, etc).  You'll also have time to catch up on Professional Development course (CAFJOD, AJOSQ) which will be important as you advance in your career. 

Once you have a platoon you'll command it for a year, if you're lucky you'll get more time.  I had a Platoon for 2.5 years but a lot of people don't get that lucky.  When you're a platoon commander you will do all the training with your soldiers, field exercises, ranges, run physical training, etc...  You'll also be responsible for the Platoon Administration, leave passes, range instructions, performance reports, counselling soldiers, etc...  This is your first introduction to administration.

Once you finish as a Platoon Commander you'll be moved in to a different position within the Battalion.  If you did very well they may give you an opportunity to move in to Recce Platoon.  Otherwise you'll be moving to a position like Transport Platoon, LAV Captain or upstairs to Battalion Operations.  If you did very well you may be given the opportunity to become a Company 2IC.  This is very good as you may get this tick in the box yr first go at Battalion, which means you might not have to do it again when/if you return to the Battalion.

After three or four years your time at Battalion will come to an end and you will arrive at the career point where you're ready to go on external regimental employment (ERE).  The possibilities of where you will end up are quite broad.  You could go to a training centre to train other soldiers/officers, you could be seconded to recruitment or the Reserve Force, you could be posted to one of our many headquarters to work as a staff officer, the possibilities are endless.

This is also the time when you need to start thinking about where you want to go with your career.  There will be numerous career courses you should aim to complete during this timeframe and you should start thinking about going back to the Battalion.  There is also the option of moving in to another career stream and trying your hand at the numerous specialized units that exist within the Canadian Forces (JTF2, CSOR, CJIRU, HUMINT) and perhaps moving in that direction.

Note that if you are interested in these units and you successfully complete their selections, your infantry officer career essentially goes on pause.  If you don't have any aspirations for these units than you'll want to make sure you try and get in the Army Operations Course (AOC) before returning to a Battalion, it's not the end of the world if you don't do so but it saves you the trouble of doing it once you return to a Battalion.

Upon returning to Battalion, you'll start off being employed as either a Company 2IC or find yourself filling other Senior Captain positions (Asst Ops Officer, Adjutant, Operations Officer, 2IC Admin Company).  Once you've completed these jobs and have sufficient time in rank, you may be ready for promotion to Major at which point you will become a Company Commander.  After this, what happens in your career is anyone's guess.

That should give you a pretty good idea of what your first 8-12 years of your career as an infantry officer looks like.
 
Actually, unless I missed something, Lumber, who is a MARS officer (the Naval line officers), is by the look of his list of things in a position in a reserve/militia unit as the "RSS" officer, and that is a staff position (don't know why his unit would qualify the Regular Force staff officer position as "adjutant", but hey! The militia does what it does).

Therefore, his daily work entails staff officer duties only, and BTW that explains his involvement with signing pay sheets, which doesn't exist in the regular force, and his writing an article for a naval newsletter, which an "adjutant" (purely Army position) would not normally write.
 
dapaterson said:
You left out the one key part of the job description of every officer: Other duties as required.

That line (usually in small print) has been in every job I've ever held military of civvy, paid or volunteer  since I was 16  ::)
 
Oldgateboatdriver said:
Actually, unless I missed something, Lumber, who is a MARS officer (the Naval line officers), is by the look of his list of things in a position in a reserve/militia unit as the "RSS" officer, and that is a staff position (don't know why his unit would qualify the Regular Force staff officer position as "adjutant", but hey! The militia does what it does).

The position is actually "Administration Officer", but having described my duties to my army buddies (including my Chief Clerk who is an army Warrant Officer) my job is essentially the same as an Adjutant.

I was just trying to make it more relevant for OP... plus it sounds cooler than AdminO.

Also, I don't officialy write any articles. I just write nice things about what are doing and then suddenly it appears in a newletter or magazine with the name of one of my bosses as the author...  :coffee:
 
At what point during basic at St.Jean do you find out where you do your infantry training? I'm hearing Meaford....
 
clans101 said:
I'm hearing Meaford....

According to Forces.ca

"Infantry Soldiers attend one of three Military Training Centres: The Royal Canadian Regiment in Meaford, Ontario; Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry in Wainwright, Alberta; and The Royal 22e Régiment in Valcartier, Quebec."
http://www.forces.ca/en/job/infantrysoldier-4?olvPlayer=196.001s&module=cue_4_3
 
clans101 said:
At what point are you told?

There will be a test.

You will be put in a room with a knife, a chicken and a dummy representing an enemy soldier.

If you kill the "enemy" with the knife then bake the chicken for 1 hour at 350 degrees and serve with a side of roasted potatoes and a nice red wine you will go to Valcartier.

If you the kill the "enemy" using only the chicken, paint yourself in it's blood and then proceed to use the knife to cut the rim off your bush cap then you will go to Wainwright.

If you kill the "enemy" with the knife and then try to get the chicken's phone number you will go to Meaford.
 
1984 said:
. . . . .

If you kill the "enemy" with the knife then bake the chicken for 1 hour at 350 degrees and serve with a side of roasted potatoes and a nice red wine you will go to Valcartier.

. . . . .

That is so inappropriate.  . . . . . A dry white wine would be more suitable for a simple baked chicken.
 
Blackadder1916 said:
That is so inappropriate.  . . . . . A dry white wine would be more suitable for a simple baked chicken.

I'm thinking fava beans and a nice Chianti...
 
I looovvveeeee reading these threads when they happen!!

They don't happen often, which is what makes this site so great.  And when they do, it honestly puts a smile on my face as I read and watch the sarcasm take over.  Love it.

:pop:
 
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