Relax and Chill out!

[Armoured Signaller]

    Ah, the walk down Amnesia Lane to the days of QL2, QL3, QL5, etc etc etc some 13 years ago.  It took me personally some time to come to the realization that I will impart shortly.  I was a Cadet once long ago, and I did make that mistake by mentioning that on my QL2.  However, late nights and long hours teaching drill to the ones who did not get it ended.  Now, 13 years later, I think back to those days, and you know, if we had all the same instructors and all the same candidates(even the screw-ups), I would do it all again in a heartbeat!  Yes, Basic is hard, I will not deny it, however, you also make the course.  If you put into the course enthusiasm and a willingness to learn and what-not, you will have an enjoyable course, if not, then you may not like the outcome.

    Yes, the pearls of wisdom that I came across one day on my Leadership course back in the dark ages known as 1998.  It does not matter how shiny your boots are, how clean your rifle is, how tight your bunk is, how perfectly spaced you underwear is......THEY WILL ALWAYS NAIL YOU FOR SOMETHING!  So, best advice, suck it up and bash on! 

 

[babybug]

Great advice everyone. The biggie....CHILLAX

 

[bcbarman]

As an instructor, you see some neat things as you stand on the other side of the classroom. We instructors know when someone is a cadet in the first few days.  Know how long it takes to no longer be able to tell the former cadets from the keen troops?  One week.  Assides from drill classes and perhaps shiner boots, there is no diff.

If you have been a cadet instructor, shut up for the first lesson, do not assume that you know it all, and the realisation that we instructors know what we are talking about and can give you that nugget of info that you could have used when you were teaching your kids comes out.

Let me explain.  I had a young Pte in my section.  Cadet RSM, thinks he knew it all.  Kid still paraded with his cadet unit, nothing wrong with that.  Saw his attitude in the first day of drill practice.  Came up to him, told him that if he helps his mates with drill, I will not treat him any different than the rest of the section members.  Smart kid listened. 

I talk to him later on, after the course is over.  He knew that he was going to have the best cadet unit when he came back because he had forgotten what it was to be in the platoon, not leading it.

Go to basic, work hard, make some great friends, and work as a team.  We all have strengths, use yours to make your entire team better.

 

[SemperFidelis]

HELLOOOOOO ARMY.CA
Wow..it's been a while...Im writing from St.Jean BMQ  Week 7, just passed my weapons test.  Its pretty much all downhill from here.  Honestly, Its not that hard...  DO NOT STRESS YOURSELVES OUT.  Its not THAT hard.  All you have to remember to do is LISTEN to your instructors & do what they tell you to.  They wont kill you.  If you're wrong, you take your licks and you soldier on.  Just ALWAYS be honest and dont change your answers if they ask you "are you sure?"  they'll respect you that much more if you stand by what you said....even if you're wrong.    This course is fun.  There are some hard times, but there's plenty of good times too.  Lots of laughs, lots of hours of missed sleep, lots of cleaning and lots of marching.  But its all great!  Make sure you dont lose your fitness level for week 2 ...you have your fitness express test  and you dont wanna fail.  If you do , you'll have a retest in week 7, but its not worth it...just make sure you can do the minimum required AT LEAST.  Its a shuttle run, male : level 6,  female level 4 ......minimun pushups and situps are the standard as in the booklet  you get from the recruiting center.    Thats about it .  Its fun, and probably the best time Ive had in a long while thats career related.  I LOVE IT!!   

P.S.  If youre coming, swiffer cloths are you best friend, windex comes in second. 


paracowboy: - thanks for all the advice, I hope you're keeping your head up Mcpl

 

[WebAddict]

I agree, with all your posts im rolling in with my unit in sept,

only info i used was internet to find the # for my RC. I made a few posts on this forum , but that was about other things.

Anyway, the process for me is going really smooth , ive done the sample AP on the canadian forces web site, dont be scared, this is not going into space.

All you are doing is:
Meeting all requirements
Filling out a couple pages of forms (they are long and ask same information over and over, but they are not hard to fill out, Just DONT LIE!! or it will slow down your process)
Getting your CFAT scheduled - honestly there is no tricks to it.,  go to the canadian forces website and try the 4-5 questions that are on there. If you can do questions that are close to that then you should have no worries about falling - YOU WILL PASS IF U COME RESTED AND PREPARED. by prepared I mean , have your glasses if you need them, have a good breakfest and just get your ass in shape and do 110%  .

Medical testing isnt hard!, all they do is messure your blood, you pee on a peice of paper, and if you come clean to them before the medical tests actually start, you will be  very successful in it.

