Sometimes our military pisses me off :(

[Gouki]

Hey everyone, long time reader first time poster or something like that.

I'm 22/m and live out here in Shilo . Been an army brat all my life, my father is a Warrant as an RMS but started off in the RCR's. My mother recently got into the ROTP for Nursing, and all my grandfathers have been infantry, so I suppose the army sort of runs in the family.

I applied 3 months ago and still haven't heard anything back. Now, I know this is typical for the military and such and everyday "hurry up and wait" has that much more meaning for me, but here's the real kicker:

The lost my Med Docs.

I was in the Army Reserve 2 years ago, in 26 Field. When I applied, I thought about how much easier it should be for me to get in since I'm coming right off the street and not transfering from Res to Reg (figure that one out, you'd think it would be faster). Boy was I wrong. The clerks in Winnipeg aren't sure if my med docs are there, in Ottawa, here in Shilo or if 38 Brigade still has them. No one seems to know where anything is and naturally, I'm the one sitting at home banging his face against a wall in frustration. What irks me even more is that after talking to a few of my fathers friends higher up the command chain, it doesn't seem like (so far) a tremendous effort as been made to find them. Turns out, no one called 26 Field to see if they may know and only one call as been made to Shilo here and to top it off the person they were looking for was off that day - and they haven't called back. Yay!

My father, since he is the one who can make any real difference here, is trying to convince the Lt. Cmdr in Recruiting to just give me a fresh start and give me a new medical and go from there. All this is doing is wasting time, and in fact if we had just given me a new medical instead of waiting so long I might have been heading for my PT test sometime in the next two weeks instead of babysitting kids at the gym here as a Commissionaire (I think I may be the youngest commissionaire in the whole Corps.)

I had put down Clerk as my Trade of choice but lately I've been having serious thoughts of just saying **** it all, and calling up Recruiting and telling them to change it to Infantry. I train a lot normally as it is, and want a job that is/does:

a) Honourable and challenging
b) No one else can say they've done or relate to in any way
c) Pays me to persue fitness and weight train and be aggressive
d) Let's me shoot and blow up things

Plus, and this may sound lame, but I want to follow in my grandfathers footsteps. I know one of my grandfathers was in the 1RCHA, and the other was an infanteer but unfortunately i haven't been able to track down his battalion. Although, I'm probably going to ask for PPCLI, maybe even 2PPCLI since the whole lot of them are down here in Shilo now and I'm surrounded with them and know a good deal of them. This of course brings up the problem that ... My God, do I want to spend a good deal of my career back in this place?? Maybe I should ask for 1PPCLI.. The RCR's are still out on the fence, admittedly I don't know a whole lot about them and people tend to go with what they know which is in my case the Patricias.

I can only run a good 3 1/2 k as it is, but with the way things are going, hell I got another 4 months to prepare for basic, in which case I hope to be able to run a solid 5 km in 20 minutes, and 6km in a very respectable time. From what I've heard being able to run a good 6k is good enough for SQ, but by then if everything goes according to plan, I should be ready for the infantry anyhow.

Got kind of off track there, and this is a long post! So... Just thought I would share my story about how our wonderful military works.. Could be worse though: My friend (who is now in his last week of basic) had to wait 16 months to get in as an AVN! 

 

[Sh0rtbUs]

2 friends of mine whom i went through Basic, SQ and DP1 with had been waiting close to a year to get on course.  So dont feel too bad yet.. ;D

 

[Gouki]

This is just nuts..!

A few hours after I made this post, I got a call from Recruiting in Wpg. My medical was lost and while they will still look for it, they scheduled me for my Interview, Medical and Physical all on the same day - next Monday! I don't need to write my CFAT again as my one from 2 years ago still applies.

I just find it odd that.. a few days after talking to the Lt. Cmdr about the problems, everything suddenly gets done. I guess he put some pressure on his staff. Thank God for my father who knows how the system works.

I still don't expect to leave until January or so.. but that's fine; more time to get my running up to par!

 

[BDTyre]

I was in a situation in which my medical had potentially been lost.  I was advised to contact the ombudsman.  Keep in mind that this is private, confidential information and not everyone is supposed to have access to it.  (I believe the only ones allowed to view it are you, the med staff at the CFRC and the med staff in Borden)  If the file has physically been lost, the security there is compromised and someone has not done their job properly and needs to be held responsible.

At least, that's what I was told.  My situation thankfully was only the result of miscommunication.

 

[Gouki]

I wish mine was the result of miscommunication ... well, actually it was at first, but now my files actually are hanging in limbo somewhere and nobody seems to know where they may be.. At least I get to do a new medical though huh?

 

[Gayson]

2 friends of mine whom i went through Basic, SQ and DP1 with had been waiting close to a year to get on course.   So dont feel too bad yet.. ;D

It took me 18 months to get on course.

