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Ombudsman's Probe into Canadian Forces Recruiting and Training Backlog.

It amazes me when guys complain they've been waiting months when I've been waiting years.  I've even heard of one guy who posts here who waited five years before he got in.  Months is not that long in military years.
 
Holy shit Stymiest that is most likely what the problem is with my medical...I am now 24 years old but mentioned when i was young (under 5 years) I'd get migraines but have not had a headache since then................that is fuckin crazy, what program am I going to have to register in?
 
Not-so-funny thing is the Ombudman issued a press release in 2002 almost exactly the same, complaints about CF recruiting.  Things haven't improved since if its back in the news again, so who here thinks it will improve THIS time around?  Honestly, not trying to bitch, just asking who thinks things will improve.

DME
 
radiohead said:
Well from what I've heard the CF's for have a regional quota system set up.   30 or 40% are set a side for the mari-time provinces, so if that's true then there is discrimination.   Might be great if live out east, but if come Ontario or Alberta where they lower quotas it just adds to your wait time to get in.

I wonder if those numbers were based on the number of people that were enlisting from those areas to begin with.  for those of you in the forces, how many guys do you work with that are newfs.  (soon to be one more if i can get in)

I just put a complaint in about the recruitment process.  Not so much a complaint as letting them know my situation.  I can't get in until i do something about $9000 worth of debt incurred after i lost my job 5 years ago.  The problem is i don't make enough money to do anything about it, but would if i got in.  i think it'll be a real shame if i get denied because of a relatively small debt in the scheme of things.
 
radiohead said:
Well from what I've heard the CF's for have a regional quota system set up.   30 or 40% are set a side for the mari-time provinces, so if that's true then there is discrimination.   Might be great if live out east, but if come Ontario or Alberta where they lower quotas it just adds to your wait time to get in.

I was told a couple of years back that the quota system was gone. Maybe one of the recruiters who visits here can confirm or deny? Take a look at Newfoundland, I saw a report from a few years back that said that close to 15% of the troops come from the rock yet they only see 2% of defence spending. I am curious to know if there is such a thing as a breakdown of the CF membership by province recruited from, that may put to rest some of this.
 
National Post
2005.01.14

Undermanned military makes it hard to enlist: 'Spinning out of control'

OTTAWA - The  Canadian Forces continues to frustrate prospective recruits, unable to efficiently process even a third of new applications, the military ombudsman says.  "The recruiting centres are spinning out of control trying to pretend there is not an issue," ombudsman Marin  said yesterday.  "The top levels of the chain of command are saying, as well as the Auditor-General ... there are fundamental problems."  More than two-thirds of 156 complaints to the military ombudsman's office from recruits in recent months cited long delays in processing applications beyond the Forces' stated goal of clearing successful applicants within seven weeks, Mr. Marin said.

During last year's federal election campaign, Prime Minister Paul Martin promised 5,000 new full-time troops and 3,000 part-time reservists. But Mr. Marin says a preliminary investigation, launched after his annual report in September, shows the Forces continues to be burdened by major systemic recruiting problems.

Mr. Marin  said the Forces was able to meet its seven-week target of processing applications in only 30% of the cases he examined, and that was only in cases where voluminous paperwork -- birth certificates, references, proof of education -- was near-perfect and there were no security clearance or health issues.

Mr. Marin  said applicants interviewed by his office expressed fear their applications would be ignored or shuffled to the bottom of the pile if they complained.

Mr. Marin  criticized recruiters for fostering a "chilling effect" that is forcing many applicants to keep their complaints private.

Mr. Marin's findings come on the eve of Mr. Martin's announcement of a new Chief of Defence staff, Lieutenant-General Rick Hillier. Lt.-Gen. Hillier is being fast-tracked into the new job and will be sworn in on Feb. 4, months ahead of when the current defence chief, General Ray Henault, had planned to step down.

Senior federal officials say Mr. Martin wants Lt.-Gen. Hillier on the job sooner so he can tackle the recruiting problem and shepherd the ongoing review of defence policy that is to be completed when Parliament resumes at the end of January.

Mr. Marin  said the Forces could use the leadership in tackling its recruitment woes. He said he hoped Lt.-Gen. Hillier would be "candid and upfront and say there are issues here, and not only do I support an outside overseer, but I embrace it and any solutions you can put forward."

The Forces' second-in-command recently testified before a Senate committee that the military has not begun trying to recruit the new soldiers promised by Mr. Martin because it does not have the resources in its recruiting
offices. Vice-Admiral Ron Buck predicted it could take the military up to five years to recruit the new bodies but that the initiative is on hold until the government boosts defence spending.

This week, Finance Minister Ralph Goodale gave the strongest indication yet the Forces would receive an infusion of new cash in the upcoming federal budget.

Mr. Marin  said he is receiving good co-operation from military officials and he hopes to issue a final report, with recommendations about how to improve recruiting, before he steps down from the job this spring.
 
Being that I know of two guys (At this moment, there have been several more in the past.) who have had CFRC sitting on their component transfers for over 9 months since they left our chain I'd say there are definitely problems that need to be worked out.
 
I know one other fellow plus myself that have been waiting for a CT for over three years.  We are both QL5 qualified in the same trade we are joining reg. force in, and they are offering bonuses for both our trades.  If I got in within nine months I'd be tap dancing.

Thank god my wife has been patient.  She didn't realize the "hurry up and wait" would be "hurry up and wait for YEARS to get something done that should take a few months".

DME
 
Finally the truth comes out-too bad it was Mr Marin that did it. We have been waving the red flag about this in the Army Reserve for the last few years, but although  the Army CofC  took us seriously, when we got the response of the Purple People it was, as usual, just another wave-off with bland generalities. A few observation from the Res POV:

-the system is not set up to meet the Res recruiting needs. It is set up to trickle-feed a few recruits at a time into a single RegF recruit depot, from a network of CFRCs all across the country. This is useless for the Res. The Res needs 30, or 50, or 100 recruits in a certain local area, quickly. The CFRCs just do not have this capability;

-the CFRC has no integral Res capability to augment its full time day staff. Maybe if there were CFRCs with Class A team members who could work weeknights and weekends, when most Res recruits are available, the system could increase its throughput;

-the CFRG has, to the best of my knowledge, no ability to expand in an emergency, based on what false premise I do not know; and

-because the recruiting system does not answer directly to its "customers" but is instead a Purple Monster, the "operators" whose organizations are so severely affected by its performance have no real means to influence it.

Cheers.
 
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