Wannabes and Gonnabes

[Fusaki]

i know i wasnt the first potential soldier to post on this forum asking about "the cool units" and i sure won‘t be the last. it seems like there are plenty of us wannabes, but only a few of us will actually make it.

so what separates the kids who say "i‘m gonna be a paratrooper/sniper/JTF-2" but never follow through, from the ones who say they‘re going to do it and then ACTUALLY DO IT?

 

[portcullisguy]

I see this on my basic course right now. Big talkers. All full of piss and vinegar. These kids loaf around, and yap, "I‘m gonna be a (fill in the blank>" but the majority of them are whining after a brief jog at 5:30am not even two blocks in distance.

I‘m not much for slogans, unless they‘re useful.

I joined the CF because I want to fulfil a family tradition and broaden my personal experiences and learn new skills. I joined the Infantry because I thought it the best and quickest way of learning interesting skills, and contributing in the most effective way to the CF, at the "sharp" end. All I bring to course every weekend is my kit and my drive.

I‘ll be the first to admit, sometimes, after doing several "motivation" sessions, being made to adopt the fifth point of flight procedure position, or whatever the **** it‘s called, for what seems like hours, or do blocks of 25 push-ups with intervals of marking time... I feel the burn and know I can‘t keep up. But I keep trying, even if I gotta rest my arms/legs when the staff aren‘t looking. The day I do in there and say, "I can‘t do this no more" is the day I know I made the wrong choice -- and I hope it never comes.

I may never be the Super Soldier, but I think I have enough drive to do what is expected of me given my (lack of) skill and experience at this stage. I am doing PT on my own time, including ruck marching, push-ups and running, when I can.

Best advice... be the "grey" man. The guy who yells the loudest about how he will be JTF2 or Para or sniper or whatever will probably be watched. Not many people perform well with an intensive audience.

 

[Drez]

I totally agree guys. Saying things and doing them are 2 things that people seem to have a problem with.

When I decided I wanted to join the CF I chose the infantry for a challenge (as I was told it was one of the greatest to face), and for the experience and the skills pertaining to it. I needed something to get out of the cycle I was heading to of 9 to 5 office days. Then speaking to people and looking around, I found the paratroops as a possible specialty I could perhaps one day reach. I am not going to say for sure that I will kick *** my way in there easily (because its a hard way in)...but its what I want and wanting it gives you the power to carry out your goal. Those that WANT something and stick to it no matter what are the winners. Hardships are bound to hit but your must be true to yourself and your aim! The big talkers that cant even do the basics and want it all are gonna be the losers.

Join in, know your way and what you want, and grab it if your strong enough to, or simply have the grim determination!

 

[muskrat89]

I may be speaking only for my grumpy self, but what gets mildly irritating is the posts that are asking, in essence " I really want to be a ranger, paratrooper, sniper, recce.... whatever - can someone tell me more about what they do?" Most, if not every job in the military is valuable in the grand scheme of things, and all of those soldiers are proud of what they do. It‘s great to know you want something, but how can you decide, if you don‘t know all of the choices? (except the ones seen in TV, movies, computer games, etc) My 2 cents worth

 

[Zoomie]

When I first joined, I wanted to learn to drive standard and do some wicked ba-ha driving. Well I accomplished that... The rest of the trade just fell in line and my skills and knowledge increased from there. Six years later I decided that I wanted to fly planes, so here I am.

 

[Drez]

Thx Zoomie...exactly what I meant. Its not always possible to do everything, but what can be done and will allowing it...will get you that much further!

 

[onecat]

hey zoomie that is right on. I know from my experience that when your 18-20 you talk out of your a** so to speak, and talk the talk, but don‘t really do the walk. But as you get older you realize what you want and don‘t really care about the showing off part.

But I did have a question for zoomie, what trade were you in before you switched to flying? And type of paperwork did you have to go though to get moved.

thanks

 

[Zoomie]

Hey radiohead, I was Armd Recce (resf) before switching to the regs. Paperwork wasn‘t really that big of a deal, OR took care of that. Just need to fill out a few criteria in order to be a pilot. First and foremost is the whole Officer dealio. Need a degree to be one of those. Then it comes to 5 stages of selection, the fifth one being done after already being in the reg force world for one to one and half years.

If you (or anyone else) really wants more info on this process, start a new topic thread under recruiting and I will be more than willing to discuss the matter. Cuz I am sure that the grizzled old vets are rolling their eyes at the moment.

 

[Jarnhamar]

i‘d like to be a force recon pathfinder sniper so when we go to war and canada sends in its ‘in shape‘ ground troops, modern battle tanks and up to date air defence (supported by gunships)i can take on a whole terrorist camp with my small team of commandos (who have nick names like buzzcut, longrifle and blades) and get medals and brag to my buddies on thursday nights when i go into my armories.