Physical Testings isnt as hard as you hear/read/view/ w.e you can come up with. Just go there well rested, dont work out the day before rest your body. just watch some cartoons or w.e you do and just relax. Show up the next day . do your 9 min of steps, if you can do that then you are much closer to passing. Once you are done your 9min of steps and you do good you move on to the next round etc. Then just pull off 19 Sit -Ups and honestly dont be scared, if you cant do 19 in 30 seconds you shouldnt be applying into the forces. I can do 58 and thats really good. but just relax and do 19 Proper sit ups, that means legs (will be held by someone there), lye down on your back, arms on your head and reach your knees, do that 19 times and woalla . you are 2/4 done. After you are done that, you will just asked to do 19 Proper pushs up ( i suggest getting some one to watch how you do them so you can see if you are doing them correct) this means arms under sholders, lye flat on your stomach and push up. do it none stop try to go for at least 25 or incase you screw up on a few of them. once you are done that, you are prty much done. Do a grip test, its not hard. if you want practice hit your local gym they have instruments that you can use to test how good is your grip. Or if you have an amusement park near your house, go to one of thoses coin machines drop a quarter and see if you can make it up the gorilla or the top one. If you can do that you are done!,

After this you will have your interview and thoese arnt hard, just answer truthfully and DONT SECOND GUESS they dont like that by this i mean "yeah i did this ... but i think if i would of done this then this could of happen, or maybe if i have done this ..." well you get it.

---TIMES---
CFAT - Given two hours, should be completed in about 1 hour
Medical - Depends on your health but, is around 30 min or so
PT - Given 1 Hour, should be done in 30 min depends on how good you are. 1 Hour if you have any problems or so.
Interview - Given 1 Hour, but i was told for most recruites who are just doing there BMQ or about to start, its only about 30 min
-------------

Dont be scared, if i can do it you can do it, as been said they had this system for 100 years. Just think about it.. You read all theses horror stories, like omg I failed, or is this hard, or w.e .But you need to use your head. Think- If everyone failed would we even have an army upto this day?. Excatly, this is not hard, this is meant look at Minimal age is 16, so that means you have grade 10 education, and you will be set , although i found the CFAT to be more of grade 8-9 level. the math is more of grade 9

 

[Thaern]

I just finished my Bmq and Sq as a reservist so i have no clue what it would be like for people in the reg force but what i can say is it  was a great experience. Yes it was very shitty the first two weeks of Bmq, really bad for the first 3 or 4 days, and then it got shitty again at the start of SQ but only for the first couple of days.  I would have to say having a shit magnet around helps but it can be hell if he's in your section so try and help buddy out before the Sgts decide to administer their own brand of "help".  My words of advice would be to listen to the people here and try not to stress out too much.  Yes you need to work your ass of to "pass inspection" and no you wont for the first 2 weeks, they will find something to jack you up about, but they are looking for effort and teamwork.  As for Pt again, just do it, its not that bad and even if you cant keep up for the first week push yourself each time, you will improve. We had this one girl in our section who was maybe 5' with boots and she had a hell of a hard time with the first ruck march.  She gave 100% every morning for pt and by the second ruck march, which was a good 3k longer, she was doing fine (as fine as anyone doing a ruck march can be).  We also had this guy in our section who also had a rough time with the first ruck but also gave out repeatedly during morning pt and during the second ruck we had to stop, pull the valise from his ruck and pass his weapon and valise and ruck around as we continued marching.  Anyway that's my 2 cents for now and i need to be heading off for class I may try and find a topic later to post any hints and tricks we picked up over the two courses but you will learn most of them PDQ anyway.  Good luck!

 

[twistidnick]

Everything stated here is very true. I was on Res BMQ 0605 in Windsor, ON. The first night we were there, I was on Fire Picket. My Course O walked by so I threw him a high five. He returned it then, stopped me. looked at me for a minute and said "pte, you were a cadet weren't you? my reply"yes sir"."well nice salute pte. but you don't know how to salute b/c we haven't taught you yet." And that was my little warning . Once one of the Mcpls caught on, I was labled the cadet keener. but it was all good I just had to go with the flow no harm done. It was still the best experience of my life so far.

 

[Raxmaster]

Hello:

I am an avid reader of army.ca; I thought it might be useful if I shared a little bit about my experience on BMQ. I know a lot of other people have done the same thing and a lot more people are still asking questions about BMQ so I hope this helps.

I took the eight week BMQ course in CFLRS Det-Borden for the naval reserve. Now I have been made aware that the course has been changed to a 13 week course or maybe they still have the 11 week course kicking around but I am not sure however, I feel that most courses regardless of their length are somewhat similar with the addition of cooler training such as grenades training which I didn't get to do due to the nature of the length of my course.

