I was not confusing obligatory service with the actual contract. What you just said is your "obligatory service" is exactly what I was talking about it, and exactly what I referred to as "obligatory service."
On the topic of the contracts, I plan on doing a full career in the CF. That being said, if there was no way of getting out of a 13 year contract, I would not have signed up. I was 18 years old when I signed up, 13 years is almost as long as my frickin lifetime. How can ANYBODY be expected to KNOW where they will sit in 13 years? I have full intentions of fullfilling my "contract," but if I were not able to get out of that contract, I sure as hell wouldn't sign it.
If the terms of the contract were fixed, then I could possibly seeing it. If pay were garunteed under the contract, benefits, living conditions, etc, then yes. But as long as pay and all that stuff is allowed to change, then I shoudl be able to 'change my mind" so to speak. It's not like a normal contract where its "13 years @ this much for year 1,2,3, and this much for year 4,5,6, etc." And so its not even a real contract in my opinion.
What happens if in 8 years the green party has power of Canada and a 5th year captain is making 10k a year and forced to live in the barracks even though he's got a wife and kids, and his wife is out of work cause she worked in an oil-related field. He should have to fullfill his next 5 years at 10k a year, even though when he signed up he should have been making 70-80k a year at this point?
F**k that noise!