Question from a parent

[storm31]

Hi,

My daughter is in Sea Cadets and is showing an interest in attending RMC later on. My question is actually not for her right now but for my half brother who is 16 going on 17 in March. He's having a tough time in school and at this point finding not much drive for anything. I've suggested the Reserves for him however I'm looking for somewhere to take him where he may actually be inspired to look further into it. Will I get this in a recruiting center or will that be pretty humdrum for a kid? What I would really like is to take him somewhere where he could possibly see some of the drills or routines that they do...

we're located in Ottawa so if you have any ideas that would be great to know?  Even if the RMC in Kingston has a tour type thing offered I'd love to know about it.

 

[navymich]

Storm, there are many reserve units within the Ottawa area.  You can visit them or call any of them, and I'm sure they will be happy to tell you what night they train so that you can bring your brother in.  Or, you can also call or visit the Ottawa recruiting centre and they will have a list of the local units.

CFRC Ottawa
66 Slater Street
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0K2

Phone: 613-992-3038
Fax: 613-992-2272

My suggestion is to visit the recruiting centre with your brother, or check out the website http://www.recruiting.forces.gc.ca together.  Here you can see the requirements for joining the reserves, as well as give him a chance to watch videos, check out pamphlets and get an idea of what might interest him, which would then determine what unit you would visit.  Good luck.

 

[muffin]

  Even if the RMC in Kingston has a tour type thing offered I'd love to know about it.

Yep we have a tour that we do with prosepctive students - the College Liaison Office would be you best contact -

RMC Liaison Office
tel: (613) 541-6000 ext. 6984
or toll-free at 1-866-762-2672

Good luck

 

[cplcaldwell]

My first thought, is to check with your school Guidance Counsellor about Co-Op courses. This method is for entry to the Reserve Force. Read On.

I am not in Ottawa, but am in Ontario, so I am giving a bit of a guess here.

Co-op courses are run by local reserve units and school boards. They have MOE and DND approval. The courses generally run through the week and give the candidates a solid training foundation. (Most days the candidates return home at night, exception being one or two short field training exercises). They always consist of Basic Military Training (BMQ) and often have some Soldier Training (SQ) components to them . They qualify as proper reserve courses and thus, have some equivalency to the Regular Force standards.

Upon completing these courses the candidates are often loaded onto summer courses (if they wish) and may undergo further training through the summer. Thus gaining a full time (summer) job.

Co-op courses will earn school credits.

Upon completing Co-op candidates are not required to continue with the Primary Reserve (but often do).

As usual the Primary Reserve is a Limited Liability contract and members are not required to serve overseas unless they specifically volunteer or Parliament acts (last time the last was done was 1939).

Transfer from Reserve to Regulars is possible and often done. It is voluntary, can only be attempted once a minimum level of training is completed and on merit only, so it's a bit down the road in this case

You should consult with your brother and with the local school guidance counsellor, the CFRC may be of some help.

Again, this is a bit of prognostication on my part, I believe I am substantively correct, it will depend on policy of your local school board, the PRes units in your area and of course, timing...

Regards

 

[Sig_Des]

I am quite sure that the Governor Generals Footguards in Ottawa offer a Co-op course, which counts towards HS Co-op credits in ON High Schools

 

[niner domestic]

Storm: Quite often in January/Feb the Res Units have a recruitment drive and set up displays in the major malls around town.  St Laurent had a rather big display last year.  Call the units, speak to their recruiting officer/staff and get a schedule of their mall dates. 

It was one of those mall displays that hooked my kid.  She had plenty of opportunity to speak to persons in different trades, got a lot of her questions answered and didn't feel intimidated as the persons she was speaking to were in her own peer group.   

 

[old man neri]

I am a reservist in Ottawa. There are several reserve units in Ottawa including one naval 'land ship'. I know my own reserve unit (30 RCA) has no problem showing prospective recruits around the unit on a training night and answering questions, I am sure they other units do the same as well. They parades every wed night and are located at Dow's Lake, they will be closing for the Christmas very soon. I suggest you call them first if you want to drop by.

http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/30FIELD_ARTILLERY/index.htm

Here is a website, it should have a phone number for the unit I was talking about. If you want to know about other units in Ottawa contact the recruiting centre. They should have the info.

I hope this helps.
Cheers!

 

[storm31]

Thanks for this info! I know this corps quite well because my daughter has been at Falkland for 3 years now. I will take my brother for sure to check this out.

 

[govenor_mac]

My two cents......Our son was in Sea Cadets for two-three years(forget now). He hated it! Quit. In about grade 10 he started playing with the idea of joining the Military. He is now 21 and graduating from basic Nov.30th and off to Esquimalt Dec.1st . You never can predict how things will turn out with our children.

 

[storm31]

That's for sure! She's changing her mind every few minutes about what she wants to do but I like the fact that for now she is focusing on getting good grades so she can get into RMC. It's keeping her somewhat out of trouble.  ;D