PRes SigOp training

[Skruffy]

I'm considering putting in my application for the primary reserve in the next couple of days and am considering either Combat Engineer or SigOp  as my trade here in Winnipeg.  I'm wondering if someone could tell me how long the trade course (QL3, right?) is for SigOps, and where it is done?  I did a search but couldn't find this mentioned anywhere.  It would be nice to know roughly how much time I can expect to be away so I can make my employer aware.

Part nervous, part excited, and overall sh*t scared! 

Jeremy

 

[Bintheredunthat]

Kingston is the place.  Can't say for certain the length of your course.....8 - 10 weeks??  I'm sure someone else will chime in.

For the record though, Kingston is a great place to party.  Highly recommended.  :

Bin

 

[211RadOp]

Mod 1 is 43 days and Mod 2 is 40 days. These are training days, not calendar days.



Edit for clairification

 

[Sig_Des]

Mod 1 is 43 days and Mod 2 is 40 days. These are training days, not calendar days.

And, while I don't see any dates on the CFSCE Calender for the R/00329 courses, from what I remember of F Sqn, start dates of the courses can be anywhere between end May to End July.

*And to add, The likelyhood isn't there that you will do your QL3 the first summer in the Res. You will most likely do your BMQ/SQ. Your best bet is to talk to the Comm Unit's recruiter.

 

[dapaterson]

1.  BMQs will not be offered summer '09; to maximize the use of instructors, BMQs will be programmed to produce grads ready for trades training in the summer.

2.  There are currently some Mod 1 / Mod 2 combined courses scheduled starting in May; there are also stand-alone Mod 1 and Mod 2 courses starting in June.  Depending on when you have SQ complete you may be able to get the full QL3 in a single summer, or, more likely, you will get Mod 1 the first summer, and Mod 2 the second.


The draft 09/10 calendar for all Army schools is available on the DWAN at: http://armyonline.kingston.mil.ca/LFDTS/143000440010602/0910_DRAFT_NATL_CAL_.XLS

 

[PuckChaser]

1.  BMQs will not be offered summer '09; to maximize the use of instructors, BMQs will be programmed to produce grads ready for trades training in the summer.

How the heck are they going to get properly trained High school students on trade training if they enroll in January or February??? Seems like the only way to maximize instructors would be to run BMQs directly after the PLQ courses that normally run end Apr to mid June.

 

[Nfld Sapper]

How the heck are they going to get properly trained High school students on trade training if they enroll in January or February??? Seems like the only way to maximize instructors would be to run BMQs directly after the PLQ courses that normally run end Apr to mid June.

Those guys usually go off to the Area Rank and Trades Courses to teach on SQ's and QL3/QL5 Courses

 

[dapaterson]

How the heck are they going to get properly trained High school students on trade training if they enroll in January or February??? Seems like the only way to maximize instructors would be to run BMQs directly after the PLQ courses that normally run end Apr to mid June.

BMQ part time Jan-mid May; full-time SQ, followed by a Mod 1.

 

[Sig_Des]

BMQ part time Jan-mid May; full-time SQ, followed by a Mod 1.

Just out of curiosity, have they decided yet to shut down the Comm Res School in Shilo?

 

[PuckChaser]

Just out of curiosity, have they decided yet to shut down the Comm Res School in Shilo?

It's gone, last training summer was this year I believe.

 

[Sig_Des]

It's gone, last training summer was this year I believe.

So basically, weekend basics, and then trades course. They going to send Comm res unit recruits to local Bde schools at all?

 

[Thanato]

QL3 for Reserve SigOp is 4 months in length, it is offered as a full for month (may - august) or broken into Mods, Mod 1 and Mod 2 both 2 months in length. It is done at CFSCE in Kingston.

~Thanato

 

[PuckChaser]

So basically, weekend basics, and then trades course. They going to send Comm res unit recruits to local Bde schools at all?

The plan is in the works to do away with summer BMQ, and have it run at the units on the weekends. This is gonna require a lot of cooperation between units. CommRes recruits now have opportunities to go on weekend BMQs run at local armouries, but those armouries train their own troops first. Its becoming increasingly difficult to get pers trained to go on QL3 courses.

 

[Sig_Des]

Its becoming increasingly difficult to get pers trained to go on QL3 courses.

I can imagine. When I went through, we did summer BMQ/SQ, with a few exceptions, and then had a year of Voice Procedure, Driver, and Winter Indoc Training and a hell of a lot of OJT before we hit F Sqn.

Be interesting to see how this works out.

 

[meni0n]

I guess that will help attrition and not having people waiting a year to qualify and not just be able to do much on an ex. Pumping out qualified sigs faster will help with one problem but will they be better sigs ?

 

[ettibebs]

My only worry about the training at CFSCE is if they have updated the course.  The IT Training suck as much for me when I did my 3 and 5 as for the Reg force guys I was in Afghanistan with.  With the reserve starting to get digital and the ops in Afghanistan using digital network we need to have people capable of handling computer not just radio and crypto. 

Also I think it's better if people do a bit of OJT before getting their 3 as some will realize that's not what they want and will go elsewhere before we have to spend thousand training them.

Just my 2 cents

 

[meni0n]

With the new amalgamation coming, I wonder how the reserve sigops will be affected by all of it and if they will get a new QL3 QL5 packages.

 

[JAWS228]

ettibebs....unfortunately the IT training for regforce 3s is still useless...this is a CD...this is a floppy...this is how you use a mouse.....etc. etc.
Most of it is sadly outdated too, and that goes for some other areas besides IT.

 

[aesop081]

unfortunately the IT training for regforce 3s is still useless...this is a CD...this is a floppy...this is how you use a mouse.....etc. etc.

This is usualy in the belief that one must teach to the lowest common denominator. Some people still cling to the idea that recruits will still show up with no computer skills whatsoever.

 

[PuckChaser]

With the new amalgamation coming, I wonder how the reserve sigops will be affected by all of it and if they will get a new QL3 QL5 packages.

Well the QL3 is currently split into 2 mods, which says a lot for updating the course. This was done before the trade changes, so I would guess that our course material will mirror that of the regular force, albeit with a massively compressed timeframe.

meni0n: You can't pump out SigOps unless you can get them trained BMQ/SQ, which is the challenge now at least with my res unit (that and we're handcuffed to only recruiting a SigOp or 2 a year). The caliber of the operator will depend on the caliber of the recruit.