Component Transfers (Reserve to Regular): Stories

[Arctic Acorn]

I'm about to put in for my component transfer to the regs, and I'm looking for peoples experiences with it.

I'd really appreciate any advice folks may have on how to smooth the transition from Mo to Lifer. Horror stories would be neat too!

Thanks muchly

Arctic Acorn (soon to be Maritime...er...Acorn)

 

[Korus]

On my 4's this summer (R111) we had a Reg F guy stop by, trying to convince us to CT to the regs, it's an in demand trade. The biggest thing he stressed was to try to push for equivilancies...  Unless you want to do the QL5 for OpFor...

 

[Inch]

CT! Don't call it that, that's cease training, many a dreams were shattered by those letters!  :'(

I was Reserve Armd Crewman and at the time it was easier to release from the reserves and start at the recruiting centre all over again. Mind you I was going from Res NCM armour to Reg Pilot, I'm sure it's a little different going to the same trade but someone else will have to confirm that.

Cheers

 

[Scott]

I was told that the best way to get a Component Transfer is to get your QL4 out of the way. Wether or not this is the truth is beyond me, I put in for the Component Transfer but got out before anything could happen for me.

I have heard lots of horror stories about Reserve Units not wanting to let guys go into the Regs because they are the ones who have spent "their" money on that individuals training. Having said that, while I was in I knew of at least six fellows who got into the Reg Force. Two quit, two were bounced from their respective courses due to some sort of problem and two are doing quite well to this day.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Cheers

 

[291er]

You know my story old friend.
Took about six months, but my unit dragged on the paperwork.  Then got an offer and accepted.  Are you staying in the Branch?  I am considering crossing over to the dark side this year. 

 

[Arctic Acorn]

Hey mate,

Yeah I'll be staying in trade. The 111 selection board is in October, so I'll put in the paperwork when I get home in August, and by the time I finish my last year of school I (hopefully) will have an answer one way or the other.

Hey RoKo, what unit are you with? Edmonton, or one of the dets in Winnipeg or Vancouver? As for equivalencies, I think if you have your 6A you can bypass your 5A's, but I don't know whats going to happen if that trade specialisation inthe branch ever pans out.

 

[BDTyre]

A friend of mine put in his component transfer...1 1/2 to 2 years ago...and is still waiting.

 

[Korus]

I'm with 6 Pl in Edmonton.

 

[Arctic Acorn]

Ha!

Say hi to the S. African corporal in your unit. Tell him Logan (the guy he replaced in Bosnia) said hello.

He's a funny guy. I remember when I met him that he did a fantastic Hannibal Lector impression, until I realised that he DID THAT ALL THE TIME...

 

[Zoomie]

I CT'd (Component Transfer Inch, not Cease Training) from the Mo (Armoured NCM) to RegF Pilot seamlessly.  I worked at my unit up to the day when my RegF contract began.  The key thing to remember when it comes to your CT is that your OR is useless!!  You must take care of all the leg-work required.  Mind you, they don't have to do too much - but you should do it all.  I missed an application date - and was delayed getting my name into CFRC before the cut-off.  Once I took control of my documents, I didn't miss another deadline.

If anyone is interested in CT'ing from RES NCM to REGF Officer, here is the scoop when it comes to Basic training.  If you have attended CFJLC or whatever they are calling it this week, you can skip the first section of BOTC (ie marching, bed making, basic task procedure, etc).  If you are an old school grad of CLC, you must take the whole meal deal.  In order to skip BOTC completely you must have been a WO with SLC.  You will then attend a "fork and spoon" course where you will learn to not chew with your mouth open.

A newly released CANFORGEN will allow you to role over your time not only for Pension buy-back but also for calculating your annual leave.  For example, if you have 3 years equivalent full-time service when you CT, you will have only 2 years of 20 days annual and then move up to 25 days.

They <CF> will also credit your PRes time in form of IPC (at least for 2Lt's they will), whereupon you will join and immediately be paid a higher IPC than another who joined at the same time with no previous service.

