OK, here's my advice to all those going to RMC or thinking about RMC:
I went to CMR from '88 to '91, college number 18145. I signed up at 16, and was sworn in a couple of months after my 17th birthday. I never actually graduated
from high school; those of us from English Canada (I'm from BC) who did CMR Prep
Year went straight from Grade 11 right into MilCol.
I joined up to be a fighter pilot - because I thought that was cool. And because
everybody knows that a military flight record is a direct ticket to a
high-paying airline pilot job. I went to a military college because the
recruiter told me that was the best way to ensure I made pilot, and I went to
CMR becasue the recruiter told me that CMR was the fast-track to success, due to
the fact that you learned French faster.
In retrospect, that was a giant steaming pile of bullshit, and I suspect that
somebody somewhere had a quota to fill....
I had absolutely ZERO idea of what it meant to be an officer. ZERO. I had been
in Air Cadets, and our CO was the guy that took the salute on parade (and that
was pretty much it). I had no clue about the officer ethos, about what was
expected of an officer, about what leadership was or anything else. I was pretty
much your typical teenaged punk.
So CMR was a little bit of a culture shock. Northern BC high-school French
turned out to be completely useless (I couldn't even hear the breaks between
words) I couldn't understand why they kept harping on all this "leadership" crap
- I was just going to fly a damn plane, where's the leadership in that? Leave me
alone! And I had been one of the top students in my high school and got away
with murder becasue of it; at CMR, I was a bright light amongst bright lights
(and dimmer than most of them) and went from special child to problem child
overnight.
I ran 4 circles every morning from the third day in recruit camp all the way to
the day before we left for Chilliwack and BOTC. I did so many ED's that I wore
out a set of gaitors. And my marks... shall we say less than spectacular? Enough
to pass me, but not much better.
And at BOTC, it was more of the same; at least at first. Things looked pretty
dire, until we went to the field. There was a suprise lurking there for
everybody.
After my first field leadership task, I was pulled aside by a hopping mad
instructor. He was hopping made because he had mentally pigeonholed me as a
lost cause; a failure waiting to happen. And then I had displayed leadership
potential and a certain amount of skill in handling troops in the field - and
now he had to work to save my ass. This came as a complete shock - it was the
first good thing said to me in about a year - and yet it rang true. I LOVED
being in the field, I LOVED the challenge of getting people to carry out my
objectives in a highly stressful environment, and against all odds, I had some
degree of natural talent at it.
That started some degree of attitude adjustment... but it was a slow process
that I (amazingly and stupidly) fought every step of the way. My guts told me
that what I wanted to do was drop the whole pilot thing, remuster to armour,
change my degree to Military and Strategic Studies, and make a career of the
combat arms as a professional officer. But every time I started to make that
happen, one of my friends talked me out of it, and always for the same reason:
"What are you going to do when you get out, when your only marketable skills are
military? You need to have skills that you can sell on civvie street."
So I stuck with pilot and comp sci, and because my heart wasn't in either, did
crappy at both. I failed PFS after 14.7 hours of flight, and instead of going
armour like I wanted to, went Sigs because that was marketable. And at the end
of third year, I failed two courses out of pure neglect, and had my choices
drastically curtailed for me. As ye sow, so shall ye reap...
Now, as it happens, the story has a happy ending. My early and unplanned exit
from MilCol wound up being the kick in the teeth I so desparately needed, and my
attitude made a 180 degree turn. I wound up going into the ranks (first as a
regular, then as a reservist) and eventually worked my way back up to Lt. in an
armoured recce unit. I embraced my true nature to a certain extent, and wound up
making a reasonable officer in the end. But that is NOT, I say again NOT, a
career path I would recommend to ANYBODY.
So then, here is my advice to anybody going to RMC:
1) The military college system is there to train you to become a professional,
career officer in the Canadian Armed Forces. Period. If you are there for ANY
other reason; if you do NOT see yourself living a life in uniform, Other
Institutions Beckon. You will be MUCH better served attending a civvie U.
2) It behooves you to make greatest use of the unique resource that is put at
your disposal. Everything you do should be with an eye towards making you a
better officer. Read and study the history, take advantage of every opportunity
to learn to lead, make all your mistakes NOW, when the only penalty is a loss of
face and some time marching in circles, rather than killing a soldier.
3) Follow your heart, and keep an open mind. There was a TON of inter-service
badmouthing and other peer pressure to follow certain paths (in particular,
combat arms and the social/humanities were seen as paths for those who couldn't
hack the demands of science/engineering and aircrew) BULLSHIT! You will be far
better off doing what you want to do, rather than doing what you think you
_should_ be doing, or what your friends think you should be doing.
4) Your time at RMC is going to be very, very difficult at times - far worse
than you will ever expect. But it is also going to be one of the most powerful,
most influential, most rewarding experiences of your life. Even with all the
shit I wound up putting myself through, I wouldn't trade my time at CMR for
ANYTHING. Ultimately, it made me a far better officer (the lessons took a while
to sink in, but they did eventually stick)
In fact, I'd give a body part for a do-over - or the opportunity to go back in
time and have a long heart-to-heart with my punk-ass 17 year old self.
5) Arrive at RMC with an understanding about what it means to be an officer. Get
an idea of the ethos that you are about to enter. That means reading. Read
"Shake Hands With the Devil" (Gen Dallaire was the Commandant at CMR while I wa
there, and I never met a finer commander) Read "Vimy" by Pierre Burton. Read "A
Bridge Too Far" and then watch the movie. For that matter, watch "Zulu",
"Glory", "Saving Private Ryan", and the entire "Band of Brothers" series.
The idea here isn't so much to find someone to emulate, but rather to get an
idea of about what the life of the professional officer is about, so that when
you start getting it for real, you have a frame of reference.
6) Be ready to be humbled. If you've been accepted to RMC, you're probably a
shit-hot playa (in some manner or another) in your local community, and you're
18-ish, so of course you know everything. Purge yourself of that. A combative
spirit is a necessity in an officer, but don't direct that towards the people
who are ultimately trying to help you, like I did.
And never forget that once you graduate and go out into the real world, the humbling process starts all over again. Your troop WO and the BC will not give a flying fuck at a rolling hat that you were the CWC.
Good luck. Take these words to heart, and you'll do well.
DG