Ways to Fail Basic

[Pte. Bloggins]

8 hours huh? Hmm....lights out at ll, reveille at 5 (at least)hmm...unless you count those rides in the ML (I guess that could add up)
Correct me if I‘m wrong, but what I‘ve found with inspections on basic is that they decide before the inspection how you‘re going to do. If they‘re in a bad mood, you fail. If it‘s the first half of the course, everything‘ll still be crap. It‘s not until the second half that they start making you think that you‘re improving...

 

[GrahamD]

Just curious here, but from what I‘ve heard lights out is at 11pm, and wake up is at 5:30am, but that you are given at least a couple of hours personal time after dinner each evening where you are free to do what you want. Is this time actually used by people as free time (watching t.v., reading, phone calls, etc.) or does everyone pretty much use that time to begin working on their kit, so that they can maximise on their sleep when 11pm rolls around.

The thing is, my main concern about basic is the lack of sleep. I‘m wondering if you make the appropriate personal sacrifices ie (free time at luch [1.5 hours to eat? sounds like an opportunity for a 60 minute nap], and personal time at night) is it possible to stay fairly well rested?
Or do they basically find ways to keep you awake, no matter how hard you work to get ahead?

 

[Pikache]

Just meet your timings.

 

[jutes85]

Do they care what trade you are going in? Because I don‘t think that AirForce Techs should learn battle tactics.

 

[Garry]

Jutes,

I‘ll temper my response due solely to your tender age and experience...however, the recruiter should have told you this:

EVERY serving Forces member is a Rifleman first, specialist second.

EVERY serving member must be ready to defend himself.

If you don‘t want to learn the very basic tactics, and aren‘t willing to maintain basic combat skills, go home: this is not the place for you.

Have a good day.

PS- I‘m currently Air Force.

 

[chrisf]

As a little explanation of why... unfortunately most warefare conducted today is "asymetrical warfare", a fancy term for guerilla warefare.

Just because you‘re 500 KM to the "rear" doesn‘t mean that a guerilla attack can‘t occur. That‘s why EVERYONE needs to know how to engage in combat.

That being said, basic training isn‘t "battle tactics" so much as it‘s the eat-sleep-think-shoot-**** like a soldier stuff. You‘ll learn drill, military law, rank structure, military discipline, etc. You also get basic instruction in weapons handling (Just the service rifle, though the service rifle in and of itself is also a great education in responsibility).

It‘s the SQ (Soldier Qualification Course), which you also have to do, where you learn the fun stuff. You can‘t tell me you don‘t want to fire off a machine gun???

 

[OLD SCHOOL]

It‘s the SQ (Soldier Qualification Course), which you also have to do, where you learn the fun stuff. You can‘t tell me you don‘t want to fire off a machine gun???


Depends who is standing in front of it.

 

[jutes85]

EVERY serving Forces member is a Rifleman first, specialist second. EVERY serving member must be ready to defend himself.

Yes, i know that i have to learn that, and that i‘m a soldier first, tech second. The recruiter just never told me that. What do you specialize in the AF? I‘m guessing you are stationed in Cold Lake.

When you mean rifle, do you mean the C7? By the way, i‘d love to get my hands on a machine gun and try it out. :fifty:

My recruiter also told me that during or after basic, I have to pass some kind of Vechile training, is this true?

 

[jonsey]

Yes, the C7 is a rifle, thats why it‘s classified as an "assault rifle".

 

[Enzo]

Garry - 8 hrs? I was averaging 2-3hrs/night for the first couple of months. I‘m a bit of an insomniac (as opposed to nowadays where I enjoy checking the forums @ 0330). I stayed up by flashlight and worked on kit. Couldn‘t sleep anyway. then I wrote/read letters. That was my personal thing.

As for personal time. We had none for quite some time. I‘d have probably enjoyed St. Jean, but I never went there. Straight to Meaford and the tender care of all Infantry nco‘s for a combined QL 2/3. Good times.

Old School - You reminded me of a story our Warrant shared with us. When he was 17 going through basic, he erred and his Warrant made him sleep out on the parade square each night for a week. This was in winter time. Least he had some privacy for the night and could enjoy sleeping under the stars eh?

Jutes - ....

.... stop overthinking this. Act and do. Meet your timings, you‘ll be fine. I‘m not so certain I want to see you "get your hands on a machine gun."

 

[sauve]

wow i can‘t wait til i get to basic i hope to go to st. jean that would be cool.

 

[jutes85]

Still, what is this vehicle training we are supposed to go through?

I‘m asking these questions just to get an understanding of what Basic is all about, i‘m not worried about it, it is just better get an idea of what it is.

 

[chrisf]

Quite possibly they were referring to your 404, the military drivers lisence.

 

[Pte. Bloggins]

Originally posted by GrahamD:
[QB] Just curious here, but from what I‘ve heard lights out is at 11pm, and wake up is at 5:30am, but that you are given at least a couple of hours personal time after dinner each evening where you are free to do what you want. Is this time actually used by people as free time (watching t.v., reading, phone calls, etc.) or does everyone pretty much use that time to begin working on their kit, so that they can maximise on their sleep when 11pm rolls around.

you‘ll actually find you wish you had MORE time to work on your kit....you‘d be surprised how much there is to do. tv? what‘s a tv? we got our civy crap locked up and didn‘t hear music for a month, until we ‘earned‘ our clock radios back. Everybody hummed and whistled all the time.

1.5 hrs for lunch! i actually burst out laughing when i saw that (sorry.) the policy is when the instructors done, you‘re done and these people don‘t chew (ability must come with rank)

 

[Slim]

When they closed down Cornwallis they closed more than the base it seems...

 

[Enzo]

Bloggins - you ate?

Jutes - No worries, we had tv‘s in our rooms and so I hooked up my game console and we played Nintendo all the time (this was 1998). Our maid was a great help with the cleaning of the kit.

 

[Pte.See]

I‘m doing my basic now as a reserve. I have to be up at 0430 because I need time to wash my face, brush my teeth and put my hair back. Then we‘re doing PT until about 0615. It‘s mostly classrooms all day for now. But if you do start falling asleep, they do find ways to keep you awake-they‘re called push-ups! Then after dinner it‘s usually drill or classrooms. After that it‘s personal time, which is spent on your kit. And no matter what, you‘re always doing something wrong with your kit. So don‘t focus on it too much. Just do what you can on your kit. And have fun with your buddies. It‘s nice to laugh.

 

[jutes85]

I‘m up at 0430 for work anyways, so I should be used to it.

 

[Slacker]

[No message]

 

[jutes85]

I would not call any trade in the Forces a "geek trade". These "geeks" may be the only ones in a war that are there to repair your vehicle or aircraft, so I would get on their good side or they just might "forget" to tighten that last bolt.

And if i have a trade and you are just in the infantry, well, you better gaurd that base, cause sure in ****, the "geek" won‘t.