 

[alboberino]

Hello Zoomie, I'll let you know my experience I had with a component transfer to the reg force with the engineers.   Way back in 96 I decided to join the reg force engineers from the reserves.   I though myself to be pretty hard core and on the ball.   I thought that I knew more than enough to get me through anything the reg force could throw at me.   The truth of it all is that the reserves training and limited experience cannot measure up to the pace the reg force dishes out.   I learned more in my first 6 months with the regular force than I did with my previous few years with the reserves.   I had my QL5 qualification but that didn't mean sqat to my regiment.   I was treated pretty badly I must say for almost the first year I was at my new regiment.   At the time there was quite a negative attitude towards reservist quick picks.   My reserve qualifications were there on paper but not worn on my uniform if you know what I mean.   It is a very bad thing if you have problems keeping up during pt.   Once I had proved that I was not a lazy sack of cr*p and that I could do my job, things turned around.   I am sure that different trades and regiments are different, but you should be aware that you may not be treated very well for the first while.   My advice is to just shut up and put up with all the negative flak that may come your way.     It is not worth letting some individuals to get under your skin.   You may also find looking back that these same individuals are a sad sorry lot...   Anyways not to get you all depressed or anything, just letting you know that all is not going to be as you might expect.   I truly believe that many reservists have a better attitude towards there jobs, but they do not have the benefit of living the army life 24 7 all of the time.   You will find out what you are really made of when joining the reg force.   There is no escape back home after a hard exercise into normal life...and there is not an easy separation between work life and private home life...   This fact is so true as you literally have to live with the people you work with (especially living in barracks).   There are far more psychological heartaches in the reg force.   Not to knock any reservist out there, but I am just saying that life is quite different with the full time deal ï?Å   
My experiences have shown me that being very fit will help you fit in.
I highly recommend that you know how to run, ruckmarch, do pushups, situps and chinups very well.   That may seem like common knowledge, but I mean do it better than most.   If you are not better than most, train on your own time to be better.   I am not sure how hardcore pilots are ï?Å  ... but keep fit to an army standard and you should have no problems in the fit department.  
If you do what you are told without bitching, have good dress and deportment, be on time(always 5 minutes early), stay organized(i.e. keep your kit impeccable and always know where it is) and fit you will do just fine.   Another thing, don't let the lifer complainers get to you either.   There are many cpl types out there that are miserable with their lives in the armed forces.   Their negativity is quite disruptive and is contagious at times.   Do not join in their bitching and complaining as it does not lead to any good whatsoever.   Looking back, it is the people that grin and bear the crappy times that I had most respected.   If you find that you do not like the reg force, you can voluntarily leave after your first contract with some great work experience.

I do not mean to sound condescending; I am just throwing out some of my general thoughts and memories here.  

 

[alboberino]

oops, my mistake I am replying to Arctic Acorn not Zoomie

 

[pipstah]

I'm right now in the process of transferring in the reg force. I'm doing a strange transfer. I am in reserve in infantry and i'm in the process to transfer in the reg force like zoomie to be a pilot. The process is long and not going smoothly. You always have to ask at your unit whats the development with your file and where is it because it happens alot that somes files are 'lost' on the way. Just always talk with people there so they know you. 

 

[Arctic Acorn]

Thanks for all the responses, folks.

I do remember what trying to apply in the first place was like, so I have every intention of keeping on their asses.

Can anyone on this board that has successfully flipped over tell me how long it took? I'm trying to do a time appreciation right now, and I have a lot of gaps...

 

[AntiArmour Guy]

I transferred from the Black Watch to the RCR and it took 8 Months.  A buddy of mine took 18 Months from the RNBR to the RCR!!!

