Fresh meat thinking of joining.

Dartmouth

New Member
So here's the deal. Im 26, i've been a tradesman for about 4-5 years now. I've always wanted to join the military since i was young, but when i was 18 i knew that I wouldnt hack it, wasn't mature enough. Things have obviously changed, especially being in trades, it definatly toughened me up. I've always been known to all I work with as a hard working guy who never quits or takes the easy way out. Im a good team player. I think i'd make a great soldier and a good squad mate.

My only question....is the physical aspect of the military. I know that the standards for getting into the canadian military is EXCEEDINGLY low. I talked to a recruting officer and he didn't seem to shed alot of light on just how good of shape I should be in. He basicly told me "well be able to run at a light pace for a long time". Im not in terrible shape, but i could definatly lose some. About 3 -4 weeks ago i started working out 3 -4 days a week, usually lots of jogging and situps, pushups, etc, some weights.

As a rule of thumb, should I just hold off on my application for a bit to make sure im in the best shape I can be? Like should i be running marathons before i apply? My worst fear is going to basic and being a drag down to the squad. Im not looking to be a hero. I wanna be a good soldier and squad mate and serve my country.

Any input is appreciated. And I apologize for asking, most likely, the most asked question when it comes to people wanting to go into military. Im sure you've all heard it a million times. I just figured id ask the people who've been through it already.
 
Sign the papers (if they´ll let you).
Work hard untill you ship for basic, the rest will get figured out once there.
The more you get done before basic the less focus you will have to waste on getting into shape.
That means the more focus you can bring to bear on becoming the best at the trade.

Good luck and let us know when you have signed your papers.

KJ.
 
Send off your paperwork as soon as you can. With the amount you're working out now, coupled with what you'll be doing on Basic (and over your career, depending on the trade you end up in), you'll have no problems.

I'm going to assume that you've gone over the fitness test standards, so as long as you can meet those, you're fine. Of course, I still recommend attempting to meet the exemption standards.

That being said, that is just the bare minimum. Keep working out until you can pull off at the very least 25 push ups without stopping (this is the normal amount you'll be doing on Basic for pretty much anything your staff picks you up on), be able to do 5 km at a light-medium jogging pace (no marathon running required, but it can't hurt), and just generally try to be in pretty good shape.

Good luck in joining the Canadian Forces. Always good to see someone looking to join us.
 
I'd advise Googling the Canadian Forces fitness standards or finding out somewhere even if it means making a phone call to a Canadian military facility. The Recruiter should have told you. It'sd not closely guarded secret info. The US Army has the Army Physical Fitness Test, APFT, to go by for our recruits. I always tell those about to sign up to make double sure they can pass that test before leaving for basic training. I can't think that would be bad advice for anyone joining any Army.

If you're in a bind I wouldn't be adverse to using the US Army APFT standards for your criteria to achieve adequate physical fitness. I used that as a minimum standard for my H.S. Varsity & JV wrestling team when I was a coach.

Good luck & please pass on any info that you may find.

My mom was Canadian & I have several distant relatives in the Canadian Forces that I've lost track of. I thinks at least a couple are lifers & may be retited by now.

If you're interested I have a fitness regimen that I've passed on to recruits for the US Army & Marine Corps that has been successful. It's the same program that I had my son on before entering the Army as a Ranger candidate.. He had no trouble with basic, Infantry School, Airborne School, Ranger Indoc & eventually Ranger School (2 Canadians in his class) . Not easy by any stretch of the imagination but he had no trouble. Shoot me a PM. Not easy but ridiculously simple.
 
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Hey all, thanks alot for the immediate input and replies.

It all sounds like what i was sort of thinking...From what i understand the application process can take up to 4-5 months depending on what interval I catch the military at when they send people off to basic training, so even if im sent away in the summer time i have 4-5 months of good solid working out to keep me going.

As it is now I can do the basic minimum tests to get into the canadian military, which is like 19 pushups and sits ups, strength test. only major thing I need to work on is running really. If i stay at a nice light pace jog i can go for about 10 minutes, but i know i dont cover as much distance as I'd like. Im not too worried about it though....it'll come with time.

The plan is to get my highschool transcripts and once I have those, I'll have everything I need to apply to the forces, i already have the paperwork, referances, past adresses, etc filled out. I'll definatly keep you all posted, and thanks alot for the advice! It's definatly put the physical aspect into perspective much more.
 
PS

One more question actually.

For the referance section...having worked trades, most jobs you work are for about a year at most, sometimes two and then you're laid off and onto the next job. I have buisness referances from foremans, supervisors, bosses, etc that would be awesome on my application, but i havn't known them for 5 consecutive years. Is it perfectly fine and acceptable to just use personal referances, like close friends and what not? Does it look bad if you don't have any buisness referances on the application, or is the canadian military reasonable indifferent to it?
 
It's been a while since I joined, so for that question, I'd suggest giving your local recruitment office a call and ask them.

The CF is actually my first job, so I just ended up using a couple of my high school teachers. If you can't find someone who fits the 5 year criteria, I'm sure they'll accept whoever has been in essentially a supervisory role.
 
Another reference that seems to work well is your Pastor/Priest/Rabbi. It's understood that they normally won't lie about your attributes.
 
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