What not to do - No excuse BMQ tips [Merged]

[Mojo Magnum]

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Paracowboys post on another thread.
Answered all my questions.



I've posted this advice in any number of threads, but you guys still aren't getting it, so I'll try again.

RELAX.

You're getting yourselves all worked up and freaking yourselves out over stupid crap. How do I pass this? What happens if I fail that? How many people failed your Basic? Did they get shot? Are they dog food now? If I sprain a follicle, will I be re-coursed?

Your instructors are professionals who fully intend to see every one of you become little Privates in our special club, we got goin' here. If you show up reasonably fit, with the proper attitude, and LISTEN TO THEM, that is exactly what will happen. You will pass, and join our cheery ranks.

People, literally THOUSANDS of men and women have undergone this training before you. They have passed, and without this website to hold their hands, and give pep talks, and group hugs. Nobody sang "Kumbaya" with me when I got on the bus. My Dad shook my hand, said "Don't ever quit", and that was it. And I sit here, with looking down from the giddy height of MCpl. If I can do it, so can you.

Stop panicking, do your PT, and THAT'S IT. That's it. It's that friggin' simple! There's no need to read any secret books. There's no requirement to study before you go. Everything you will need to learn will be taught to you, with the necessary Standard demonstrated (and whatever "cheats" and "hints" are applicable).

Read my thread on Blisters, Shin Splints, and PT in the Training forum. It has several posts in it dealing with attitude. Now, for the sake of whatever Being you hold sacred (or profane, I'll swear by anything) RELAX.

Just some friendly advice. Feel free to ignore it. Most of you will, I'm sure.

 

[Pearson]

Coordinating that many people to work together will be tough    Especially if they are all in "self preservation" mode and obsessed wtih looking out for number one.  

You self preservation mode becomes like a bee colony's , the Musketeers (not Mouseketeers), or for your trekies..the "Borg."

You will find yourself scurrying from one bed space to another checking beds while another follows right behind you checking lockers while another ...you get the picture.... you learn it there, it is preached there, TEAMWORK.

You will find out that one of the hardest things to do during inspection, (after you have all reached the standard of course,) is making it through the morning daily's with a straight face. Not suggesting that the staff would ever try to cause this slip. : Professional soldiers were never issued a sense of humour.  ;D  Many a giggle have been heard, and resulted in all in the prone supported position, but hey, that's part of the fun.

Enjoy

 

[Mojo Magnum]

"no excuse, bmq tips".
well, having lived it for 7 weeks, I can finally offer some genuine insight into the items that I included in the original post of this thread.


With a big thank you to army.ca for helping to calm my anxieties before I went to bmq, I must say the best tip I got was from another recruit on my first day.

Simple words that have stuck with me all the way through. He said,

"Do as you're told, and you'll be fine".

there ya go.  too easy.

on "don't ask questions"- balloney, asking questions is part of learning.  Go ahead, fill yer boots.  It helps people to get to know you.

on the extra set of toiletries.  I did, but, could easily have made it with out them.  Not a big deal at all.

on PT.  pass the damn PT test at the recruiting center.  if you can do that, you'll be fine. 

For everything else, Para is right.  RELAX.  I've got three 17 year old kids in my platoon.  They've never heard of army.ca, they don't know any bmq "tricks", and they're rolling along without a care in the world.  (amazing really,  whenever I get stressed I just look at them and go "oh yeah, this really isn't that tuff".)

As nearly every instructor in the Mega likes to say....

It's too fuckin easy.
(just do as you're told and you'll be fine ;D)

 

[SHELLDRAKE!!]

My biggest pet peeve is having a recruit doing the head bobs or downright falling asleep in lectures. Yeah some classes are pretty boring but provided you have a good instructor, he/she will state before the class begins that if you get sleepy, stand up at the back of the class. If they don't, simply raise your hand and ask if you can.

It beats driving a pencil into the web of your hand to stay concsiouse. By dozing off, no matter what your excuse, you are telling the instructor that you are not interested in what he/shes teaching which will lead to the inevidable pushups.

