Who are the FOO/FAC?

[JerBear]

I have just gotten into the army and am waiting for my Artillery course to begin (I am currently on the waiting platoon) . I did a lot of skydiving and parachuting sports prior to joining (~250 jumps).
Skydiving is something that I want to pursue in my military career and I was told that the artillery offered a specialization (FOO/FAC?) that was jumping out of aircrafts.
My question is -who are they?
-how do I become one?
-where should I ask to be posted after my PP1 in order to maximize my chances of becoming one?
-how long is the course?
-what are the prerequesite?

Thank you for your replys.

 

[brihard]

They’re generally commissioned artillery officers. They may or may not get jump qualified, but jumping will very rarely be part of the job, save possibly for the rare FOO/FAC who spends time attached to a light infantry regiment and may occasionally do an airborne training exercise.

FOO/FAC will be something an artillery officer may do for a few years earlier in their career after getting trained up and functional in their job, and getting some experience as a brand new officer. It’s unlikely to be a role an artillery officer spends a significant portion of their career in.

CAF also has a demonstration skydiving team that take applicants from across at least the army. They’re a public relations exercise though, and serve no combat function.

 

[PuckChaser]

There's an Airborne Battery at 2RCHA, probably similar for 1 and 5. That's static line though. As Brihard mentioned, there's a Skyhawks team that sends out a recruiting CANFORGEN every year. If I remember correctly you don't need to be Military Freefall qualified, theyll accept civilian license with a certain amount of jumps.

 

[FJAG]

There's an Airborne Battery at 2RCHA, probably similar for 1 and 5. That's static line though. As Brihard mentioned, there's a Skyhawks team that sends out a recruiting CANFORGEN every year. If I remember correctly you don't need to be Military Freefall qualified, theyll accept civilian license with a certain amount of jumps.

I don't believe that 2 RCHA has an airborne battery anymore. E Bty does stay current on airmobile ops.

Y Bty, the FOO battery, does have one FOO/JTAC team (G21) that is maintained jump qualified to support 3 RCR's Para Company.

I stand to be corrected but I think that's the current situation.

Just a point, while FOOs are artillery officers, the rest of the FOO/JTAC team (3 to 4) are artillery NCMs.

 

[PuckChaser]

They've got maroon berets on and RCA cap badges. No idea how they're employed but there's more than just a det's worth walking around Pet.