Reservist may lose college paramedic placement because he's posted to Afstan

[40below]

A Kingston reservist is in danger of losing his college entrance spot because he can't write an Ontario driver's test in Afghanistan.

Cpl. Alex Perry, a member of the Princess of Wales' Own Regiment who is now posted in Kandahar with the Royal Canadian Regiment, wants to become a paramedic when he returns to Canada in two months. He has been accepted to Niagara College's program but is in a bizarre bureaucratic limbo.

Perry's G-2 license expired while he was deployed and one of the college prerequisites is that applicants show proof they have booked an appointment for their 'G' licence test -- they don't actually have to have taken the test to be accepted.

The provincial transportation ministry -- which was honoured Friday with a certificate from the Armed Forces recognizing its support of the reserves -- says Perry can't book an appointment until he retakes the written test and he will have to return to Canada to do so.

He can't possibly do that before the college's deadline expires, meaning he may have to wait another year to start his studies.

"This is absolutely absurd," said his mother, Sue Perry, a local elementary school principal.

"He's over there fighting for his country but he's being told he can't start training for a career after his military service because of this paperwork."

Article:
http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1470158

 

[dapaterson]

So, he failed to ensure his life was in order before deploying.

I know we'll get the usual whines and complaints, but how, precisely, is the college or department of transport at fault here?

 

[Nauticus]

Or for that matter, the CF?

This is just an example of bad circumstances.

 

[aesop081]

This is just an example of bad circumstances.

More like bad planning.

 

[GAP]

or the provincial transportation ministry  could allow him to write the test under the CF proxy/whatever it is called.....it's a written test, not a driving test

 

[Etienne]

Somebody please tell me if i am wrong but, is the G-2 license like the normal driving license in Ont. ? If yes, well he should of seen that while doing all is paperwork making sure that his was "Green" before going on tour that is license would expire.

Like others said, bad planning
Chimo !
Etienne

 

[aesop081]

Somebody please tell me if i am wrong but, is the G-2 license like the normal driving license in Ont. ?

G2 is the second tier of the Ontario graduated liscence system IIRC.

Yes he should have seen that coming before tour and made arrangements.

 

[GAP]

By the same token the provincial transportation ministry might not have let him write that early. Just a thought....

It would have been nice to be able to line up all your ducks, but sometimes the moment you get them all lined up, someone shoots their supper..... ;D

 

[Cleared Hot]

I don't know for sure but as he is deployed I am going to assume that it wasn't him but his mother who went to the press.  So, because it's now in the public eye it will get sorted as no one will want to look bad.  The worst part of this is that if mommy at some point had stopped bailing her son out then maybe he would have learned to take care of his own affairs.  PPPPPP

 

[PMedMoe]

or the provincial transportation ministry  could allow him to write the test under the CF proxy/whatever it is called.....it's a written test, not a driving test

That's exactly what is stated in the article:

Lt.-Col. Rick Bialachowski of the Canadian Forces Liaison Council, a high-powered group of military and civilian executives who intervene in schools and workplaces on behalf of reservists, was looking into the issue yesterday.

He said if need be, the Canadian Forces was perfectly capable, if asked, of putting the test on a plane that was going to Afghan - istan and administering the test there, with an officer serving as a proctor -- a process known as invigilation.

"We are able do that for other tests that members have to write for one reason or another," Bialachowski said.

"It's a war zone, but we can put him alone in a tent, have him write an invigilated test and bring the test back in a sealed envelope."

 

[the 48th regulator]

Tell the troop and his Mom to stop moaning.  If this part I am quoting is correct;

Perry's G-2 license expired while he was deployed and one of the college prerequisites is that applicants show proof they have booked an appointment for their 'G' licence test -- they don't actually have to have taken the test to be accepted.