 

[nULL]

You know, our military may piss you off at times but i just got the call 2 minutes ago and so all is forgiven. I am so happy. I've got to call mom!

 

[fleeingjam]

I guess its a common thing, first of all i was told i failed my CFAT (when i had my results in front of me) Then they told me my medical papers are lost, then they told me a year after i was added to merit list and the next day i got a letter saying you have been for asthma (that i dont have) Imagine that.

 

[Gouki]

Wow, and I was pissed for being told to come back in 4 months and do more volunteer work and to work more hour to "prove I can commit myself" but it seems like things are much rougher all over.

So Usman, what happened after your asthma thing? Did you get everything cleared up?

 

[M16]

It took me 18 months to get on course.

How long does it usually take to get on course?

 

[Gouki]

Well, it's been almost three months and I have done everything the recruiting officer wanted me to do. I called him up today and briefed him, and he told me a Cpl would get back to me in a half hour to book an appointment.

I was .. excited, but it was tempered. I knew by now not to get my hopes up too much. It looks like my instincts were correct.

The Cpl calls back and tells me that somehow, I am 'inelligable" for an interview until the beginning of March. I told him calmly yet firmly I was told by the officer to come back in three months, and that the first of February would be three months. He than began to give me the run around and dodging of responsibilities by blaming it on other clerks, talking about how my file is somewhere in the magical void etc etc. I told him I would talk to him again and said goodbye and hung up. I knew better than to proceed through him.

Fortunately my father is a WO and has 20 years as a clerk. I called him and he wasn't too happy about this new delay which apparently is becoming a long list of delays regarding my application. Currently I do not know if he resolved anything, but if I am expected to wait until March that will bring me up to 8 months of patient waiting in which I've been jerked and dicked around and had my medical documents lost by two different groups.

Update: Actually, I just got the call from my father. Apparently the recruiting officer "made a mistake" and people need to wait 4 months after an interview, or something like that. Ain't that grand .. yet another screw up. Who pays for it though? Naturally, the poor bastard waiting to be recruited. The Cpl is trying to talk to the recruiting officer to see if they can do something for me.. I don't fault the Cpl, to his credit he does not make the policies and he does sympathize what all the BS that's gone on regarding my file.

For those of you that had to wait up to a year plus, I truly empathize with you. My friend told me he had to wait 11 months, but the thing is with him is that he went AVN and they couldn't get him in due to these boards determining who gets in and where and such. In other words, it wasn't really due to recruiting screw ups. I just want to go infantry and it's looking at 8 months (absolute minimum, we all know it will be longer than that).

I am just very frustrated. Recruiting is an utter joke and an embarassment to the CF. I can see it turning away and losing as many people as it gets.

A friend suggested I jump ship and join the Americans (he is an army ranger) and tried to tell me how good it is. Be that as it may .. I want to join the Canadian military and the Canadian infantry. But you know what? As it stands now, being a soldier is my only possible route in life. I have nothing else that will take me and I will not live my life flipping burgers when I am capable of so much more. If the CF continues with this or screw up even more - what choice do I have? And I know someone may be inclined to say "if you want it bad enough you will wait" well, to them I say that it's one thing to wait and it's another thing entirely to be continiously delayed and be given the run around and excuses due to system failures and laziness.

I am saddened to say this but my impression of the CF right now is not very great, and I am beginning to view as a lazy and inefficient system. Not the entire CF I should add .. I do not know about things like armour/arty/cbt engineer/MP/etc ... but in terms of administration and the support block .. I am very disillusioned.

..Here's hoping to something good happening in my near future, as doubtful as that may be.

 

[Goober]

It took me 9 months to get in, and they didn't lose any of my files, AFAIK, everything went by the book. It was a long wait, but all I can say is, I got sworn in today, at 10 AM, and its now 2:30 PM, and I still have the smile on my face. For me, it was well worth the wait.

 

[Gouki]

Things have picked up. Hopefully I will be sworn in sometime soon much like you, Goober.

About 15 minutes, the Cpl called me back saying he discussed my case with the officer and they agreed to make an exception to let me in on the 31st of Jan for my final interview. Fortunately they understood my frustration about the constant delays and what have you..

My day has picked up considerably. As always my excitement here is kept in check but I would be lying if I said that this turn of events didn't make me very happy.

My father told me I could still be waiting 2 or 3 months after my final interview and subsequent swearing in before I am course loaded, but I have no problem with that. I just have a problem with continual errors and screw ups. I plan on making good use of the time I am waiting for my course, and will be talking to a 2VP friend of mine to see if he can hook me up with some tutelage (sp?) on the C7 and C6 .. C6 especially.

I guess, after all this crap, things look good. I'm getting personal training to prepare me for the infantry fitness challenges, I'm going in for my final interview, I can see the swearing in on the horizon, and soon I'll be getting some one on one training with the C6/7 from someone who knows their stuff.

