Recruiting Posters, Slogans and Commercials [Merged]

[Jarnhamar]

I can see it now:

Recruiter "So you wanna join the infantry eh?"

Unfortuinatly when a young guy or girl tells the recruiter that they want to join the infantry their usual response is
What the hell for? you dont want infantry, you want a tradem, you should pick something else.

We need the recruiters to understand that along with the important jobs of Pilots, cooks, supply tech, clerks, mechanics etc.. we need combat soldiers.
It seems Canada is concerned most with support and service support where as our allies to the south main focus is combat arms.  Our recruiters, recruiting adds and commercials reflect this.

 

[48Highlander]

I never experienced that myself, but if you're right then the solution seems simple enough.  If you're infantry, adrep yourself a job at a CFRC   with more combat arms recruiters there helping hype up the cobat trades, it should be a fairly simple job to sign up more soldiers into those MOC's.

 

[Britney Spears]

I've never experienced it either, although my recruiting proccess was rather unique. It seems to me that since our biggest man-power surplus right now is within the cbt arms, then most of the recruiters should be drawn from the cbt arms. This has been my anecdotal experience, and seems to make sense. Most recruiters are probably infantry, because the cooks and clerks are too busy doing their real jobs.

 

[48Highlander]

I don't know what army you're in Britney, but in the CF I've never seen cooks or clerks "doing their real job"   Like that old joke goes..."how many clerks work here?  oh, about a third of them".

 

[Roy Harding]

I don't know what army you're in Britney, but in the CF I've never seen cooks or clerks "doing their real job"   Like that old joke goes..."how many clerks work here?  oh, about a third of them".

48Highlander - I don't know what army YOU'RE in, but if you check around you'll find that most folks with some time in (and I don't mean weekends and Wednesday nights  : ) consider CF Cooks not only some of the best in the world, but also some of the hardest working soldiers/airmen/sailors in the CF.

As far as Clerks go - I'm not even going to start, as my obvious personal bias will enable you to ignore anything I might say.

Suffice to say, we're all part of team that, when it's working properly, allows YOU to put lead on target.  Armies have been around for thousands of years - and cooks and clerks have been there all along.


Retired CC

 

[canadianblue]

I think the biggest problem with recruiting is that your no enspired to go to the recruiting office at all. I'm not sure about all of you, but here in Alberta their is absolutely no ads regarding recruiting, not even in movie theatres which used to have the "Strong and Proud" ads. Maybe the army should do a recruiting campaign similar to what the US Marine Corps has, whenever I go to that website I automatically feel like becoming a Marine.

But then again I also like the Marine First, Trade Second notion on that website as well.

 

[Roy Harding]

I think the biggest problem with recruiting is that your no enspired to go to the recruiting office at all. I'm not sure about all of you, but here in Alberta their is absolutely no ads regarding recruiting, not even in movie theatres which used to have the "Strong and Proud" ads. Maybe the army should do a recruiting campaign similar to what the US Marine Corps has, whenever I go to that website I automatically feel like becoming a Marine.

But then again I also like the Marine First, Trade Second notion on that website as well.

Is this true?  No advertising?

Before you ask, yes I AM from another planet - I don't watch TV (EVER), and I listen to commercial free radio, so I just kind of assumed that advertising was going on, and I just wasn't seeing/hearing it.

How can we be seeking so many recruits without advertising??

 

[canadianblue]

I've got peasentvision, haven't seen a single ad for recruiting on their, not on the radio either. The only ad I saw in that past was in a newspaper in the classified section with a small section talking about the reserves and giving the CFRC's phone number. The only real interaction that I can say happened was in my CALM 20 class when a recruiter came in to give a presentation. Once again that might just be me, I was surprised when I didn't see the Strong and Proud ads at the movies anymore though.

