weiss said:
I am very thoughroughly disgusted with the way you conduct security clearance business. I visited recruiting office for the first time when I was 37, too old as I thought back then. Well, how naive was I. Now, 27 month later I got message on my phone that there will be another inquiry that will take "just another four short months". You must be kidding. I am not criminal, not mujaheddin and do not even look like one. Yes I wasn't born here, yes I did serve in foreign military, yes I have mother that lives far away. I thought my past military experience will be a bonus, well I am naive (am I repeating myself?). Few days ago I drove by another road sign screaming for new reservists into infanttry. How unusual. I love this country more than third generation Canadians, I though I just have to pay back with my service. I bench press 250 pounds now, run 2.4 under 10 minutes and I consistently win shooting matches in my little town. Bachelor degree, 20-20 vision. For christssake, something is wrong here.
Maybe there are other Canadian Forces that I did not happen to know. Maybe folks in operational units are really what they say they are. What I see upfront is a bunch of bureaucrats that cannot even push papers right. If real recruiter want to know who I am - just ask, I don't care anymore, my patience has worn off.
How stupid that security clearance look after me having a dozen of guns, legally in my trunk, driving through the city? I have all licences and all guns legally with full compliance with the law are in my hands. But then again, I am trusted enough to mix with public, fully armed, with enough ammunition to make news on the continent, yet I am not allowed to join military and harm bad guys. Well, I hope someone will step in and make sense of what is going on. Right now I think those spooks who does security clearance are just total waste of money.
weiss,
I've read a few of your past posts, and I've come to the conclusion that you're quite a dedicated gentleman to joining the Forces. I've also come to the conclusion that you are someone who are educated, and mature enough to have read the previous posts with regards to pilot (something you're obviously interested in doing) and the recruiting process.
Now, because of the above points I will refrain from my initial urge to jump all over you. First of all to address your "I do not look like..." Well, neither do I, but my application took a little time too. Can YOU judge what someone does secretly just by looking at them? I can't. Not many LEOs can either. Yes your spidey senses go off most of the time, but hey, there is that once or twice that you just miss it. I'm glad you're not a criminal or a mujahadeen, however, everyone MUST be checked, and if something comes up, they will be CHECKED more thoroughly. You know this. I'm sure you've read it more then once before in many of the recruiting threads that you MUST've read over.
Now, your birth, it DOES matter, believe it or not, and it DOES effect your ability to obtain a clearance. This is the same for EVERYONE, please don't think it's just you. Prior military services are looked at closely. It depends on what you've done and how long you've done it. Keep in mind that you'll be entering as an officer, and as an officer in the Air Force, and possibly a Pilot, you're going to be accessing much sensitive info, which requires that you pass all the hoops to get the rubber stamp in the end saying that you're safe to run with dull scissors. It's normal. Really, it is. Relax. The reasons are quite obvious and apparent. One thing though, if you don't pass clearance, you don't get in, or you don't get the job you want.
Now, for your physical attributes. There are more then enough people in the Forces with all those things that you think is important. Trust me, I can hit one by throwing a penny randomly in my unit alone. Nothing is wrong there. Yes we need people, but we want the RIGHT people for the JOB. I will NOT feel safe if the guy who was hired is everything you are, but failed his security clearance. Just put yourself in my shoes for a sec, would you feel safe in the middle of a fire fight with someone like that?
Do you see me as a bureaucrat? Because I take offence to that. True, I'm only a unit level recruiter, but I work damn hard to make sure that all the applicants who submit an application through me gets a fair chance at CFRG. You have to realize a few things that a) some of these so called 'bureaucrats' have more operational experience then you have currently in the CF. b) like me, they can only send things up and wait for it to come back down. c) depending on whether or not you've applied for RegF or PRes that could make the difference in wait times and finally d) none of us like to be called bureaucrats. Several unit recruiters are Afghan vets where I'm from. So if there is anything, I would like you to apologize for the bureaucrat comment. We try and push the paper as hard as we could, but guess what, if you want to be a member of the CF, you'll have to wait and play the game. Because when you get in, you'll truly see how long some papers can take to be pushed from ONE office to the NEXT one down the hall.
If I was you, I would be quite upset at the waiting too. However, by criticizing others without first knowing what they have done or trying to do, is something that is not looked highly upon in the Forces. Especially in an Officer or Officer Candidate.
The last small paragraph you had there? That kinda worried me. From some parts of the paragraph, I can see that you may be insinuating that you're an LEO, but if that's the case, then you should know better then to post something like that. You are not legally allowed to drive through the city or anywhere with a trunk loaded with weapons and enough ammo to make a scene. You are allowed to drive from Point A (your storage place) to Point B (your place of shooting, which is the RANGE) and that is it. That is all your Transport allows you to do. So, if I were you, I'd explain that last part better, or take it out completely.
2 more things.
1) WE do NOT join the CF to HARM bad guys. We join the CF to serve our country. Whether that be it's defence against foreign threats, the protection of its sovereignty or the participation in the domestic operations to help the Canadian public, however, we do not SOLELY exist to HARM bad guys. Yes, the purpose of the military is to fight wars, but please, we do more then just that.
2) Yes, right now you do think that they're complete waste of time, and money, but guess what? Those 'spooks' saved lives and more money by developing good intelligence, and makes our military safer by providing good solid background investigations and checks. One day, if you get in the CF, and you're actually operational, or get a chance to work with 'spooks' from both the CF and CSIS or the RCMP. You'll see how professional they are, and how much YOU will need them.
opps I lied...
CSIS does the checks remember that. They are not the CF, and they've got other priorities too. Not just us. So... more searching weiss, and less yelling. Sometimes just asking the question calmly helps.
best of luck.