 

[RossF]

..You know guys, you COULD always try the less-lazy way, and clean your stuff. Don't get me wrong, I used certain tricks, etc. ... but I mean some of this stuff isn't even worth risking getting caught. Your best bet most of the time is to just do things right; it's been said on here before, anything you think of, any tricks to get by easier, has been done/tried before -- your instructors know more than you think. But, whatever.. sometimes you get more pride out of keeping your things to the highest standard possible, honestly. A lot of people seem to be concerned with "what tricks can you give me!?" -- I'd be more concerned with physical fitness, practice being disciplined with daily routines, etc. - That will help you in the end, more so than how many toothbrushes, or running shoes you bring to pass inspections.

/rant

 

[NavComm]

I agree with just do as your told rule. On my bmq (June05) smokers would not have been allowed to chew nicorette gum, because chewing gum in uniform is not allowed. Consider brining patches.

Also, bringing two pairs of running shoes is a great idea, and I agree with Allan's comments on why you should have two pairs...I suppose you could put one pair with your civvie outfit in the locker and just keep your real civvie shoes in civvie lockup until you get leave?

 

[atticus]

quick note, im on BMQ right now. Don't bring two pairs of shoes, you don't have the room.
Also smokers aren't allowed to smoke until the end of the day in most platoons here. others you can at lunch or a short break, but not most.

 

[canadianblue]

I just finished my BMQ, and personally the best advice I'd give is always follow what the instructors say no matter what. Always pay close attention to detail, during my BMQ I screwed up on this a few times and this resulted in close to 6 counsellings. Always give it a 110%, don't get too stressed out, especially during the first few weeks, it may seem like BMQ is impossible but once you get into the swing of things it'll get a little bit easier. Whenever you are leaving for Farnham, or have a timing double check that you have eall the kit you need. With inspections have the whole section help each other out to double check to make sure everything was done properly. I remember the week after Farnham I thought I had properly cleaned my kit and didn't bother to double check and got reemed out for it as well as a counselling.

Remember basic is also a learning process, during which I found out were my strengths are, and were I have to improve.

When the instructors are yelling at you, don't take it personally, more then likely they are only trying to help you out. At the end of the course your instructors will get together with you and tell you good luck on your next training phase.

Most importantly always have a sense of humor, if you have a bad day laugh it off and remember tommorrow is a new day. Don't let life get you down.

 

[ZipperHead]

Good advice for all future recruits, Futuretrooper. There IS a method to the madness, even though some huggy-kissy leaning social scientist types might not understand that. It has worked, in more or less the same fashion for thousands of years (creating fighting soldiers), so as long as the potential soldier realizes that they are joining the military, and conform to the system, rather than expecting the system to conform to their wants and desires, they will make out OK.

Al

 

[Mojo Magnum]

I have just graduated from BMQ.  Wednesday of this week the school commander spoke with the graduates.  I was shocked when the first thing he said was......how many of you have been on army.ca since you started the course.  About ten hands went up.  He cautioned us against posting answers to exam questions but mentioned that most of the feedback was positive.

I was challenged by my time at the Mega.  Not so much by the course content but by not knowing what was coming next and wondering just how far the whole thing was gonna go.    Worry was the hardest part.  Now that it's over, I look back and think, "hey, that wasn't so tuff."

now it's on to SQ, I suspect it will be a more challenging experience.
we'll see.

 

[scottyeH?]

There's no really good tips... If you go in with good physical fitness and the right mentally it's pretty simple.

For me I'm going week 8, with no PO's and 0 counsulings... just be the quiet guy and do what you are asked to do.

Just can't wait for battle school.

 

[atticus]

For me I'm going week 8, with no PO's and 0 counsulings... just be the quiet guy and do what you are asked to do.

With some instructors it is impossible to get through with out a single counseling. In my platoon there were crazy counsellings given out for things like spelling a name wrong or having your boots not laced the exact way their sapposed to be and having a fourty degree angle on your bed instead of a 45. Not that these were any of mine, I got through with one counselling, for haveing dirt on the sole of my boot.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Quote from Mojo Magnum,
He cautioned us against posting answers to exam questions but mentioned that most of the feedback was positive

Anyone reading this from the Mega can be assured that those answers and the poster would quickly be "deleted/slashed/banned/quartered/etc......."