Finally, the end seems to be approaching.

 

[Eagle_Eye_View]

I sympatize with you cause it took me 1 1/2 to get in. They lost my application forms 5 times somewhere in the chain of command. I had to do the physical exam twice. It was horrible! (and a waste of time) Especially for a trade where there's a significant lack of people.
So I decided to call them every day of the week...at a certain time they knew who I was.
I hope that soon you'll get your phone call!!

 

[jmackenzie_15]

Steve,

you said in an earlier post that your friend is an army ranger, and he suggested joining the American Forces to you.Do you both hold dual citizenship? how does that situation work,Im curious.

 

[Gouki]

Oh no, I don't have dual citizenship and he was born in America. So, I'm not too sure how that situation works.

However a long time ago when I was still deciding between what army to join, I emailed a recruiter on the www.goarmy.com website asking if it was possible for a Canadian to join the American army despite not being an American citizen and such. The email he wrote back to me explained that the usual steps would have to be taken however they (the US army recruiters) would expedite the process and handle many things from immigration to the cards needed etc, he told me they would "make it as painless as possible" and would begin work on the recruiting docs in the meantime so there wouldn't be a long wait in America once all the red tape was cleared.

That's about as far as I know on that situation I'm afraid.

 

[Gouki]

Good news for once!

Had my final interview yesterday with the recruiter. I had done everything he asked - and more. He especially loved the PT initiative I took (I hired a trainer and have to this date lost 21 lbs, in 28 days - the best part being that I only lost 0.4 lbs of lean muscle mass due to the nature of my nutrition program)

He told me now to simple await till Mid Feb when the next board has finished up and sent him their results. He hopes that I will be sworn in near the beginning of March. Still no estimate on when basic will be.

Here is the kicker: he said if Basic is too far off for me (ie- May and beyond) instead of having me doing nothing, he and my father will try to get me working in the OR here in Shilo! I would get my full kit and the whole shabam and be employed at HQ full time, with Privates pay! My mother said "but can they do that?" and my father said that if they could do this, I would already be sworn in and merit listed. I think this is phenomenal! Not only would I be making a Privates pay, which is extremely good these days and about twice what I am making now, I would be learning the in's and out's of the RMS trade before even going on my 3's!

Which is another matter to bring up for anyone thinking "didn't he say infantry?" to make a long story short, a 23 year old Airborne convinced me not to go Infantry. There were many reasons which I'm sure people - especially the members of the trade in question - could argue, but the biggest factor was my left knee which has suffered two torn MCL's in the last 3 years. That's the biggest factor and the rest, for aforementioned reasons, I will not get into.

I am instead persuing my very first plan: join as an RMS, get some admin time under me while taking university law courses, then apply for UTP and remuster as an MP. I always said, if I can't become an infanteer I will become a policeman, because I can think of no two nobler jobs I would want to be (well, fireman is just as noble but not for me).

Wish me luck, anyone who reads this. If all goes well (crossing fingers) I may be leaving with my father every morning to work.. a Private and Warrant, now there's a screwy combination.

 

[9nr Domestic]

Congrats. Can I ask where you found a personal trainer in Shilo? I have been looking for one since I moved here with no luck. If possible could you PM the trainers info. to me. Thanks.

 

[darkskypoet]

Lately, i have been working out for approx 2 hours plus most mornings at the Y in downtown Winnipeg. AS well last year, when I initially decided it was time to try hard for the forces,  I was biking upwards of 75km per day over the summer.  I don't have close to the resources I would need for a personal trainer... Just what sort of fitness level am I going to require for Inf? I must say, sadly as work ate into the time allocated for everything, including sleeping, eating, and working out... I lost my edge that i had gained last summer, but am coming back fast and hard now that I have time (and money for a gym membership)... I am concerned that I may not be doing enough.. but as it is I am up at 5:30, to get to the Gym and work out before working fulltime, and on top of that I have sideline work ( I am a freelance Tech) which robs me of even more time to do the previously mentioned sleeping and eating.

Am I going to need to do even more in the physical arena? As well, any one hitting the Y in the mornings? Would be nice to run laps with others and share the pain.

 

[Gouki]

75 km a day? Are you freaking serious? If you are .. don't worry about the fitness requirements, you already blew past them.

I'm not an infanteer though and a few very excellent posts on this forum talk about how the gazelle types can't perform as well in a combat operation as opposed to someone who can go hard and fast in short bursts. I'll link the post for you when I get home (I'm at work right now and don't have my bookmarks).

But if you really aren't BS'ing me and I must admit, 75 km a day sounds like a crazy distance, then you shouldn't worry about much ..

Besides, from what you said about schedule, it seems like you're motivated and dedicated and that's more than enough in itself.