Loch Sloy! said:
Has the change away from mods been communicated outside the infantry school? It doesn't seem anyone out here (including my adj) is aware of this.
It's old news. They stopped allowing Reg Force pers to go through module by module at least 2 years ago, and at that time only allowed any PRes pers who already had a module or two to finish up by mods. Any new PRes people would have to go through in one shot just like everybody else.
Loch Sloy! said:
Right or wrong it's been very difficult for my unit and others to get officers through the training system. I certainly understand the need for the infantry school to maintain the course to a very high standard, however the school (admittedly from my worms eye view) does not seem to be able to train enough infantry officers to keep reserve units at full complement.
The school trains who ever, and they run some damn big serials (4 platoons at a time) if there is enough people being sent to Gagetown. It's up to your unit to recruit enough people and send them on the course.
Loch Sloy! said:
From my perspective it's because the training is not delivered in a way that takes into account the competing demands that reservists face. Do I really need to fight to leave my job for three months straight for a course that may be cancelled just weeks in advance? Certainly things like weapons and FFQ could be offered at the unit level which would shorten the length of time in Gagetown considerably.
Does the course need to be extremely challenging? Absolutely. Bring everyone to Gagetown for 4 or 6 weeks field time to make sure the standard is met. But I can learnthe C6 and field firing just as easilyin Suffield and/ or wainwright.
Respectfully it's not enough to say its "easy" to find guys who can and will do it, when the reality for units has been opposite to that. If the training system is honestly dedicated to train the reserve force as well as the regular force (and it has a duty to be...) then training must also be designed to work for the reserves.
A few years ago when Col Aitcheson was the CO of the Infantry School and the course was still run in Mods (but they were trying to make the argument that it should not be), and I was one of about 120 candidates on Ph III when he asked us all "Please raise your hand if you are doing this course by modules." Despite there being plenty of reservists (I would say at least 30-40), only two raised their hands.
A decision was made that
the standard for the entire Infantry Corps would not have to suffer a course layout that sucked both for learning/training and also for holding a high standard, just to accommodate the 2 - 8 reservists each summer that wished to complete the course in Mods.
That's all well and good that you think the unit can provide you with weapons training and FFQ, and you can just come to Gagetown for 6 weeks and "meet the standard." But, its a rite of passage in its own sense to complete the course *as a whole* and not broken down into chunks.
By the time my platoon made it the field portion, we had dropped from 35+ down to 20. Those remaining had lost a lot of weight, had sustained a few injuries, had huge blisters and other owies, the course staff knew who they were, a lot of us were already introduced to the "warning system" via red chits, and we were about to head into the harder portion of the course in that condition.
Showing up for that 6 week period in prime condition, well-fed, well-rested, and after a few good weeks in the gym and doing road work in the prime weather of May and June, was not quite meeting the same standard that those who had done the full course in one shot had to meet.
and not for cooking but for your trench so you can throw your poncho over you and your buddy and keep warm.
