I have been looking at job reviews for the Canadian Armed Forces and have found some very good and bad reviews. This one struck me the most and I am wondering if anyone based on experience would agree with this users comment or go against it. I understand the military isn't
Wonderland where new recruits,nco's and officers all get along and the sun is always shining, however, I want to make sure if I do seek a career in the CF, I am able to pay my bills along with actually being motivated to go to work rather than depressed. I mean no disrespect to the CAF by asking this question but would like to ensure I am ready for the CAF as I begin my fitness test this Thursday. Thank you.
Review I found:
"I spent 12 years in the Canadian Forces and am a Afghanistan Combat Veteran diagnosed with PTSD.
I can only recommend this organization as a "stepping stone" career for 18 year old's to pad your resume on the way to a better real world job.
Contrary to what people believe, there are no benefits in the canadian military, you do not get free education like in the US GI Bill (unless you are medically released and life ruined). You pay full housing prices for your family to live in a run down 1950s house where ive had my foot go through the floor. God help you if your wife has an education/job as the Military does not care for your spouse or children no matter what they tell you. Your wife has a high paying job? Well too bad we will pull you half way across the country as we are too lazy to find someone else and your name was the first for the career mangler to draw out of the hat. Then you will be told she should just stay at home.
If I could do it over, I would have done a 3 year contract, deployed, and left the Army behind me.
The culture shows a complete lack of respect for lower ranks and often treats them like animals. You can expect to work 18-24 hour days on end as a norm as well as weekends with no overtime and you will not get those days back.
Workplace burnout is huge, and in the past 2 years I have had 5 co-workers in my unit alone commit suicide. Most of the personnel are kept in "survival mode" and either cope with drugs/alcohol, commit suicide, or come forward when you are near suicide for PTSD/Depression then get abandoned by your superiors that only care about their career, and not the military or their men.
The moment you become ill/injured, no matter what you have accomplished in the past or even over-seas doing your real job it will be forgotten and you will be betrayed at a moments notice.
The organization is opposed to anything that is not dictated verbatim and innovation or improvement is unheard of. Total lack of communication at all levels.
Promotion and advancement is not based upon merit but on word of mouth and the "buddy system". I was rated one of the highest performing leadership qualified/experienced Corporals in my unit, as well as being college educated (in my last year of a degree now as of writing this) and I was repeatedly passed over for promotion in favour of soldiers that played on the unit hockey team, had assault/DUI charges, and were buddies with their superiors or yes men.
On leadership, it is less leadership and more "loudership"/how you look vs how you perform.
The training is lackluster and never progresses beyond the bare minimum. In the combat arms you will spend endless hours staring at trees. Tactics only revolve around form a line and perform a frontal and never progress with a moving, thinking enemy force as that may make the officers look bad.
A huge attitude is "you are only as good as your last mistake". Making an error in training, even slight can be a career ender for a junior NCM/Officer. People that step up and make decisions can look forward to being unpopular, while the "grey men" that sit in the background and avoid any serious work or difficult positions where they may make mistakes and be held accountable are promoted.
On accountability there is very little of it. Most Senior NCM will avoid blame at all costs and cowardly designate scapegoats for their errors. Senior NCM's will commonly delegate all their duties to the lowest rank possible and sit in their office playing games or even go home for the day.
Administration is always screwed up and varies from minor things like not getting paid, to running out of fuel in an operational environment and having to borrow from the Americans.
I can only recommend this job as a career if you barely graduated grade 10, have no aspirations beyond doing the bare minumum, like to drink/do drugs (coke is really popular sadly), have a criminial history, and want to stay in a permanent "highschool" mentality."
Wonderland where new recruits,nco's and officers all get along and the sun is always shining, however, I want to make sure if I do seek a career in the CF, I am able to pay my bills along with actually being motivated to go to work rather than depressed. I mean no disrespect to the CAF by asking this question but would like to ensure I am ready for the CAF as I begin my fitness test this Thursday. Thank you.
Review I found:
"I spent 12 years in the Canadian Forces and am a Afghanistan Combat Veteran diagnosed with PTSD.
I can only recommend this organization as a "stepping stone" career for 18 year old's to pad your resume on the way to a better real world job.
Contrary to what people believe, there are no benefits in the canadian military, you do not get free education like in the US GI Bill (unless you are medically released and life ruined). You pay full housing prices for your family to live in a run down 1950s house where ive had my foot go through the floor. God help you if your wife has an education/job as the Military does not care for your spouse or children no matter what they tell you. Your wife has a high paying job? Well too bad we will pull you half way across the country as we are too lazy to find someone else and your name was the first for the career mangler to draw out of the hat. Then you will be told she should just stay at home.
If I could do it over, I would have done a 3 year contract, deployed, and left the Army behind me.
The culture shows a complete lack of respect for lower ranks and often treats them like animals. You can expect to work 18-24 hour days on end as a norm as well as weekends with no overtime and you will not get those days back.
Workplace burnout is huge, and in the past 2 years I have had 5 co-workers in my unit alone commit suicide. Most of the personnel are kept in "survival mode" and either cope with drugs/alcohol, commit suicide, or come forward when you are near suicide for PTSD/Depression then get abandoned by your superiors that only care about their career, and not the military or their men.
The moment you become ill/injured, no matter what you have accomplished in the past or even over-seas doing your real job it will be forgotten and you will be betrayed at a moments notice.
The organization is opposed to anything that is not dictated verbatim and innovation or improvement is unheard of. Total lack of communication at all levels.
Promotion and advancement is not based upon merit but on word of mouth and the "buddy system". I was rated one of the highest performing leadership qualified/experienced Corporals in my unit, as well as being college educated (in my last year of a degree now as of writing this) and I was repeatedly passed over for promotion in favour of soldiers that played on the unit hockey team, had assault/DUI charges, and were buddies with their superiors or yes men.
On leadership, it is less leadership and more "loudership"/how you look vs how you perform.
The training is lackluster and never progresses beyond the bare minimum. In the combat arms you will spend endless hours staring at trees. Tactics only revolve around form a line and perform a frontal and never progress with a moving, thinking enemy force as that may make the officers look bad.
A huge attitude is "you are only as good as your last mistake". Making an error in training, even slight can be a career ender for a junior NCM/Officer. People that step up and make decisions can look forward to being unpopular, while the "grey men" that sit in the background and avoid any serious work or difficult positions where they may make mistakes and be held accountable are promoted.
On accountability there is very little of it. Most Senior NCM will avoid blame at all costs and cowardly designate scapegoats for their errors. Senior NCM's will commonly delegate all their duties to the lowest rank possible and sit in their office playing games or even go home for the day.
Administration is always screwed up and varies from minor things like not getting paid, to running out of fuel in an operational environment and having to borrow from the Americans.
I can only recommend this job as a career if you barely graduated grade 10, have no aspirations beyond doing the bare minumum, like to drink/do drugs (coke is really popular sadly), have a criminial history, and want to stay in a permanent "highschool" mentality."