Anyway, for those of you who are anticipating the prospect of going to basic training please whatever you do work as hard as you possibly can to prepare for it (physically and mentally). You must go with an impartial mind and an EXTREME motivation to succeed. Despite what I just said I don't want you to stress yourself out and have to check into the psych ward at your nearest local hospital because of the amount you may have over-thought the situation. BMQ is incredibly easy. There is absolutely nothing hard about basic training at all. Okay wait a second I lied, the physical aspect of it was quite tough for me being a scrawny 120lb five foot eight when I went in.

From what I experienced I highly recommend you go to basic with a strong willingness to learn and an even stronger motivation to work. A real problem I experienced that really annoyed me and drove me up the wall was how people would talk while in formation, jerk around in class while the instructor is trying to teach or evade the rules whenever possible. Let me tell you right now it is not worth thinking you are so special that you can do whatever you want because believe me you are not special and you certainly can not do whatever you want on basic. You can not ‘beat the system’ those people who thought they could get away with mouthing off the instructors, disregarding the rules, disrespecting the platoon and generally not giving a care about their actions really quickly found an airplane/bus ticket home in their hands. 

Not getting along with your room mates is inevitable as it was with me. It got to the point where my room mates could not stand me and I certainly could not stand them but believe me when I say this is part of the process. After the second week or so we agreed as a room that even though we may not like each other we had to work together to get through basic and we would have to put our differences behind us and cooperate. Soon not only were we the best working room but we actually grew on to each other to the point where we actually enjoyed each other’s company. Do what you can to get along with your platoon because otherwise your life will be miserable. There is nothing worse than instructors yelling in your face while you do push-ups except coming back to the barracks tired from a day of work and then having fights and quarrels with the platoon. Not worth it.

A big learning curve for my platoon was the same as I am sure every other platoon that ever went through before me was (and after me will be)… Working together as a team. It is a guarantee that for the first while people who are put on the bathroom cleaning station (I am using this as an example because this was my station but this applies to aspect of the platoon) find themselves with their heals together in front of the platoon commander because about five minutes before inspection someone who doesn’t care lets a huge floater rip into the toilet and are too lazy to flush the toilet. Make sure that not only are you accountable for your actions to the platoon but also make sure your platoon is accountable for their actions. The sooner the instructors see the platoon coming together and working the sooner they are willing to let you go on leave and not dole out extra push-ups and menial work. The saying is ‘you can be smart and not have to lift a finger or you can be stupid but you had better grow some muscles’ my recommendation is be smart and try to work with your platoon and not against it.

Here is a piece of advice for cadets. Use your knowledge well and do not go in thinking that because you can iron a shirt and polish your boots that you are much better than anyone else there. As a cadet you have been given an INTRODUCTION to life in the military you have not been IN the military as most cadets appear to think. Cadets who walk into basic training with a cocky attitude with the idea that they will be top recruit because they got chief petty officer in cadets are SEVERLY wrong. Instructors do not take kindly to people who think they are better because of cadet experience. In fact I noticed a slight hostility towards cadets from my instructors. A note for cadets, try to pretend you have never been in the military and if you are really good at something then try and help out others who are not as good. Offer tactful and helpful advice not soliloquies consisting of “when I was in cadets I did this and you can’t even (put whatever you want here)”. I do not mean to offend any cadets when I speak like this. I was a cadet and I have seen incredibly well mannered and highly productive cadets who I know will be a benefit to society. This message certainly does not apply to all cadets, on my basic training course I had the pleasure of meeting some extremely experienced cadets who were very helpful and humble about their past in cadets.

On the topic of attitudes, make sure you go in with a positive attitude. I can not give anyone any better advice than to go in with a positive attitude. If you have a positive attitude things that are fun will seem a ton of fun and things that suck may actually just roll of your back and you may not even notice it. There were plenty of times when the instructor would say “tonight you are all going to be doing (put something here that isn’t particularly too fun)” and because I went in with a positive attitude it really didn’t bother me a lot. In the end basic training is just a huge mind game; it is nothing more or less. If you can see though the games and just do what you are told you will have no problems passing basic I would put my entire month pay on this one because I have seen it in action. Oh yes! I just about forgot to say. I know this has been said countless times but… “DON’T TAKE WHAT THE INSTRUCTORS/STAFF SAY TO YOU PERSONALLY” I can not stress this one enough. Remember in the end you are just a recruit who is going through the system, unless you do something to make yourself stand out in a negative way the instructors are not out to personally attack you. They have much better things to do with their time than to sit there thinking “Now I wonder how I could really crawl under Billy Joe Bob’s skin today?”