When I served as RSS to a Reserve Unit, I stayed on top of the CT administration until it went out of my range for influence (ie beyond the Res Brigade).  For simple CT's (like from the infantry to the infantry) it seems to take about 6 months to a year (the reasons for the delay varies, and can be hard to influence). The more time consuming ones tend to be ones from a reserve unit to a specialist trade... (ie grunt to pilot), this is beacuse there are more boxes to check, ie aircrew selection etc...

No matter how you slice it, it takes too long.  Especially as a mate of mine transferred from 3RCR to 1RAR in 9 months...

So stick with it and keeping bugging your chain of command but be prepared to wait and be patient.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[pvandoremalen]

When I did my transfer I was a Corporal in the 48th Highlanders with some QL4's and Basic Para with three years in. That equals up to the square root of nothing. Don't for one second think your better then anyone else for time in, your instructors will destroy you. What can most reservists say they have on a reg force NCO that they haven't done already. The transfer took me 8 months and I had to repeat DP 1 infantry. You can expect a whole lot of flak from CFRC about missing files, signitures lack of documents or any number of things. Best piece of advice make copies of everything especially from your unit and have them certified with you clerk. All you can do when you get to your unit besides whats stated is have fun and enjoy what your doing and when its crap just grin and bear it don't even worry about it cause your not the first person to take a bite out of that sandwich and you won't be the last. Good luck with the transfer.

 

[Arctic Acorn]

Yeah, I know I'll have to do my 5A's, but the PLQ (if/When I get it in a couple of months) will transfer over, and the 4+ years TI I have built up will at least count for extra leave and a few pennies on the pension, I guess.

Thanks again for the responses...keep 'em coming!

 

[291er]

The four years you have in will count as part of your leave.  They do up a total of Class B days (which are 1 for 1) and Class A and come up with some total that you'll have on your offer.  You have a deployment, so that should help a lot, it will give you mucho TCP (time credited towards promotion).  If you're lucky, you may keep your Cpl's getting in.  Depends on the amount of TCP they calculate.  For example, I was in the reserves for 2 years, they gave me 292 days TCP.

 

[Arctic Acorn]

I actually just did the calculations with a clerk friend of mine. I have 4 years and 20 days time counted towards promotion...thats a lot of B and C time for a guy with only 5+ years in. Man, I suck...

That gets me to Cpl 0, which is too bad...Although I swore I'd never want to be a Private again, I'd pay a hell of a lot less when I buy back my reserve time. So, I won't lose my rank, and I'll jump straight to 25 days leave per year. Not too bad.

It's a shitty deal when they calculate your time in, though. For anyone who is interested, they do count the B & C time 1 for 1, but the calculation for class A is a bit dodgy. They don't divide the specific number of class A days you served by four. Instead, they total the amount of time that you were on class A service. For example, if you served for two years doing only class A time, when they flip over, they take that two years (730 days), subtract any B & C time (lets say 50 days total). That gives you 680 days. Thats the number they divide by 1/4.

So, say you have two privates from the same unit, and they're both applying for a CT with two years in. Both joined on the same day, and were on the exact same courses (resulting in the same number of class B time). However:

Private A was a real keener, and he logged a shitload of class A time, volunteered for advance party and rear party duties to get extra money on weekened Ex's, and did all sorts of extra jobs at the unit. In short, lots and lots of Class A time.

Private B, once he finished his trades courses, only paraded the minimum. In fact, he paraded the minimum amount to keep his ass off the NES list. (1 class A day a month, or close to it).

When they do the calculations to determine time in credit for the regular force, they come out exactly the same. Since they were on class A from date A to date B, they total the number of days that might be, and divite the total by 4...voila!

So, a warning to all those aspiring to join the regs. While being a keen soldier will reflect well on you and put a few more dollars in your pocket, DON'T think that it will get anything extra out of it when they total up your time.

Anyone wonder why Master Corporals and such who've been in the militia for a long time get busted to private when they CT...thats why. 

 

[Korus]

They wouldn't bust you down to Pte if you were a CPL in the reserve, if staying with the Int trade, would they?
I was under the impression that PTEs in Int existed only in the reserves, and not in the regs.