Anyone have an instructor say "It's Saturday. On weekends you can call me by my first name which is _____."
And then someone calls them by their first name and i'm pretty sure you all know what happens then.
Don't fall for that trick.
Or the old "Who wants to be a pilot?"
Someone raises hand.
"Then take that and pile it over there."
"who has a driver's license?"
Good take that broom and drive it around the floor.
Loved it!
I was on course once and the base RSM sometimes used to stand by the tray return and if he did not think you had eaten enough of what you had taken he would make you sit down and eat......gotta love it.
Did anyone ever try the "Join" rule in your basic training.
A little known rule when I was in was that if an instructor prescribed a physical punishment (ie pushups, running etc) you could request that your instructor join you.
I used it once, just once.
Haha, I had no idea that even existed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by STeeLy
I wonder if anyone here is either in or was in the reserves.
I'm currently thinking about joining the reserves.
If anybody has any information or experience they want to share, it would be great
Thanks!
I've been with the Calgary Highlanders (Infantry Reserve) for about a year and a half, and am fully qualified. Like MMM I plan on going on 309 in Afghanistan as well. The biggest thing I've found with the Reserves is it is whatever you make of it. Some people join for the wrong reasons, in my opinion, like only to help pay for school, etc. They don't appreciate it near as much as people who join because they actually enjoy and can appreciate doing it, and stuff like student bursaries becomes a bonus as a result.
Personally, my experience so far has been great. Got myself trade qualified as soon as possible and as a result I've done stuff like rappel out of helicopters at the Lethbridge Air Show, rappel down the rafters at the 'Dome during a Hitman game, etc. Even a Basic Mountain Operations course in Trenton/Kingston, Ontario where I basically got paid to mountain climb in the sun for 2 weeks while it was snowing in Calgary. Not saying everyone gets to do this, but the opportunities are there if you want to take them. Cheap beer in the mess too...
Anyways, I would definitely give it a try as if you find it's not for you, you can always quit. Don't get me wrong, it can be very hard work at times and some parts aren't fun at all. Give it a good try though. Once you get yourself qualified (BMQ, SQ and then BIQ = 3 months of training) then the doors open to a ton of other things you can do in the army.
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"Lend me 10 pounds and I'll buy you a drink.."
Last edited by FlamesAllTheWay; 10-09-2008 at 01:40 PM.
We got yelled at plenty. And my 19 year old ears had never heard such swear words. Never got physically touched though. This was in 2003. But we did a lot of physical exercise for messing up. And we got our bunks tossed around and all our kit strewn everywhere if they found something wrong.
hehe....I love the army......let's send them to Kingston on a mountain ops course......
Yeah, it was a bit of a head scratcher when I saw "Mountain Ops." and "Trenton" on my joining instructions.
The place we climbed at was actually right outside of Kingston and called "Kingston Mills." It had a lot of good cliff faces to practice on so that's where we spent the better part of a week. The whole BMO was actually a big prep course for Advanced Mountain Ops., which is like 3 months long and is done in places like Whistler, Burnaby, etc.
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"Lend me 10 pounds and I'll buy you a drink.."
One thing I would say to the OP, which may have been missed in this thread is that even though your basic may be hard, and leave a lasting impression on you, it is far and away only a small portion of the experience.
I think all that have posted will agree that it was a great experience and would do it again......
I think all that have posted will agree that it was a great experience and would do it again......
Absolutely.
It's one of those things that you HATE at the time, but when you finish, you realize it will be one of the greatest accomplishments of your life and something that will help define you as an adult (I was barely 18 when I did Basic -- the experience might be different for those who are older).
You know what, I hated a lot of the busy work of basic training. I hated doing hours of drill, spending hours ironing and polishing and squaring away. There were times that I just hated getting yelled at. I really hated digging a L trench.
But I loved being out in the field and getting dirty, I thought that soldiering was an art of its own. I loved the comradery, I loved night patrols and ambushes. Who couldn't love learning different weapons and becoming proficient at them. there's nothing more satisfying then seeing your bullet going through a target head from a football field or two away, or hearing the crash of a grenade. Or laughing at someone falling into a latrine hole in the middle of the night.
There's also knowing that you came through the toughest thing your ever going to do, and knowing that a lot of the guys that you served with went through the same stuff, and chances are thats a friendship for life. I miss the humor too, theres just something awesome about the crude jokes and practical jokes that were played as well.
I can say for certain, that I came through my military experience as a better person then I was when I went in, I lost a lot of that I mentality that every teenager has. You also learn that getting mad doesn't solve anything anymore, because a angry soldier is usually a bad soldier or at worse a dead soldier.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Are there alternatives to going away to basic for 3 months? I've always wanted to join up (reserves), but simply can't afford to up and leave for 3 months or however long it is.
If you join the reserves, I don't think you go away for 3 months for Basic
When I was in, I was home garrisoned in Calgary, did the first half (Drill, skills training, Military education, busy work) In calgary, then did about a month up in good old camp Wainwright (weapons, basic infantry, coms establishment, digging endless L trenches, survivor, day and night navigation excerciese, basic field tactics and ambush establishment and my personal favorite NBC training and working in a contaminated environment)
The only thing harder for me was the Junior Leadership course that was required to move from Corp to Master Corp. That course was a rock solid bugger.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Are there alternatives to going away to basic for 3 months? I've always wanted to join up (reserves), but simply can't afford to up and leave for 3 months or however long it is.
Generally no, it is 1-1 1/2 months in the summer, or over weekends (not sure if this is still done).
You could go talk to recruiting at Havery Hays......or not
I tried to find a clip without success to this'll have to do.
Can't believe it took 2 months and 3 pages to think of this.
Announcer: Daybreak: Jakarta. The proud men and women of the Navy are fighting for freedom. But you're in Lubbock, Texas, hosing stains off a monument. You're in the Naval Reserve. America's seventeenth line of defense, between the Mississippi National Guard, and the League of Women Voters. After basic training, you'll only have to work one weekend a month. And most of that time, you're drunk off your ass.
(that's from the Simpsons for those of you who aren't enlightened)
I tried to find a clip without success to this'll have to do.
Can't believe it took 2 months and 3 pages to think of this.
Announcer: Daybreak: Jakarta. The proud men and women of the Navy are fighting for freedom. But you're in Lubbock, Texas, hosing stains off a monument. You're in the Naval Reserve. America's seventeenth line of defense, between the Mississippi National Guard, and the League of Women Voters. After basic training, you'll only have to work one weekend a month. And most of that time, you're drunk off your ass.
(that's from the Simpsons for those of you who aren't enlightened)
I find that to be a flippant post......and slightly offensive
When I did basic and SQ it was for the reserves and it was basically 2 months away from home.
BMQ was the month of July and SQ was the month of August.
I know it was possible to do BMQ on weekends if you're going reserves, but I would not want to do that. If at all possible, do BMQ and SQ together all at once.
