Any Military People Here?

[canadaski]

Is anybody here in the military, especially the Canadian military? I'm seriously considering joining the Canadian reserves as a part time job during college and if I really like it, go full time after college. Or, I may possibly go after a degree so I can apply to become a commissioned officer. That's only if I really want to pursue it though.

Is there anybody that has experience with this, Canadian or otherwise? What exactly are parade nights in the reserves? Could I tack other courses onto my military service record, such as search and rescue or something?

I'm pretty sure I could kill somebody if an innocent civilian's life, my life or my friend's lives depended on it, but I'm not 100% certain it would be so easy for me. Is this a concern that a lot of people have or do you pretty much have to be a bad ass motherfucker upon joining the military?

How often do the reserves do weapon training? It seems like a skill that is easily perishable if training isn't done on a regular basis. To me it seems that the better your skills are as a soldier, the safer you and your comrades would be if you decided to go overseas.

Also if I do join the reserves, would I likely make friends doing it or is it usually a kind of lone wolf thing?

Thanks

[Misfit]

G'day mate, I'm a Bombardier (Corporal) in the Australian Army Reserves, 27 field Battery 7th field regiment, my unit is primarily an artillery regiment but we also train as light infantry. I'm also a full time college student here in Australia so it does help pay the bills a bit, personally i prefer the role of a noncom but that's just me, I plan to move into a law enforcement role when i gain more life experience.

Parade nights for us consist of lessons on navigation, medical, cam and concealment, drill, medical, ratel (radio communication) firearm and artillery cleaning and maintenance, fire and movement training as well as general field operations training. We generally train one night a week for 3 hours, 2 of which are usually theory based lessons with one hour being for practical training, after the 3 hours we usually just crack out some cold ones and joke around for a while. I don't know how it works in Canada but we are trained based on the unit we join so we are not trained in search and rescue and you'll probably won't find many units that do offer that role as it is a primarily civilian role, I personally am trained in SAR and USAR as i'm also a member of my communities 'State Emergency Service' so if you can find an organisation like that you can add it to a resume.

Like you said I too think I would be able to kill someone who was trying to kill me or my mates however it's quite a different story when the time comes. I personally am not a "badass motherfucker" nothing near it but I've assimilated pretty well and most guys their aren't really gun-ho.

Following basic training which for us was a 4 week course then based on your units specialility you will be sent to another training barracks to learn those skills. Following your completion of your recruit courses weapon training is less frequent however after basic training you wont really forget how to shoot a rifle. That being said we still hold regular weekend training exercises in which blanks and sometimes live rounds are used. We also travel to a live fire range maybe four times a year? here we also use our WTSS (weapons training simulator system) I personally find the amount of weapon fire acceptable but you guys may train in firearm use more than us over in Australia. You would be correct in guessing that the more training you receive the better soldier you'll become and through advancing in your training you'll be able to make split second decisions to ensure your safety and the safety of your squad.

I've become close friends with nearly everyone within my unit, there's no other kinship like brothers-in-arms, while you're a recruit you may get hazed a bit by some of the older guys but seriously mate, don't take it to heart it only lasts a little while before we get bored and move on, we do it to everyone. There are some lone wolves however we sorely discourage it because the point is that you work as a team to achieve a goal.
May be some spelling and grammatical errors in this text as I've actually just gotten back from reserves and had a few drinks.
Well I hope I answered some of your questions, if you have anymore feel free to ask.

-Bondi

[canadaski]

Thanks, bud. The regiment I would likely train with operates out of my small town (50,000 people) and from Toronto and is an armed reconnaissance unit. In regards to applications for spec ops forces, what do you think they look for in reserve forces? Should I go to every parade night? Do officers take note of how you perform and act during training? I know if that ever came my way it would be a long time from now, but I'm curious and I think that it would really help make me feel fulfilled.

[Harry Smith]

I've been to air cadets so all my knowledge is just purely air force based. Officers want someone who is firstly committed and also good at drill. A lot of people over look it but it will make you stand on on the parade square if you know what your doing. I think to join the special forces you would need to be in peak physical condition

[Misfit]

Well it may be different in Canada but here people can go into SF's pretty much straight after basic so, the Sf's will teach you everything they want you to know there really nothing specific that they'll look for in a reservist, that being said they may choose someone with a more lengthy military service record over someone straight out of basic. They skills that SF's like is physical and mental ability, which are big ones. Ability to carry out orders with minimal sleep, as a team and with heavy loads. Accurate shooting. Nav and first aid they'd probably be the key things they'd look for in any potential recruit.

Over here we like it for our newer members to come to every parade night but we understand that sometimes its hard to make it all the time so we allow some leeway. Our more experience members we aren't so worried about as they've learnt just about everything they need to know from us but they need to fill out leave if its longer than one parade night/activity, that being said we still have an expectation of our members to attend a certain amount of parades and activities a year.

Over here our Army training course is held at 'Kapooka' army barracks, here they begin a report on each trooper trooper that enters, during their training their field and theory instructors (usually noncoms rather than officers) make observations and notes based on how each trooper preforms. After basic, they send a copy of the report to the unit the trooper belongs to and our instructors can the continue the report at a unit level before we send it to Battalion then Brigade.

Like you said its a pretty for-filling job and the friends you make there are great.

-Bondi

[canadaski]

Well it may be different in Canada but here people can go into SF's pretty much straight after basic so, the Sf's will teach you everything they want you to know there really nothing specific that they'll look for in a reservist, that being said they may choose someone with a more lengthy military service record over someone straight out of basic. They skills that SF's like is physical and mental ability, which are big ones. Ability to carry out orders with minimal sleep, as a team and with heavy loads. Accurate shooting. Nav and first aid they'd probably be the key things they'd look for in any potential recruit.

Over here we like it for our newer members to come to every parade night but we understand that sometimes its hard to make it all the time so we allow some leeway. Our more experience members we aren't so worried about as they've learnt just about everything they need to know from us but they need to fill out leave if its longer than one parade night/activity, that being said we still have an expectation of our members to attend a certain amount of parades and activities a year.

Over here our Army training course is held at 'Kapooka' army barracks, here they begin a report on each trooper trooper that enters, during their training their field and theory instructors (usually noncoms rather than officers) make observations and notes based on how each trooper preforms. After basic, they send a copy of the report to the unit the trooper belongs to and our instructors can the continue the report at a unit level before we send it to Battalion then Brigade.

Like you said its a pretty for-filling job and the friends you make there are great.

-Bondi

Yeah, in Canada there are only a few special operations forces. All of them have the same requirements, though. A concern of mine is that my vision must be correctable to V1 and I have congenital cataracts and am not sure if they disqualify outright me or not.

[Misfit]

Probably the best idea would be to get in contact with a recruiter and find out from them.

[norcaldude18]

I'm not sure talking to a recruiter would be the best person to have answer all your questions. Recruiters will tell you anything and everything you want to hear in order to get you to sign up. I would find an online forum where there are active military individuals that can give you better advice.

[Hyper]

Special Forces all over the world prioritize psychology in selecting recruits.

Dont know about Canada but the physical requirements vary, though all have some initial benchmark above the average fitness level.

As for your condition there is no way we can know that. You have to ask someone in the armed forces.