Take everything you hear with a grain of salt. You want to know what conitions are like NOW, but everyone you talk to wants to give you a history lesson and pass it off as current affairs. Former members of the CF are the worst for this. Their reality is frozen in time at the date of their release, if not sooner. I was a Recruit Platoon Commander at CFRS Cornwallis and ELRFC St Jean, and I can only remark on what happened in my platoons while I was there. I cannot even comment on the Company at the time, let alone the rest of the School. A former recruit's experiences are a snapshot in time, nothing else.
A lot of old retired guys and gals find it hard to believe that the minute they retired, they became obsolete, just another super-annuitant. They cannot grasp a military one half the size it was when they were in, with quadruple the tours. I once listened to an expert describe today's forces, then ask me if we still used the Bren Gun. No, I said, we adopted the FN C2 forty years ago, but it too, is obsolete, like him. He seemed surprised when I told him that we have not been paid more than the Americans for some time, and that I paid $12,000 a year in income tax, and that the Army he was in existed only in stories. With voters like that, it is no wonder we are in the predicament we are in.
Even worse are the people who tell you about the military - horror stories and all - then you find out he "Was in army in old country."
Yeah, that really applies, doesn't it?
You're reality will be different from others. Use the toolbox approach when getting free advice (including this post) : If it fits and is the right tool at the right time, use it. If not, put it back in the box.
Keep the home fires burning, stiff upper lip, and good luck.