I hope what I have said may have helped at least one person. If this helps even one person then I will be happy. Good luck to anyone going to basic and remember. Just play the game and you will be fine.

I apologize if this was too long. Again I hope that it may serve some useful purpose for someone out there holding airplane/bus tickets to BMQ.

Cheers,


Raxmaster

 

[paracowboy]

excellent first post. Pretty well covered the entire topic.

 

[3rd Herd]

RELAX.

Back in the day at both Cornwallis and then later at Wainwright we ran so far, and did so many push ups, chin ups, duck walks that every day was a PT test in itself. I cannot even rember if we had a formal PT test, swim test, yes, as I was assigned to lifeguard the test. yes they really do read your files. The word we most looked for most was 'RELAX' and that occurred on the bus to being posted into the bn. Where the circle began over again and to this day people still look at me strange when I mention that an"" 'o' dark thirty" 10 km. run is the perfect way to begin a day

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Come to think about it......I don't remember a formal test either.
Swim test, yes, but I think the first 'formal' test I had was pre-para.

Makes me wonder about some members from back then complaining about the 'lowered standards' today.

 

[Old Sweat]

Bruce,

I agree completely. Back in the good old days we did next to zero PT, had few if any PT tests and members over 35 were excused PT as it was 'too strenuous.' While the tests may have been on the books, there was large scale evasion, both by individuals and units. I can only recall two PT tests, both in Germany, and my pre-para in Shilo in 1968. It was not until the late sixties that we were required to do the 1.5 mile run, which was lifted from the first book published about the benfits of aerobic conditioning.

 

[medaid]

Just to go back on one of the posts with regards to RMC OCdts on courses...another one is ex-CIC types. Please dont get me wrong, there are alot of swtiched on CIC members who later become Res/Reg NCM/Officers who do quite well. However, there are those who've served their limited time in the CIC, and got their BMQ/BOTP1 written off, have very little to no clue of what goes on during a military course. These are the ones who are worse then the RMC OCdts. These are the ex- Lts and 2Lts who begins their introductions with "Hi, I used to be a (insert rank), and I just dont understand why I'm on this course! I dont get why I have to come to attention for MCpls and Sgts, they should salute ME!!" *sigh*....just from my experiences with the latter, aforementioned type.

 

[charlieecho513]

I'm doing my bmq right now... actually, I lie. I'm on PAT... waiting to get back on platoon after a knee injury that laid me low for a few weeks. (Fell of an obstacle... haha... so funny. Not bitter... honestly...  ) You learn quickly not to freak out. You freak, it just makes for tension between you and your mates on platoon. You are gonna be stuck with these people for 14 weeks. Try not to annoy them too much.

The grim and honest to god truth; NOTHING you do will be good enough for the first 13 and a half weeks out of a 14 week course. But this goes back to what everyone else has been saying-- Don't stress. You aren't a screw-up; that's just how the game is played.

 

[PMedMoe]

Best advice I got (from my mother) when I went on Basic in '86: "Keep your nose clean and your mouth shut."
From my older sister "If you must laugh, do in on the inside!!" 

 

[Kujo]

This is all awesome advise. I am on my way to BMQ (Reserve) in July and have no real expectations other then what you guys have suggested. I can only control my attitude and my preparedness. Thanks for the great posts!!

 

[united93]

as long as you can yell: ''GROUP'', you'll all be fine ;D

 

[Wright]

Don't ever lie to the DS. If someone asks you a question then answer honestly and fully.

What I was getting at was not advertising it.

There is a big difference.

Slim

agreed
DO NOT LIE TO YOUR DS....or coursemates for that matter

there was this one recruit i had in my section, we called him "Universal Soldier" or "Soldier of Fortune", we all knew he was lying right from the get go, he was a reservist for 8 years before joining reg force ( why he was not a recruit school bypass i dont know, honestly it just adds to lies) he told us he had done halo jumps, spent thousands of hours in the field. The DS eventually heard of this in our last couple weeks, this particular recruit had already been recoursed due to missing more than 24 hours consecutively in the field( with his over a thousand hours in the field, stomach flu BTW,  which is a real hear-say rule because the staff if they like you or know you work hard they will let it slide) they themselves put a little investigation into it and it carried over into that recruits following SQ once he graduated basic 2 weeks later, and he was then released from the CF due to lying, not sure what the actual charge was, but this member is no longer in the CF.

 

[BernDawg]

We had a guy like that in Battle School back in the day.  He got sorted out in the pugil pit.  > Never finished the course.

 

[Blackthorne]

BTT for a re read.



RELAX. Always try your hardest, hold nothing back. Your instructors know how far you can go, even when you don't.