Considering the Forces

[Niniux]

Hello, my name is Brian and I'm very heavily considering joining the Forces.  This would be a major paradigm shift for my life at present and I need to look at a number of aspects before I'm able to fully commit myself.  I understand I should go to the CFRC and I plan to do so when I have a day off.

First, a little about myself.  I am 25 years old, going to be 26 in April.  I have a common-law spouse whom I've been with for nearing 7 years.  We have a one year old daughter.  I was affected by the current financial troubles but that is not my main reason for considering the Military.  In fact, I've been considering the career for a while.  While I was working for the Railway, I had been close to seeing about signing on for the reserves but my lack of schedule prevented me from being able to do so.  I've currently got an office job that I'm working to support my family and while it affords me the luxury of free time while at work, it is not really what I want.

My motivations for joining the Forces are a strong desire to learn, a yearning for travel and the hope of bettering myself through structure and discipline.

I'm physically unfit right now, worst shape of my life in fact, and am going to be starting to change that.  Got a long way to go but I know that I can do it.

So now... why am I making this post?  I have a few questions I was hoping to get answered.

1) Any of you join when you are parents to a young one? How was it?  After training, was military housing adequate?

2) I'm very interested in looking into going the officer route but I currently have no post-secondary education.  I have a GED currently (99th percentile on the battery of tests).  I did not have proper motivation in school and am suffering for it now.  I assume the answer is no, but I'll ask anyway.  Do you think there is any chance of being accepted into a ROTP with less than stellar academic history?  Would scoring well on an aptitude test have any bearings on that?  I'd be fine with going the NCM Route because that interests me too but I'd much prefer looking at becoming an Officer.

3) If I joined as a NCM, say looking at Med Tech, is there a chance I could train to become a Doctor eventually? Does any of my training act as some sort of pre-requisite or am I looking at completing both an undergrad and then going to Med School?

4) I understand that certain Laser vision correction techniques will allow someone with less than stellar vision still become a Pilot.  Is it possible to enter the Forces in some other discipline and then after my first period of service is up, to apply then to become a Pilot?

5) If I did get accepted and was attending the RMC in Kingston, is there housing available there for my family?

Thanks in advance.  I did search and answered a number of my questions, but these ones I was having trouble finding.  Perhaps my searching skills were weak.

 

[Michael OLeary]

Niniux,

There's a lot of information available through the search function.  Many of your questions have been covered before.  Please spend some time searching and browsing the forums, as you do so, you'll also find answers to questions you haven't thought of asking yet.

Milnet.ca Staff

 

[PMedMoe]

I think you might want to attempt to narrow down your career choices but the CFAT will do that for you anyway.

I'm pretty sure you won't get accepted to ROTP with only a GED.  As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure a GED isn't even acceptable for application to Med Tech as it requires high school with biology and chemistry credits.

Go to www.forces.ca and check out the Job Explorer and maybe talk to an online recruiter.

Good luck.

 

[armychick2009]

Brian,
I'm not in (yet) but I'll share what I know. I will give you my experience as someone in the recruiting stage, as someone who was in a common-law relationship for 6 years with a soldier (who was med-tech) and as someone who has always lived in a military community.

First off, you write "I'm physically unfit right now, worst shape of my life in fact, and am going to be starting to change that.  Got a long way to go but I know that I can do it."

My response? Get at it. I've lost almost 50 pounds the past 5 months or so (since end of May). I have another 30-50 to go but by the time I actually "get in", I'll be good to go. It's hard. It sucks. You have to bust your arse on days when you really don't want to and you'll want to quit your first week doing it but, just keep at it.  Others notice the difference, are taking me seriously and besides -- who doesn't want to be healthy?? Should have done this years ago... get walking, get running, get strong...

#1 - I don't have kids. But many of my friends (who are military) have kids. You will need (and your wife will need) to figure out the highs and lows of separation for months at a time. BMQ will be great for that as it's not the length of a deployment but is signficant in length for one to notice the difference. Your baby is young, they'll get used to you being gone. Doesn't mean it is EASY for them but - at least your child isn't 9 years old and wondering why her daddy is suddenly gone for 6-9 months at a time. I also worked in a school where 75% of the kids had one (or both) parents deployed at the same time. Kids are strong, resilient... you learn how to deal with things as they come. 

As for housing, is it adequate? Some of those PMQs are nicer than my own house. Some of the older ones are a bit crappy but the housing agency that takes care of them, are really working hard at updating them (like, actually putting in insulation that works, new windows, hardwood floors, etc.)... the apartments I can't really comment on but if there was really bad housing, people wouldn't stand for it. If you have problems, you mention it to the housing folk. You (usually) have the option too of renting or buying off base. This varies though depending on if you're posted or if you're "training".

#2,3) If you want to go officer route? Well... you can go to the RMC (and someone mentioned your previous education might prevent you unless you upgrade... however, some universities have 'mature student status' which varies but often will accept a mature student if they've been out of school for a few years and they will look at your high-school and make a decision based on your high-school, length of time out AND your work experience. I can't speak for RMC though, I didn't do my education for them.

If you want to do hands-on medical stuff, I'd go med-tech. Yes, there are highschool requirements such as the biology and ... whatever it was that Pmedmo said. You *could* go get those requirements through correspondence (each province has a high-school correspondence program) or, if there is a university in your city and you can get in there for this upcoming January as a mature student (paying tuition yourself but you will be able to get part-time status tax refunds on next years taxes, which will actually pay for your tuition so you will get most (if not all) of your tuition back in a year or so). IF you can get your credits in those two subjects at a university level, it will supercede the highschool requirements PLUS you can use those credits towards your degree when you eventually get it. Kill two birds with one stone. HOWEVER, do NOT take this as the gospel... check with the recruiting centre and get it written in a file somewhere, that this is acceptable. This was told me to less than a month ago as I was considering med-tech as well. A university degree doesn't waive those requirements unless as I said, you have university biology courses, etc.