 

[GDawg]

Some of the CFRG MOC videos are terrible. I've got a set of their DVDs in my office and they suck. They make little or no differentiation between regs and reserves, which is VERY important. Reg and Reserve life and training are different in alot of ways that need to be described to people who are coming in with no background info...
As well, they didn't even have a video for the linemen!
I've proposed several times that Comm Res should produce its own recruiting video, and I've brought up the point to CFRG and ADM(PA) about the poor quality of some of the trade videos... but I've been told no $ is earmarked for it.

I'm not saying videos will solve all of the recruiting problems, but its a damn good start. What a potential applicant sees in a video is more likely to stick in their head than what they've been told or what they've read because they are simultaneously bringing it in on an audio and a visual level. A good video might ensure that the people who do decide to join up know what they are getting into.

If accurate and memorable videos attract even a dozen new members to a distress trade in a year it has more than paid for itself.

 

[canadianblue]

I was originally applying as a Reserve MP here in Edmonton, and they got me to watch all the videos on the MP's, none of the duties in the videos had anything to do with what I probably would be doing in the reserves. I also noticed that the videos were somewhat outdated based on uniforms.

 

[scm77]

I live in Ontario and barely ever see recruitment ads on TV or on the radio..  I can't remember when the last time I saw one was. 

There was one ad that I saw a bunch of times many many months ago, but it was (like all Canadian recruitment ads I've ever seen) quite lame.

 

[Roy Harding]

Hey Anchorman - are you reading this??

'Nudder PM on its way.

 

[48Highlander]

48Highlander - I don't know what army YOU'RE in, but if you check around you'll find that most folks with some time in (and I don't mean weekends and Wednesday nights   : ) consider CF Cooks not only some of the best in the world, but also some of the hardest working soldiers/airmen/sailors in the CF.

As far as Clerks go - I'm not even going to start, as my obvious personal bias will enable you to ignore anything I might say.

Suffice to say, we're all part of team that, when it's working properly, allows YOU to put lead on target.   Armies have been around for thousands of years - and cooks and clerks have been there all along.


Retired CC

Well fine, if we're going to get into an age-and-time-in contest here, if you check around you'll find that most people with experience AFTER the time Jesus was a Corporal....ah forget it

Seriously, I was kidding when I made that statement about cooks and clerks, and it was preticipated by Britney's little glib about Infantry working at the CFRC while the others to "their real jobs".  But all kidding aside, for the last 3 months or so I've been working my ass off, doing 16+ hour days on many occasions, while the Clerks generaly get to the office "8 to 9ish", sit around reading books most of the day, and shut down around 4.  Not harping on them, if they have nothing to do then there's nothing wrong with relaxing a bit, and I know they're an important part of the team, but they deffinitely don't seem to be as overworked as you're insinuating   And as for cooks....I think I saw one in Borden once?  The kitchen staff is CBO everywhere in Canada as far as I know, so the cooks on most bases aren't CF members.  The only time you see the CF version is on operations, so I have no idea how hard they work, but I know that the results are superb.

 

[scm77]

Forgot to include in my last post.  The only recruitment I've seen in a magazine was pathetic.  NO weapons/helmets/load bearing gear or other equipment.  No planes, helicopters, armoured vehicles or other "cool stuff".

There was a couple people in the dress suit uniform (sorry can't remember the proper name), a dentist/other medical person in coveralls a doctor would wear, a bunch of people in t-shirts wrestling in the mud, and a guy in the red uniform holding a sword.

I think the people in this picture (taken from the CFLRS website) were also on the ad (but it was a year or two ago so I may be wrong).

