What does it mean to be a commissioned or non-commissioned member? I found information on this before and only gave it a quick glance. Now I can't seem to remember where I found this information. Is it basically just something to do with rank?

does it matter where i apply?? because i want to join infantry with seaforth highlanders, but they aren't really exacted easy to get to using transit..
i don't want to join armory divisions, but it's right next to the skytrain damnit! lol

i think commissioned officer you have to sign a 2 year contract or something..

yeah
non commissioned member (NCM) are... i duno how else to say this, the grunts.

commissioned officers are.. well officers. they're the guys that ultimately give the green light and orders on stuff to do.

err its kinda hard to explain, maybe ill use a movie hah.

saving private ryan. tom hanks was a captain, that's an officer. not a very high ranking one, but still he has full command over his squad.

tom sizemore was a sergeant. that's an NCM. they're more incharge of... discipline of the troops, preparing and making sure everyone is ready, down to the fine details. which leaves the officer to do his job, plan and prepare.

but that's an infantry example.

officers: macro work
NCM: micro work

but that's generalization. high NCM's do a lotta macro work too.

you don't just from one ladder to another, they're two seperate trees.

yeah transit sucks eh. if you wanna be seaforth, you'll have to be go to the seaforth to work. which means you'll have to somehow get there anyways.

as for applying, apply at the unit you want to join. or you can always go to the main downtown recruiting center. and you can apply to any unit you want.

Thanks for the clarification. I thought that it was something along those lines but wanted to make sure.

I'm in the process of filling out my application and I'm worried it doesn't look good cuz I don't actually have a lot of definite "leadership" skills to write down. I wrote about my communication skills (working in customer service) and management skills (assistant manager for an apartment). Hopefully they can see me building upon those skills.

that's fine, they'll train you. you just have to be willing.

thanks man!
now i got to find out when the recruit meeting is :D

Just head down there on a Thursday night around 7pm. You will get directed to recruiting

thanks man.

oh it starts at 8pm :p

No!

Always go to the unit of your choice first. Apply there, then they send you to the Recruiting Centre.

I remember many times having to send people back! :mad:

huh.. i was talking about the person talking about their lack of "leadership skills" on their application..

i got a call for the apittude(?) test

the person was telling me they only do that test on tue and thur
and she told me to go on march 6th to take it
but the thing is march 6th is a monday
so wtf?
i've called them back and left a message, no one calls me back

:lol

Wrong quote, Ulic. :p

Keep on calling. Trust me on that one. Nothing beats perserverance. ;)

^ya i am gonna call them 2morrow

Whats the average age of people in the army reserves??

man... that's hard to answer.
if you go on a basic training course, most people will be young, maybe as young as 16. i'd say a basic training course the average age is like 18 or 19, perhaps 20. there will be one or two older guys, there always is. like literally older as in married with 3 kids type older guys, or perhaps even older.

but when you're actually working, the age really varies. for example, i work with a few people, one's a 17 year old chick still in highschool, the other dude is a 25 year old BCIT grad. and im a 23 year old guy. there's another guy that works with us and he's like 40. we're all the same rank. our boss i'd say is around 36? and the boss above that i'd say is mid to late 40's. it really depends. obviously the more senior rank you are, the more likely you are older. your profile says you're 21, that's fine, you wont stick out at all.
it's the really old dudes that join that stick out heh :p

keep calling, if you're unlucky and no one picks up, go in march 6th. show up at the date which you were told.

Oh yeah im not 21 no more, that was 3 years ago.

And is there any way I can check out how things work beforehand. (like get a tour or something)

BTW thanks for the quick reply

24 is still young. i mean, im 23, and there are plenty of people older than me that are in.

yeah you can get a semi tour and all that if you go to a recruiting session.

but i can't go i have school on that day><

i called them freaking 4 times today; i can hear ppl talking at the background; but no one is willing to answer the god damn phone
2morrow i am gonan call every min just to piss them off

i am gonan go on march 7th and see how it goes..

yeah they gotta fix that, i have no idea why no one picks up or replies. someone should get on that. if i had the power i'd be down there sorting it out.

so I signed up for the canadian forces through the online application, but it'll probably be a little while now until they get back to me.

Oh yeah and all the jobs i seemed to be interested in are all in the navy or airforce more so then the army, although i picked the army as my main interest.


Ulic, do you know if the process for the navy or airforce are the same in comparison to the army, in terms of interviews, testing etc.?

Im pretty sure the interviews and application process is exactly the same. training wise it's different obviously. but I don't know anything about the navy and airforce.

i have an interview on march 20th and right after is the medical exam
is there anything i need to know?