What to wear at enrolment?

[ulgethor]

Hi all, I have my enrolment ceremony scheduled in a little over a week and wanted to know if anyone had any recommendations on preparing or appropriate attire (or anything to do or avoid). I am unsure what constitutes business attire and don't want to be under/over-dressed. Thanks in advance.

Thanks to those who gave me advice for interview prep earlier this year.

 

[Jarnhamar]

You're still going to get enrolled if you look like a dirt ball so ultimately its what you want to do and how you want to remember this moment.

I'd wear a suit if you have one, if not the the nicest clothes you have.

 

[brihard]

Suit is definitely appropriate if you have one. If not. The best dress pants/shirt/tie combo you’ve got.

 

[rmc_wannabe]

Your enrollment ceremony is a semi-formal event. Suit and tie is the standard I would set for the occasion, akin to a graduation.

Remember that this is the start of your formal military career; where someone is going to be telling you what, when, and how to dress for the next 25 years should you choose so.

Additionally, your family; from your partner(if you have one), your mom, to Grandma, to Great Aunt Gladys' cousin Ethel will be showing those pictures to anyone who will listen.

Making a good impression isn't just for the Attesting Officer and your fellow candidates.

 

[Kilted]

What ever you do, don't wear your Cadet uniform

 

[Kilted]

You're still going to get enrolled if you look like a dirt ball so ultimately its what you want to do and how you want to remember this moment.

I'd wear a suit if you have one, if not the the nicest clothes you have.

This was many, many years ago, but someone I was sweared in with was on his second attempt to get sworn in because he had been told to go away the first time because the recruiter wasn't happy with the way he was dressed.

 

[FormerHorseGuard]

Show up in clothes you will be proud to be seen in for your retirement dinner. This picture might pop up at a display table someday in your future and you want to show you put some thought in to joining the service. 25 years from now when you are retiring out of the CAF and your picture of you in your Back Street Boys reunion T shirt is your swearing in photo picture, might not be the image you want to project later

 

[Colin Parkinson]

What ever you do, don't wear your Cadet uniform

Which is odd, as the purpose of Cadets originally was to prepare people for service and many Cadets are rightly proud of their service. It should be something honoured by the recruiting team, not put down.

 

[rmc_wannabe]

Which is odd, as the purpose of Cadets originally was to prepare people for service and many Cadets are rightly proud of their service. It should be something honoured by the recruiting team, not put down.

Except, @Kilted is correct to say "don't wear your Cadet uniform." It's forbidden:

DAOD 5002-1, Enrolment​

Membership in Cadet Organizations

3.16 On the day of enrolment, an applicant may not be a cadet in a cadet organization authorized under section 46 of the NDA

 

[Kilted]

Which is odd, as the purpose of Cadets originally was to prepare people for service and many Cadets are rightly proud of their service. It should be something honoured by the recruiting team, not put down.

True, however, one of the pieces of advice I still hear given to former cadets about to attend BMQ is to never tell anyone that they were a cadet.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

True, however, one of the pieces of advice I still hear given to former cadets about to attend BMQ is to never tell anyone that they were a cadet.

Why is that?

 

[Blackadder1916]

Why is that?

It was usually advice given in conjunction with the warning that "you don't know it all" and "don't say - that's not the way we did it in cadets".

 

[Colin Parkinson]

It was usually advice given in conjunction with the warning that "you don't know it all" and "don't say - that's not the way we did it in cadets".

I prefer to tell my Cadets that as they change organisations they will experience different ways of doing things and things will always be changing. Use the skills you have learned to adapt and succeed and help others and that teamwork is important. Yes you will get some wankers, but you are also going to get some pretty switched on recruits.
We have a bad habit of looking down on each other. I still see that attitude and like to see it gone. Anyone that gone through Navy League and Cadets from ages 9-18 has attended at least 400 days of training at that point.

 

[Gunnar]

The issue is more about you advertising your cadet service than the fact that you were one. Keeping your head down, helping your buddies (who never did drill before), following instructions intelligently, displaying leadership all while not pretending you know it all because you were in a military-led youth organization will get you places. They'll know you were a cadet; advertising it all over the place won't help. The issue is your overall humility and willingness to learn

 

[OldSolduer]

As to what to wear to enrolment - clothes would be the preferred choice.....Am I stating the obvious?

 

[Furniture]

The issue is more about you advertising your cadet service than the fact that you were one. Keeping your head down, helping your buddies (who never did drill before), following instructions intelligently, displaying leadership all while not pretending you know it all because you were in a military-led youth organization will get you places. They'll know you were a cadet; advertising it all over the place won't help. The issue is your overall humility and willingness to learn

100%.

I went through basic with a couple of guys who had been cadets, and they lorded it over others in the early weeks when we were learning drill, and all the other stuff you learn in cadets. People very quickly began to disklike them, and would rub it in anytime they made a mistake.

I got the top mark out of nowhere on the drill test, and then people started asking questions... It was then I told them I had been a cadet until the week before I enrolled, and I had done a lot of "marching up and down the square" voluntarily in my summers as an Army Cadet.

 

[rmc_wannabe]

I got the top mark out of nowhere on the drill test, and then people started asking questions... It was then I told them I had been a cadet until the week before I enrolled, and I had done a lot of "marching up and down the square" voluntarily in my summers as an Army Cadet.

Same. I kept my mouth shut for 6 weeks until my staff started catching on (my section's inspections were pretty solid and I managed to pick up drill surprisingly fast).

I remember the one inspection my MCpl finally came out with it, having finally decided tonread my biography, and asked "how long were you in Cadets?" After telling him the full 6 years of my adolescence, he asked "why the fuck didn't you tell us?" I replied with a "You never asked, MCpl?"

"Fair enough, but now I expect more of you and to help the rest of the section out. On your face for 25..."

 

[Kilted]

As to what to wear to enrolment - clothes would be the preferred choice.....Am I stating the obvious?

I don't think that there is any recognized religious or cultural exception to that yet.

 

[ulgethor]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone, had no complaints from my folks with the outfit so much appreciated.