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Any E Tech's out there?

andrewkw08

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Hello,

I am currently a 291'er looking to get into a hard navy trade. I am very interested in "E-tech" as it suites my interests best above all else.

If anyone out there can give me a good run down on the trade itself. Not just a copy paste from the CF website. Really looking for training location, life while at sea/ashore in the trade specifically.

Thank you for you time.
 
Hey, Andrew - I'll give you a quick thumbnail. Matter of fact, I was just posted back to Fleet School in an instructor's billet, so we may cross paths :)

Basically, you'd come out to Esquimalt to the Fleet School. You'll do your Naval Environment Training Program (NETP) and your ETECH-JR (used to be called MAR EL) QL3, then you'll be posted to a ship to do your various OJPRs. The NETP modules are about 4 weeks of instruction, and QL3 is 9 weeks, both at the Naden portion of the base.

At sea you'll be pretty busy the first year or so getting your OJPRs done, because you'll have three to progress simultaneously: NETP OJPR, QL3 OJPR and your MCR harbour watchkeepr qualification. Once you've got all of those signed off, you'll be qualified to sit in the MCR and hit the alarm ignore button on the console when alongside, and to sleep at the ET of the watch console at sea :)

Seriously, though, as a trainee, you'll be kept busy, because you don't have a lot of time to get all your packages done. Once they're done, the alongside routine is pretty much 0750 to 1545 daily, with standeasy and lunch breaks; at sea, you'll be probably 1-in-3 watchkeeping, and turn to for day work unless you had the mids.

Once you finish your QL3 OJPR, you go in theĀ  hopper for QL4 training, which will be on whichever coast you fetch up on, and the pattern is the same. Do your QL4, return to your ship and do your QL4 OJPR, then write your fleet exam. Once you've done that, you're QL5 qualified and go on the list for QL5A course loading. Your QL5A course is the one that moves you into the Spec 1 trade group and gives you a decen pay raise, and you'll rebadge from 00125-02 ETECH JR to 00125-01 ETECH. Your trade bagde, up to that point fondly known as the "order of the golden toilet seat" will sprout a pair of antennas and you'll be a tech, qualified to break all manner of things onboard :)

Generally, once you're a tech, you won't be ET of the watch anymore unless the shop is below REMAR for watchkeeprs. Most ships the practice is to have the shop MS and the techs as the "tech of the day", meaning when something breaks at 0230, the ETOW will come and dig you out of your rack.

If you wind up on the west coast, you can pretty much count on lots of trips to Pearl and down to San Diego, and with luck one or two WESTPLOYs to run with the Aussies down under. You'll also likely get a Gulf deployment and/or a Med deployment if you're in the right place at the right time.
 
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