Relax and Chill out!

[dwalter]

Thank you so much for all the advice on this thread everyone. I was quite honestly really worried that anyone with cadet experience was doomed. I was in cadets, but I am signed up for the reg forces for a reason. I am really eager to go and learn to do it the real way, and not the cadet way. I just hope that is a good way of approaching it. I really like helping people, and so I might find it hard not to help members of my platoon, but shouldn't helping the rest of the team to succeed be a good trait? I got sort of confused in reading the above posts when people said it is better not to offer help but to help when asked. I just want to avoid having the DI looking at me and assuming I'm one of the cadets who thinks they know it all, because I know I don't!

The rest of the advice on keeping chilled out certainly calmed my nerves. I am happy with the progress I'm making with my PT and so hopefully by the time summer rolls around I'll be good to go in that area. I'm looking forward to being able to add my own experiences here one day!

 

[Cat]

dwalter

I'm in the same position as you - having done probably too much time as a cadet and as a CI in the CIC...I'm not an overly cocky person to start with but I'm relieved to see that having cadet experience isn't a death sentence.

Again,I'd just like to reiterate the last post...thanks everyone for giving me a little more confidence, and I will definitely be keeping my mouth shut about my experiences unless it's quietly and very beneficial to the situation at hand.

 

[dwalter]

Well fortunately for me I've had a year mostly away from cadets. The only thing I came down to my squadron to do was teach ground school for the flight scholarship candidates. Drill dies hard, but the rest perhaps I'll have a bit of a fresher slate when I start IAP. I'm really looking forward to learning it again actually, there can never be too much practise, and everyone has weak points no matter how much time they have had in cadets, the CIC, the reserves, and even the reg forces. If anyone was perfect they wouldn't be human, so I am looking forward to working on my short comings over my summers

 

[Cat]

Well fortunately for me I've had a year mostly away from cadets. The only thing I came down to my squadron to do was teach ground school for the flight scholarship candidates. Drill dies hard, but the rest perhaps I'll have a bit of a fresher slate when I start IAP. I'm really looking forward to learning it again actually, there can never be too much practise, and everyone has weak points no matter how much time they have had in cadets, the CIC, the reserves, and even the reg forces. If anyone was perfect they wouldn't be human, so I am looking forward to working on my short comings over my summers

I just can't wait to be back on the parade square...It's always been a comforting feeling to have whatever SM bellowing out commands and just..I just love drill...lol, I can't wait to learn it the proper way...

Haha, I just love the lifestyle - can't wait to get everything squared around and get in.

 

[Greymatters]

I just can't wait to be back on the parade square...It's always been a comforting feeling to have whatever SM bellowing out commands and just..I just love drill...lol, I can't wait to learn it the proper way...

Im curious about that - what is it about drill that you like so much?

 

[Cat]

Im curious about that - what is it about drill that you like so much?

I love the feeling of pride when I've done a movement absolutely perfectly. I love the teamwork, the single crack of boots on cement that the squad works so hard for. I love the preciseness, the exactness of drill. It's hard to find anything else that is that precise and that requres that kind of timing that's done as a group.

I also adore teaching drill... I love seeing people get things, so knowing that once I've got something down, I can help someone else learn it is a great incentive for me as well.

 

[Greymatters]

Hmmm, fair enough answer.  Although I would point out that not everyone shares your joy in regards to drill.

 

[Cat]

Hmmm, fair enough answer.  Although I would point out that not everyone shares your joy in regards to drill.

I'm well aware...hehe, but I'm odd, I accepted that a long, long time ago.

My love of drill just makes it a strength, and having a teaching background makes it a bigger strength because for the people who dislike it or aren't so great at it right away, I get extra drill time, and they get someone who enjoys helping and doing drill....win win

 

[armyvern]

Ah yes, THE RCR past time  ;D

Yep, drill and painting. I believe that The RCR hold hold the current reigning champion honours for both Drill Team and Pace Stick Competitions.

I heard a rumour once that they start out the painting OJT slowly ... handing out paint by number kits in the Battle School, but people were still screwing up the colour scheme, ergo the move to rocks outside of HQ.

Better than the PPCLI I guess ... those guys just have no sense of colour coordination at all -- a whole mix N match crew they are!!

 

[Neill McKay]

I just love drill...lol, I can't wait to learn it the proper way...

Do you have some reason to think you've learnt it in an improper way in the past?  With only a few quite specific exceptions drill is drill whether it's the regular navy, the militia, or the air cadets.  There's always a chance you've been taught something incorrectly, but no greater than the chance that you'll be taught something incorrectly in the future.

 

[armyvern]

Do you have some reason to think you've learnt it in an improper way in the past?  With only a few quite specific exceptions drill is drill whether it's the regular navy, the militia, or the air cadets.  There's always a chance you've been taught something incorrectly, but no greater than the chance that you'll be taught something incorrectly in the future.

Well, given that every single basic course usually hears the following being yelled very loudly on day one of their course:

"OMFG --- You were a cadet weren't you!!"

