Army/Navy/Air + a general question

[Fauxjargon]

Hello all.  I have posted before regarding my biggest fear about joining the CF: being an officer and commanding others.  Right now I am a mechanical engineer that supervises a small team of employees, but unlike the army it is not exactly a life and death situation.  If I screw up, money goes away instead of people being killed or maimed.  I have screwed up.  It cost us money.  It felt awful, but it was just money.  I realize the CF will train me to be an officer but I am not ready to take responsibility for the death of a subordinate.  Is this healthy?  I have been told before that my doubts about being an officer make me officer material but I am a skeptic.
The other question is, why would I care which branch of the military I join?  The website makes you pick one branch to apply for, but I have no preference as to which branch of the army I join.  All of them protect the sovereignty of the greatest nation on our little planet and despite the failures of our current government I would be proud to serve Canada.

 

[Brasidas]

The other question is, why would I care which branch of the military I join?  The website makes you pick one branch to apply for, but I have no preference as to which branch of the army I join.  All of them protect the sovereignty of the greatest nation on our little planet and despite the failures of our current government I would be proud to serve Canada.

For starters, the element you choose has an impact on your employment. There are purple trades which may be posted to units of any element, such as logistics officer.  However, if being at sea, visiting foreign ports is of interest, you might want to pick Navy.

The element you choose also restricts which trades are available. You may notice that the army doesn't have a whole lot of maritime engineers.

You might also look at the probable locations for postings are for trades that you're interested in while you're making decisions.

 

[Pat in Halifax]

You may notice that the army doesn't have a whole lot of maritime engineers.

You might also look at the probable locations for postings are for trades that you're interested in while you're making decisions.

The Navy doesn't have any Maritime Engineers either but we do have Marine Engineers.

Regardless of whether you opt for the NCM or Officer route, you will be required to lead personnel. If you weren't nervous about what you speak of then you wouldn't be human. As was mentioned, I suggest you do some reading and determine which environment you find more interesting and if they all sound interesting, there are trades for that too.

Pat

 

[Master Corporal Steven]

Good day,

Regardless of whether you choose to apply as a Non-Commissioned Member (NCM) or as an Officer you will be required to lead personnel and make decisions that could lead to the death of someone under your command. If this were to happen throughout your career and you have difficulty dealing with the decision that you made the Canadian Armed Forces has councilors and programs to help in your recovery. 

The elements of the occupations (Land, Air or Sea) are predetermined by most occupations. However there are some occupations that are considered purple trades. These occupations are employed in all of the elements of the Canadian Armed Forces (Cooks, Clerks, Logistics Officer, Chaplain…) If choosing a purple trade occupation the element that you select on your application is the color of the uniform that you will wear and has no bearing on where you may be posted. On the browse jobs section of the website the left most column has a small image of what elements employ the occupation. Tank is Army, Jet is Royal Canadian Air Force & Ship is Royal Canadian Navy. I have provided a link that will take you to this section of our website.

http://www.forces.ca/en/jobexplorer/browsejobs-70