If THAT doesn't make you want to join, I don't know what will. :-X

 

[Roy Harding]

Well fine, if we're going to get into an age-and-time-in contest here, if you check around you'll find that most people with experience AFTER the time Jesus was a Corporal....ah forget it

Seriously, I was kidding when I made that statement about cooks and clerks, and it was preticipated by Britney's little glib about Infantry working at the CFRC while the others to "their real jobs".  But all kidding aside, for the last 3 months or so I've been working my ass off, doing 16+ hour days on many occasions, while the Clerks generaly get to the office "8 to 9ish", sit around reading books most of the day, and shut down around 4.  Not harping on them, if they have nothing to do then there's nothing wrong with relaxing a bit, and I know they're an important part of the team, but they deffinitely don't seem to be as overworked as you're insinuating   And as for cooks....I think I saw one in Borden once?  The kitchen staff is CBO everywhere in Canada as far as I know, so the cooks on most bases aren't CF members.  The only time you see the CF version is on operations, so I have no idea how hard they work, but I know that the results are superb.

Fair enough - you ruffled my feathers a bit - I ruffled yours back.

However, I find your description of your unit's clerks somewhat astounding - having EXTREMELY limited exposure to the Reserve world (one year RSS - RFA(A) in the Comm Reserve), I'm basing my opinion on my own experience, during which I had to actually ORDER many of my clerks to cease taking work home, and to cease coming in an hour early.  I'm surprised to hear that there are under-employed clerks out there.  The story is long, and not germane to this thread.

'Nuff said - we'll get along just fine 48Highlander. 

 

[Jarnhamar]

Scm77, great example with that picture.

 

[Bartok5]

if you check around you'll find that most folks with some time in consider CF Cooks not only some of the best in the world, but also some of the hardest working soldiers/airmen/sailors in the CF.....  Suffice to say, we're all part of team that, when it's working properly, allows YOU to put lead on target.   Armies have been around for thousands of years - and cooks and clerks have been there all along.  

Retired CC,

Forgive me for editing your quote, but I thought that the essence (as I admittedly perceived it) was well worth repeating.  Truer words were never spoken.  I can "sling lead" all I want, but if I don't eat, drink, shower, or have my laundry done on a reasonably regular basis then I tend to get a tad grumpy.  I've gone several weeks eating MREs with none of the other aforementioned amenities, and you know as well as I do (because you were there) that life starts to suck big-time without life's little comforts.  2-week-old crusty underwear is one thing - I can deal with that.  Going without a coffee for 2 weeks?  Absolutely intolerable, and that is a bonafide fact.  

I highly doubt that anyone here with an operational tour under their belts would EVER presume to down-play the critical nature of the CSS world.  In purely selfish terms, it is guys like you who make our lives in the field that much more tolerable.  And for that (and for being there with us), we thank you.

Where I lose my mind is when the log "tail" invariably begins to "wag the dog".  It always seems to be the case, regardless of where we serve.  Somebody please explain to me our unique Canadian fixation with impeccable logistics support - at the expense of bayonets on the ground to do the actual "pointy-end" job.  This is what drives me personally insane.  To think that there are 3 Logistics-types for every bayonet drives me around the bend.  Just what the heck is wrong with eating MREs and busting open you own triwalls full of mid-tour socks and underpants?  

Yes, the Log-types perform an invaluable and much-appreciated service.  But within 3 PPCLI BG we seemed to do just fine with 250-odd Administrators catering to a 750-man Battlegroup.  Yeah, we were "plugged in" to a U.S. Brigade for most of our essential logistics needs, but isn't that generally the case these days?  Can anyone here tell me that the Canadian PRT (the majority of which is HQ and logisitics elements based out of Kandahar) couldn't do the same?  So why the inordinately huge "ass" attached to our relatively small "pointy end"?  Why the need for the most elaborate camp (Julien) in NATO, which our senior leadership now admit was a fundamental mistake?  Whatever happened to "roughing it", and thereby keeping an edge with a minimal logistics foot-print?  

I honestly cannot figure it out.  We need to collectively wake up (again) and start getting "lean".  Enough of the "creature comforts".  We're not in Afghanistan to be comfortable.  Comfort breeds placidity.  Screw that.  Live on the edge, endure some basic hardship, and you will be that much more effective in sorting the wheat from the chaff.  This is one of the few "mantras" that having endured I now truly believe.  Refute me if you must, but until you've done it for yourself I will remain suspicious of your motives....  