Former cadets -- stand out in the crowd -- there's a reason it's referred to as cadet drill

 

[Cat]

That's exactly it. There is a huge difference in the way drill is done between the different cadet elements, so I would have to assume that the CF would be different again. I just want to do things the right way and do those things well.

I've just got the basics; although I'm sure I'm going to be jacked for having been in cadets, some habits just die hard - and until I learn the right way, chances are I'll be doing it the cadet way.

 

[armyvern]

I've just got the basics; although I'm sure I'm going to be jacked for having been in cadets, some habits just die hard - and until I learn the right way, chances are I'll be doing it the cadet way.

No worries, they will knock the cadet drill out of you during basic -- been there, done that (the cadet drill).

 

[Cat]

No worries, they will knock the cadet drill out of you during basic -- been there, done that.

as long as they replace it with proper drill, s'all good - I just hear alot of complaints on the site about people who are stuck doing things one way when they go on course...I'm getting out of that mindset in advance

there's alot of information on here, I'm just trying to keep my head above water and not make big mistakes going in especially regarding my attitude and willingness to adapt

 

[armyvern]

as long as they replace it with proper drill, s'all good - I just hear alot of complaints on the site about people who are stuck doing things one way when they go on course...I'm getting out of that mindset in advance

there's alot of information on here, I'm just trying to keep my head above water and not make big mistakes going in especially regarding my attitude and willingness to adapt

The best thing to do is relax -- take it as it comes and you'll do just fine. Don't be too anxious, don't be too gung-ho, and don't be a slug. It'll all work out after that.

 

[medaid]

hmm, that's what I'd heard....I was oddly concerned about that when I tried to join the first time....

now, heck rock painting sounds like a holiday

Just don't try an spray paint your boots. That doesn't work ;D no not speaking from experience...

 

[Neill McKay]

That's exactly it. There is a huge difference in the way drill is done between the different cadet elements, so I would have to assume that the CF would be different again. I just want to do things the right way and do those things well.

Everyone, CF and cadets, all elements, is supposed to be taking their basic drill from CFP 201.  There are certainly some cadet units who are teaching parts of it wrong, but there's no all-encompassing "cadet drill" that differs from "CF drill", nor are there differences in drill between cadet elements.  (Further, there are some CF units whose drill also deviates from what's correct by the book, so neither cadets nor the CF have the market cornered on creative drill.)

If you've seen air cadets drill differently from sea cadets then what you're seeing is a difference in unit practice, not element practice.  The same is true if you see army cadets and an air force squadron drilling differently -- it's in the unit, or possibly the summer training centre or CF school, but not the element or the fact that one is a cadet unit and the other an air force unit.

I've just got the basics; although I'm sure I'm going to be jacked for having been in cadets, some habits just die hard - and until I learn the right way, chances are I'll be doing it the cadet way.

A person could forget that we're all on the same side around here, the way past membership in cadets is looked upon sometimes.  (The CDS was a cadet, after all.)

Well, given that every single basic course usually hears the following being yelled very loudly on day one of their course:

"OMFG --- You were a cadet weren't you!!"

Well, yes, but I suspect that reason is that the DS of BMQ courses will yell something starting with "OMFG" loudly on the very slightest pretext!  (One lad on my course got it because he correctly reported his trade as "musician" the first inspection.)

 

[Michael OLeary]

A person could forget that we're all on the same side around here, the way past membership in cadets is looked upon sometimes.  (In case anyone's forgotten, the CDS was a cadet.)

No-one here has been 'looked down upon' simply because they were a cadet, but sometimes it has led to the display of some form of Dunning-Kruger effect, which will attract less than welcoming attitudes.  And cadets don't have a monopoly on that either.

 

[Cat]

I'm just going on what I've seen, in general it seems that each cadet unit does things differently, but there is more continuity by element. Air cadets have a bad habit of dragging out/singing drill commands, army cadets swing shoulder high, sea cadets...hmm, I haven't had as much experience with sea cadets to notice anything elementally different...but there are differences taht the cadet elements seem to pride themselves on. I realise it's all supposed to be the same, but it's like cadets no longer dig their heels in while marching...my cadet boots are worn down to the nails from diggingin ... just because things aren't supposed to be differnt.. doesn't mean they're not.


this may also be because some cadet units refuse to update their 201s...I've seen some pretty old ones in various squadrons/corps.

Again, this is just my experiance, which is why I'm accepting for now that I know basic drill...however I know I may be a bit off...and if they ever heard me call a command I'd probably be laughed off the square...

 

[Neill McKay]

Dunning-Kruger effect

Thanks for that -- I didn't know there was a name for it.

Yes, no doubt some fraction (well under 100 per cent I'd wager) of cadets, and probably a fairly similar fraction of recruits who were never cadets, show up on Basic with that particular attitude and attract a lot of grief as a result.  But it really does rankle me the way people are so often advised to hide the fact that they were cadets, or forget everything they learned as cadets because it's all wrong, and so on.