Camp Wainwright after the DCOMM Speech! LFWA Wise

[Standards]

Rather than just complaining about what's wrong with Wainwright, you also need to look at why the DComd felt compelled to go around and give his speech in the first place.

Last year over half the scheduled summer courses were cancelled.  This was not due to a lack of students, but to a lack of instructors.  Then various unit CO's complained that their young soldiers didn't get trained and some of them started running courses on the armouries floor.  Some (not all) of these courses ended up being total failures due to lack of resources, planning, etc to the point where they were not producing effective soldiers.

Hopefully at least some potential instructors will put the past problems in Wainwright behind them (many of the problems have been addressed) and come out to teach so that effective training can happen and the maximum number of qualified soldiers can be graduated.  Anyone who doesn't come out and doesn't have valid reasons (and "I don't want to, snivel, moan, it's not nice there, whine, complain" isn't a good reason in my books) is part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Right now the Reserve training system is broken and it needs all the help it can get.

Note: No, I am not posted to Wainwright.

 

[Fraser.g]

Well I guess what they will do is what they have done since 97. Get out the leaf blower on grad parade for the PLQ and with a broad brush paint all those who have passed the course and are willing to stay to a leadership position whether they are mature enough to do the job or not.

Then once they are staff and not students, keep treating them like they are the ones still on course.

Go WATC STANDARDS!

This is not an excuse, in your words, "I don't want to, snivel, moan, it's not nice there, whine, complain" isn't a good reason in my books". these are the facts.

We are reservists, we do this on a part time basis. We do not HAVE to work during the summer unless we want to. If YOU want the instructor cadre out to teach in order to "fix" it then you will have to make us WANT to come out.

And treating the summer augmentee staff like crap will not make us WANT to come out.

I served a lot of summers out in Wx and other bases teaching. I have powered through the establishment of tent city and the fall of the PPCLI Battle School in  97 ,  the Mega courses of the summer of 98, ATC in 99 and the list goes on.

They ask the instructor cadre to commit to training and instruction in January or February but yet do not commit themselves to hiring those instructors until mid to late April.

The facts are that the majority of the instructor Cadre are University students who do not have the financial stability to pick and choose when it comes to economic survival during the summer months. If the powers that be do not guarantee full time employment for those who wish it until the final hour and then are surprised when the majority of those have taken other summer employment can you be that shocked?

If you want instructors to come out to teach then you have to do two things.

1. Make them want to by treating them well.
2. Confirm employment earlier then is done now.

GF

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Sounds to me like you are making it happen.   Any opposition to this?

Tom

Tom,

I haven't heard any problems on our end. A couple of reshuffled weekends because the FA wknd set up by the Battle School fell through for the scheduled date, no biggie, we flipped the TT. Certainly not an insurmountable problem. It works, and in most cases well. We have the instruction available on a part time basis, same as the students. In most cases, as I said above, it's hard getting two months off for full time workers to act as training staff. I have always fought for, and believed in decentralization of the lower end courses for Reserves, up to and including DP3 CC, but I'm only one voice.

 

[TCBF]

You might not see DP3 CC, but I know some in Wx felt that a Basic taught on the Armoury floor, followed by a summer crse SQ/Trades Trg should give the unit a crop of useable soldiers in Sept.

The trick is lining up the courses so NCOs can teach/take/teach courses through the whole summer.

We did it thirty years ago. We should be able to do it now.

Tom

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Tom,

Yes, but thirty years ago we had a more robust Army, without the deployment rotation we have today. We were able to draw on the Reg Force if we fell short, and IIRC they accounted for the majority of the instructors anyway back then. We've just gotten to the point where the Regs are worn out and undermanned. They'd like us to take up our own training, and rightfully so, but we're no better off in the Reserves either. Maybe if they allowed Reserve instructors to come in on a two week swing instructor cycle, instead of demanding they be there for the complete course, they may get a few more. I don't know what the answer is to summer training. I do know one, out of many, of the factors is the treatment afforded the Reserve instructors at MTC's. Many are tired of being treated worse than recruits and not being accepted. It probably varies with the MTC. I had my first summer in Wx last year at the Armoured wing and loved my time there, you couldn't drag me drunk to Meaford for the same though. 

 

[Rifleman62]

I am sure that the CO of WATC is doing whatever is possible to make attending as a instructor as user friendly as possible. Unfortunately, that is not always translated, nor executed, at all levels. PRes Sgt's, WO's and Lt/Capts, once they finish University/Community College are employed in a civilian environment, often in a junior position, and their employer probably knows nothing about the military, or cares.  Reality is, this will never be resolved, even through job protection legislation ( possibly for Ops only). The PRes cannot train its self in the Jul and Aug time frame. If you are CSS, the crses are long, DP2 (OJT) reqires 60 to 180 trg days depending on MOC. In a perfect world, and this does not happen, it will take 5 or 6 years (depending on MOC) to become a PRes CSS MCpl ( including PLQ Mod 6 of PLQ Land which RegF CSS do not take  (CF PLQ). Thats if you get loaded every single year on a crse and you have the time off. If you joined at 17, when you become a MCpl, you are at least 23/24 years of age. Are you going to rely on - 37.5 days CL A and possibly 60 Cl B summer days as annual income?  What employer will give you 60 days off in the summer when all of the company's staff wants a summer vacation period?  Large companys have some flexability. What if there is only 20 employees or less? Also DP 1 crses start in May/Jun, prior to High School ending, so its tough to even get on this crse. We have been averaging, over a four year period, five DP 1 crse loadings per year. A unit cannot last long at this rate. This also impacts on NCO production, or lack there of. What can we do? How about Alternate Service Delivery?  I am sure Bombardier corporation is an expert in this field, and get set up for 1 Jul, cause they have already won the competion (before it is posted)

 

[TCBF]

Remember, it's not "Bombardier", it's "Al Bombardyeh"  ;D

Sounds to me like we should DL (distance learning) a lot of the Reserve courses as a pre-crse requirement, then just run short field crses to get them "at home in the hole" followed by "perisher traces".

Okay, just kidding about the "Perisher Traces".  ;D

But short, snappy courses, learning things you could not learn alone.

I taught ARTC in 2001 in Gagetown, and we taught AFV Rec.  Why?

"Because they don't learn it at home."

So start having them learn it at home.  Most Militia Crewmen are AFV freaks anyway.  Give them an excuse to surf Jane's at zero dark buffalo. 

Tom

 

[Fishbone Jones]

I have the CTC AFV package here and it's used all the time. The DP2 course just went through it and passed the test administered by Standards. All Amoured Units have a copy IIRC.

Distance Learning is another thing we've tried pushing the School for. Do it at home, write the online test, do a TKT when you arrive for course. Pass it, mount up! Fail it, back to the bird and the Unit eats the cost. That would ensure the Units kept their end of the bargain. Then we could do, say the DP3 CC, for two weeks field instead of one and not shorten the away course. Much better bang for the buck. However, for some reason, after it seemed like a go, they extended the DP3 CC to FOUR weeks so it could run in conjunction with the Officer course and fit THEIR TT and defeated the whole reasoning behind qualifying MCpl CC's easily and in a short time. :