 

[canadianblue]

I love the BMQ pictures they have going week by week with the recruits smiling and giving a thumbs up in just about each picture. Then I watched the BMQ video at the CFRC and it was completely different.

Like I said before, they should try adopting a strategy emphasising the pride, tradition, nobility, and war fighting capabilities of the CF. Then their probably going to get more people interested in the CF in my own opinion.

 

[Roy Harding]

Retired CC,

...

Where I lose my mind is when the log "tail" invariably begins to "wag the dog".  It always seems to be the case, regardless of where we serve.  Somebody please explain to me our unique Canadian fixation with impeccable logistics support - at the expense of bayonets on the ground to do the actual "pointy-end" job.  This is what drives me personally insane.  To think that there are 3 Logistics-types for every bayonet drives me around the bend.  Just what the heck is wrong with eating MREs and busting open you own triwalls full of mid-tour socks and underpants? 

Yes, the Log-types perform an invaluable and much-appreciated service.  But within 3 PPCLI BG we seemed to do just fine with 250-odd Administrators catering to a 750-man Battlegroup.  Yeah, we were "plugged in" to a U.S. Brigade for most of our essential logistics needs, but isn't that generally the case these days?  Can anyone here tell me that the Canadian PRT (the majority of which is HQ and logisitics elements based out of Kandahar) couldn't do the same?  So why the inordinately huge "ass" attached to our relatively small "pointy end"?  Why the need for the most elaborate camp (Julien) in NATO, which our senior leadership now admit was a fundamental mistake?  Whatever happened to "roughing it", and thereby keeping an edge with a minimal logistics foot-print? 

I honestly cannot figure it out.  We need to collectively wake up (again) and start getting "lean".  Enough of the "creature comforts".  We're not in Afghanistan to be comfortable.  Comfort breeds placidity.  Screw that.  Live on the edge, endure some basic hardship, and you will be that much more effective in sorting the wheat from the chaff.  This is one of the few "mantras" that having endured I now truly believe.  Refute me if you must, but until you've done it for yourself I will remain suspicious of your motives.... 

Mark C:

No need to refute you - I agree with you wholeheartedly.  You may not be aware, but when our BG was going through the "TO&E Tango" prior to deployment, I gladly sliced some "Clerk fat", the RQ also sliced some 911s.  We UNDERSTOOD.

What I CAN'T stand, however, is saying to the chain of command something to the effect of:  "if we cut these positions, you'll still have all NEEDED support, but I can't support anything extra, or any 'nice to haves' ".  THEN, later, getting C of C complaints about "lack of service" - THAT, Sir, burns my ass.

I hasten to add, however, that I did not receive such C of C comments during the deployment of which we speak - but the troops sure heaped it onto my clerks - I usually let it go, understanding where the troops were coming from.  I did indulge in the occasional "rant" at the A&Q, mind you.  AND, while I'm on the subject and in rant mode, I'm STILL astounded at the pure volume of work produced by my clerks, the "Forced Rest" scenarios was COMPLETELY unexpected, and NOT staffed for by me - and my folks pulled it off brilliantly - I remain proud of them to this day.

Although the local C of C supported us, I cannot emphasize enough the BS we put up with from Tampa, and ESPECIALLY Ottawa on the adm net.  Intervention by the local C of C may have alleviated the situation in some cases - but it continued to the very end.

Anyway - back to the point - I agree with you - the Tooth to Tail ratio is abysmal.  HOWEVER - the "Teeth" need to learn to live with fewer "nice to haves".

And what this has to do with Recruiting absolutely escapes me.  Maybe we should open a new thread??  Or perhaps an existing thread is more appropriate to this subject.

Regards, Gun Plumber (oops, I mean Mark C  )


Edit:  spelling/grammar.

 

[Britney Spears]

Whoa, CC stands for "Chief Clerk"?

All this time I thought you were a black hat......