:sniper: :blotto:

 

[BestOfTheBest]

hey here is what i think. most of the people who are saying they wanna be a ranger or JTF2 people I think they are all young just like me. which is fine because i think you guys to and everyone eles probably always wanted wanted to be one of those guys. I awalays say to my self that i wanna be like those guy
And I think thats good because it keeps me motivated when i go ran mostly everyday at 9:00pm at night in the cold and hot weather. I keep saying that line in my head that i am gonna be like those guys.
thats what actully keeps be running especally in the winter.
Now for the people who say they wanna be one of those guys but can‘t even run form there house to the bus stop. Well really god help them get anywhere in life if even to the washroom in there house.
I am GOING to join the military soon around when i am done high and get into infantry.

last thing if u see people saying they wanna be or whatever well really who cares. let them be god form all i care. there just bunch of kids just like me expect (i have a goal) and i am sure some of them do like me. hopefully

 

[Armymedic]

Joining the military requires more then being "gung-ho", it takes a lot of intestinal fortitute to get through all the initial training. Once your in though, its a job alot like no other and somewhat like any other...If you like it, it doesn‘t seem like work...I have former co-workers gone away to join the ‘elite‘ and when I see them the are no different then when we worked together. My point is... if you good, and good at it, and you like it, you can do just about anything.

 

[BestOfTheBest]

True

 

[combat_medic]

so what separates the kids who say "i‘m gonna be a paratrooper/sniper/JTF-2" but never follow through, from the ones who say they‘re going to do it and then ACTUALLY DO IT?

The ones who are the big talkers and think they‘re incredibly hard core because they own a pair of desert boots aren‘t special forces material.

The ones who are going to do it just shut up and do it. They‘re not the ones beaking about how great/hard/tough/smart they are. In my experience (which isn‘t THAT considerable, I‘ll admit) the people doing the hardest jobs, and in the most hard core positions are the ones who are the most modest and shut up about it.

And the people who are the biggest bull$hitters are the ones who think that they‘re cool because they were a cadet RSM and think they should get into the MO with a leadership rank.

Example: met a guy formerly in the French Foreign Legion. He downplayed the stuff he did, and said "It‘s not that big of a deal."

Met a reserve medic who failed a cadet basic para course who walked around base with his "Airborne" t-shirt, and talking about how he was so hard core because he put both his mag pouches on the left hand side, and had scrim on his helmet.

If you really want to do it, then do it. Don‘t keep talking about it, just do it.

 

[kurokaze]

Ooh.. French Foreign Legion.. now that is
hardcore.. I can‘t even begin to compete with
those guys.

This is the minimum physical requirements
(compare these to the ones we have)
- 30 pushups.
- 50 situps.
- Climb a 20 foot rope without using your feet.
- Run 8 kilometres with a 12 kilogram rucksack in less than one hour.
- 8 chinups with your palms away from you as you grip the bar.

I love this one:
"You will complete several marches at Castel, the final one being roughly 160 kilometres"

160Km ?! My feet are hurting already

Besides that it sounds like a really good
organization there though.

 

[Dacier]

I would think pretty much everyone in the infantry could meet those requirements... the only one I might have problems with is the 8 km run due to the fact I‘ve never tried that distance yet.

Our requriements certainly aren‘t very high to get into basic training, but the FFL‘s aren‘t mind blowing at all.

 

[kurokaze]

Dacier: True enough, I just wanted to contrast
it with our 19 push-ups/situps requirement for
the CF.

I‘ve never climbed a 20ft rope w/o using my
legs though nor have I ever run 8 kms w/ a
12Kg sack (heck never ran 8km period!).

Something I should try

 

[Paras]

Hey Kurokaze are you sure it said 160km?!!!sweet moses thats almost superhuman.Can you tell me where you saw this 160km march,also is with a ruck?

 

[Jarnhamar]

kurokaze read up about the tactics and doctrine that the legion uses, you may have second thoughts

 

[kurokaze]

Paras: I got the info from here:
http://www.foreignlegionlife.com/chapter4.htm#trainingandtests

Look under "March or Die"

Ghost:
I‘ve heard that there is definately a problem with
deserters.. leading me to believe that life in the
legion isn‘t what its all cracked up to be.

 

[aa]

After reading through this thread, I just have to make a comment. Combat_medic has it absolutely right (a very nicely articulated post, by the way).

Generally those who talk the most, do the least. If you want to be a hard soldier, just get in shape, and try to absorb as much as you can from the quality soldiers around you. It can be hard to tell a good soldier when you first join, but I‘ll give you a hint- it‘s probably NOT the person who is sitting in the mess yapping off all the time.

I‘ve found that the "tough" guys who tend to want to make the new people feel unwelcome are generally all talk, and that the TRUELY hard soldiers go out of their way to help people out- as long as the person is willing to learn.

- Be shy of speech and incorruptible. The strong act, the weak chatter; chatter will bring you to the grave (The third commandment of the Canadian Paratrooper)