Either of them can book it online, here;

https://www.rtbo.rus.mto.gov.on.ca/scripts/english/index.asp

And the Mom can go to the school with the proof.

dileas

tess

 

[brihard]

I know the guy, rather well in fact. I can't recall the specifics, but I remember Alex mentioning this to me back in Pet. He had in fact arranged to G2 exit test a couple of times, and had them fall through for situations beyond his control. My recollection is fuzzy, but I think at least one of them was as a result of something coming up on fairly short notice on workup that he was not able to get out of. In either case I remember thinking that he had fallen victim to circumstance. Bear in mind that these tests have to be booked quite a bit ahead of time, and are difficult to reschedule. I'm also quite confident that it was NOT him who went to the press with this- that's not the way he does things. I imagine his mother probably told the story to some one and a reporter somehow got curious about it. I imagine she thought she was doing him a favour. He's out at a FOB, otherwise I'd be able to go get the straight story right now.

It's a bit unfair to judge the guy based solely on a newspaper article and your own assumptions.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

It's a bit unfair to judge the guy based solely on a newspaper article and your own assumptions.

Exactly what we've been saying here for quite some time, and it's not confined to this instance.

 

[Nauticus]

I don't know for sure but as he is deployed I am going to assume that it wasn't him but his mother who went to the press.  So, because it's now in the public eye it will get sorted as no one will want to look bad.  The worst part of this is that if mommy at some point had stopped bailing her son out then maybe he would have learned to take care of his own affairs.  PPPPPP

Well, bad planning or not, the guy's overseas serving his country. He's fighting a war. Accusing him of getting bailed out by his mother is a pretty disrespectful, rude thing to say. Honestly, I'd rather him focus on fighting a war and staying safe than having to "take care of his own affairs".

 

[armyvern]

Tell the troop and his Mom to stop moaning.  If this part I am quoting is correct;

Perry's G-2 license expired while he was deployed and one of the college prerequisites is that applicants show proof they have booked an appointment for their 'G' licence test -- they don't actually have to have taken the test to be accepted.

Either of them can book it online, here;

https://www.rtbo.rus.mto.gov.on.ca/scripts/english/index.asp

And the Mom can go to the school with the proof.

dileas

tess

Tess, I think the issue with this lad is that he can't book the required "G Road test" because his license expired; he now needs to re-write the written test (ie have a valid written test on file) before he can book an appointment for the G road testing portion.

I'm willing to wager that he receives that required Ontario Written exam on the next inbound flight though - it'll get sorted out. Shit, we've had troops write University exams in the sandbox.

 

[armyvern]

Well, bad planning or not, the guy's overseas serving his country. He's fighting a war. Accusing him of getting bailed out by his mother is a pretty disrespectful, rude thing to say. Honestly, I'd rather him focus on fighting a war and staying safe than having to "take care of his own affairs".

No one said that in the context you're taking it. They brought up the DAG process whereby members DAG from red, yellow to green prior to deployment. It is this process where admin matters such as this are picked up and the onus is on the member to sort out those personal admin matters to make them "green" and deemed deployable.

In this case, it seems the member attempted to do so, but was precluded due to other matters which prevented him from doing so.

Still, mom overstepped. Was the media really required? Writing exams under the auspices of invilgilation is NOT unusual or new to the CF ... (hey, even MSE has administered provincial written driver exams before) I'll wager this could have been handled just as all those other tests/exams for universities are handled thousands of times a year in the CF without the media or mom's media intervention.


It does create a nice, if although unwarranted, "Our troops are getting screwed" story headline though doesn't it?

 

[Teeps74]

ROFL I know the guy. I highly doubt he wanted his mom to do this... Frankly, our JR's Club is likely to make his life miserable for a time over this (he would know this, and hence the reason why I express my sincere doubt).

Ahh well, we can not undo this. Poor bastard.

Bri, what's shaking? Guess where I am? Lol, look for me out back if you ever get to CNS.

 

[[RICE]]

There is no written portion for either the G2 or G class license test, it's an in-car test that lasts about 15 minutes.

When I scheduled my test, there was a spot 3 weeks ahead. My town had ~45 000 residents and 3 driving examiners IIRC.

I don't know what the ratio is in Kingston or how far ahead of time you know you're being deployed, so I'm not pointing fingers. If your G2 license expires (5 years after the day you got your G1), you're bumped down to G1 and have to re-do the G2 entrance exam.