Soooooooooooooo, this is what I would suggest (and again, take it for what it is worth)... If you really want to do medical stuff, go upgrade and get those missing courses. Then, go NCM as med-tech. You will get awesome training, great experience and I believe your paramedic training course as well (whenever they go off-strike in BC!)... THEN, do that for a while. If you REALLY want to after a few years, go further into doctoring? Then you can talk to someone in the forces (is this the career manager guys? Or, is there someone else?) where you can then discuss becoming a doctor or a nurse even (there's lots of male nurses in the CF by the way from what my spouse has told me!) Keep in mind that you can't do this type of university part-time and that you will end up 'owing' time back to the forces. You will need to earn your bachelor of science (or something equivalent) and then med school after that. It's at least 7 years and more, if you want a specialty.

Alternatively, you CAN still become a medic and work on part-time studies (correspondence) towards a general BA and in a few years, you can still become an officer (not a doctor) and do something else officer-like in the medical field (or even something else altogether different). I suspect though you wouldn't enjoy that as much as there is little patient care involved. You seem more hands-on... being a medic is very rewarding and I suspect you will love it, once you're in it.  I'd suggest finding a medic (especially one with some deployment experience) and have a chit-chat with them.

#4) As there's a waiting list of pilots and it takes a lot of training (BA, etc.) and needing to be in optimum health... well, it's a rarity to actually ever become a pilot (from what I've been told). My friend is looking at going into this through RMC and it'll be many years before she actually ever gets to fly. It's not impossible but... rare. Crossing over from NCM to pilot? Again, same thing as the doctor... you need to earn your degree (with very particular courses...) and apply like all the rest.

#5) I have no idea about RMC housing.

Not sure if any of this is of any help and maybe others can correct anything I've written. A lot of this is just what recruiters have told me recently and I may have misinterpreted what they've said. And, my circumstances are much different than yours!

Parting words of wisdom... don't pick a trade 'just because'. Make sure you pick one that you REALLY want to do. You mentioned you were less than stellar in highschool and this is probably because you weren't interested in learning the subject at hand... topic didn't interest you. It's no different in the forces. If you aren't interested in learning the trade, you'll be less than stellar again. So, find something that really gives you that "drive"...

 

[Niniux]

Thanks a lot for your help, everyone.  Especially armychick.


As far as getting fit, I've already adjusted my diet and started a running plan.  It shouldn't be too hard, I was starting to get in decent shape from working for the Railway but just got lazy after getting laid off last December.

I've narrowed my focus down to Medical Technician and will do any courses that are required of me.  I like the idea of looking at the University courses for pre-requisites, I'm just wondering if the cost difference between the two will be prohibitive for me.

Anyway, thanks a lot.  Going to see a recruiter on Monday to ask a whole truckload of questions and then my odyssey to get in top shape will begin.

 

[PMedMoe]

There's no real requirement to get university level courses as the prerequisites are grade 12 biology and chemistry.  Although, I daresay having the university courses might make your application more competitive.

Depending on where you live, there are adult high schools and some places allow you to do the courses online, usually at a minimal cost.  I did my Grade 11 Advanced Biology on my own time in Petawawa and IIRC, the cost was only about $80.00 which was for administration fees.  The course was self-governed with the exception of the two exams which I took at the adult school.

You may also want to check community colleges in your area as many offer high school upgrading.

 

[armychick2009]

Two university courses are definitely more expensive than taking the highschool ones through correspondence.... since highschool credits are usually "free" or very minimal cost.

*HOWEVER*... (I love howevers!)....

As a part-time university student, two courses (if they are half-year courses) will cost you about $700-1000, depending on your local university fees. BUT... you WILL get a tax receipt which at tax time, you will get some of that tuition back... PLUS, I believe it's $120 for each month you are in part-time studies. So, if you take one course over a four-month period, you will get $480 back on your taxes... PLUS the tuition costs. I managed to take the first two years of my degree with almost NO cost because I qualified for the part-time studies month and got money back from the tuition. In the end, you will almost break even... especially if you have children or dependents, as you stated.  PLUS, you will end up having two courses you can eventually apply to your degree when it happens. Bonus!

If you don't have a university near you, you can begin your degree at Athabasca University, based out of Alberta which is a distance learning university. I'd suggest taking one course at a time.... yes, each course IS more expensive than if you took one locally... but you have access to tutors, they send you ALL the materials you need for your course (so, if you have a science course, your books are sent to you along with your experiment supplies that are not easily found)... it's definitely worth it and you can work on your own pace. They also grant course extensions. And the best part is, if you REALLY want to get the courses done by this upcoming April (to make you qualified for next years available jobs)... you can work like mad and get them done...

Not sure if any of this helps -- you can PM me if you need any more clarification. I used to work at a university where I had students come in all the time asking these types of questions. 

 

[armychick2009]

PMedMo is right in that some local schools might offer the night-courses and such... for the advancement in courses...

for example, in Pembroke right now, they are offering FREE courses for biology/chemistry I believe as the college is trying to recruit students into their nursing program in collaboration with the university in Ottawa. However, they've realised a large pool of prospective students are being left out because they didn't have the biology/chemistry. So, they are offering the free classes to ensure that next year the students will be eligible to apply to the nursing program.

Smart move on their part.

Maybe look to see if something like that is available in your area, wherever it may be!