 

[Sig_Des]

whats this counseling.Must be the new army.

Counselling...Isn't that were you lie on a couch, talking to some guy with glasses and a beard, and tell him where you feel really uncomfortable, and he tells you that you're normal and nothings wrong with you, and that everyone loves you?

Whatever happened to marking time, pushups, rifle PT, leg raises, and other forms of "positive reinforcement".

 

[atticus]

Whatever happened to marking time, pushups, rifle PT, leg raises, and other forms of "positive reinforcement".

That still happens, though that depends on your instuctors. Mine gave that plus a counciling to certain people (depending what it was). Usually you get a counsilling for forgeting something or having unsecure kit, but sometimes they go overboard. Seven counsilings and your recoursed or get released. All they did for me was make me paranoid.

 

[ZipperHead]

"Counselling" is usually just discussing the student's shortcomings in a given area, with possible solutions to improve, and an outcome if the shortcomings aren't resolved: "Pte Bloggins, your weapon is dirty. You have been shown how to clean it in class, and if you need assistance ask a fellow soldier or a DS. If you do not make an improvement in the level of cleanliness, you will be placed on Verbal/Written/Final Warning. Do you understand?"

The Red Chit system is still in effect (in most training centres as far as I know), but not to the ridculous level where it had been in the past. It had turned into a joke, and had lost all effectiveness. The "chit" is just another tool in the belt of the instructors to record where a student needs to improve, and if there is no improvement, it is a record of that failing, and the paperwork can begin to remove them from the system. The way it had been abused in the past, people didn't "fear" the chits, and in fact wore them like a badge of honour. In other words, they were a hollow threat. If used effectively, they can help a student see where they need to improve, and as well, can assist the course staff in seeing where student's need help. An example of this would be where the majority of the soldiers in a section get chitted for not cleaning their weapons properly. The DS could put 2 and 2 together and realize that that section was probably never taught how to properly clean weapons, and require remedial training.

Al

 

[Flower]

NavComm mentioned something about chewing gum not being allowed in the military.
IMO if it comes in ur IMP eat it... ok.... Maybe not the honey.. Or the potatoes.. Everything else is good though even the gum..

 

[fourninerzero]

Here is some of my basic tips...more to keep you sane than on how to make your inspection go easier...besides most of thoes have alerady been covered. here goes, FourNinerZeros tips for BMQ.

dont be stupid
use common sense( this is in conjunction with # 1   )
your weapon is never clean enough  
meet timings
dont piss of the warrent
avoid fuckups  
never give up a chance to relax  
dont be uber serious  
have a sense of humor the darker the better  
have a few buddies. be good to them
gomer pyle does exist. be nice to him. he gets a weapon too.  
no eyeballin'  
dont purposly frig with the master bombadier's inspection  
sleep as long as you can    
learn to shower fast
a night out involving large amounts of booze will do you wonders
yelling is part of life now. get used to it.
dont buy gucci stuff with no purpose. get gucci kit to make life easier.
dont be stupid.it needs to be said twice  
Looks are everything.always make it look like your doing something important.

 

[canadianblue]

"Counselling" is usually just discussing the student's shortcomings in a given area, with possible solutions to improve, and an outcome if the shortcomings aren't resolved: "Pte Bloggins, your weapon is dirty. You have been shown how to clean it in class, and if you need assistance ask a fellow soldier or a DS. If you do not make an improvement in the level of cleanliness, you will be placed on Verbal/Written/Final Warning. Do you understand?"

That wasn't what counselling were for during my BMQ. Most likely a recruit would get a counselling for having insecure kit, not shaving, failing to go through the chain of command, etc. I got a counselling once for not having my weapon cleaned up to standard even though I ran out of cleaning supplies, and was never given any of the options above, only a counselling. As well a counselling can get you recoursed, the limit for my course was seven counsellings.

 

[Hoover]

7 got you a warrant's inspection on my course.