A bunch of questions from a CF hopeful ( JTF2 )

[Yves Butterworth]

Ok well I'll start with my situation. I'm 19 years old, currently enrolled at Dawson College in Quebec, with 1 full year of school left after this semester. My dream is to get into JTF2. I've always been interested in the military, and have jumped at every chance i had for that lifestyle. I rose to the rank of WO1 in my RCAC squadron receiving many medals for leadership and such.   I also have a girlfriend whom I currently live with and plan on proposing to in the coming month. So heres my questions

#1 What kind of qualifications do you need to get into JTF2?

#2 Would joining JTF2 hinder my abilities to raise a family?

#3 Would you consider being a paratrooper the next down the line from that?   I want to serve with some real hardcore soldiers.

#4 I was planning on joining the Royal Grenadier Guards until I finish CEGEP, then joining the regular forces. Is this a bad idea? Will it likely take me more than 1 year to transfer from reserves infantry to regular forces infantry?

#5 I was considering maybe being an officer, seeing as I greatly enjoyed the freedom and control I had while I was Cadet Commander at my squadron. My twin brother in the USMC told me that officers with NCM experience are respected much more, as they know what it's like to be a "grunt." What are your thoughts? If you concur, would you consider 5, 6 years too little or too much experience? Also, is it easy to transfer at that point in your career?

#6 I'm going to go out on a limb here and ask this. I have asthma... on paper... What I mean by this is that I had asthma when I was in highschool, and elementary, but I'm alot more physically fit, and endurant now, and I haven't had any problems with it for a VERY long time. Even when I did have asthma, it never hindered my abilities none, aside from making me sound like I was breathing with a whistle in my mouth.   Now, I can run for very long distances, in very cold weather, with my work clothes on (Steel toe boots, ALOT of clothing, and a 10lbs backpack) and NEVER have any problems.   Do you think I can make it? My brother applied for the CF, and got rejected for stating he had asthma. He then applied for the   United States Marine Corp, lied about his asthma, and went through the training without any problems... And I have less asthma then him.   So my question is this: Because I "have" asthma, should I forget about getting in the army? or should I "lie" about my having asthma, and apply anyway? I strongly beleive that the more I get physically fit, the less   I have asthma, and that I can do it, no matter what the doctors say (they tell me that asthma is impossible to cure.)

#7 Are there any videos of Paratrooper/JTF2/Infantry training? If so, where can I view them?

#8 My girlfriend and I hope to stay in Quebec, as we want our children to be perfectly bilingual. How easy is it to remain within the province/with the same unit?

Thats all I have for now. More will come to me later, I'm sure of it.   If you can answer ANY of those questions, I'll be grateful.


Thanks in advance,
evilyves

 

[spenco]

#1 What kind of qualifications do you need to get into JTF2?

#2 Would joining JTF2 hinder my abilities to raise a family?

Do a search this has been answered umpteen times.

#3 Would you consider being a paratrooper the next down the line from that?   I want to serve with some real hardcore soldiers.

Try serving in a regular infantry bn before you decide how "hardcore" you want to be.

#4 I was planning on joining the Royal Grenadier Guards until I finish CEGEP, then joining the regular forces. Is this a bad idea? Will it likely take me more than 1 year to transfer from reserves infantry to regular forces infantry?

Once again questions regarding component transfers have been deal with many, many times.

http://army.ca/forums/threads/21101/post-103986.html#msg103986

#6 I'm going to go out on a limb here and ask this. I have asthma... on paper... What I mean by this is that I had asthma when I was in highschool, and elementary, but I'm alot more physically fit, and endurant now, and I haven't had any problems with it for a VERY long time. Even when I did have asthma, it never hindered my abilities none, aside from making me sound like I was breathing with a whistle in my mouth.   Now, I can run for very long distances, in very cold weather, with my work clothes on (Steel toe boots, ALOT of lothing, and a 10lbs backpack) and NEVER have any problems.   Do you think I can make it? My brother applied for the CF, and got rejected for stating he had asthma. He then applied for the   United States Marine Corp, lied about his asthma, and went through the training without any problems... And I have less asthma then him.   So my question is this: Because I "have" asthma, should I forget about getting in the army? or should I "lie" about my having asthma, and apply anyway? I strongly beleive that the more I get physically fit, the less   I have asthma, and that I can do it, no matter what the doctors say (they tell me that asthma is impossible to cure.)

Read this section of the FAQ.  DON'T, I repeat DON'T lie about your medical history.

http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/21101/post-103980.html#msg103980

#8 My girlfriend and I hope to stay in Quebec, as we want our children to be perfectly bilingual. How easy is it to remain within the province/with the same unit?

Apply for the Vandoos and you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[Ennasa]

My father was in the military.   Both of my parents are french, from Quebec.   I spent the first 5 years of my life in Valcartier. I then spent the next 10 years of my life outside of Quebec attending ENGLISH schools.   We returned to Quebec and I finished my highschool in english.   I am perfectly bilingual, as are my 2 brothers.   Its my personal opinion that you dont have to stay in Quebec to have perfectly bilingual children.
Again...   my opinion  

 

[Yves Butterworth]

ya but Both of us are english. So they wouldnt be speaking french at home. I'm guessing thats why you speak french well, and english well because you wne to school in english, correct?

We want to send our kids to french schools for that reason.


thanks for all that info, I feel rather stupid now lol

 

[Ennasa]

You don't have to feel stupid loll
You can also send your kids to french schools all over the country.  They have french immersion schools everywhere. ( at least I'm pretty sure ).  I don't know if they have laws about attending them like they do in Quebec though, ( for french people attending english schools ). My parents always spoke to us in french at home yes, and I always went to school in english. There are also french communities all over the country, and military bases also have a certain percentage of the population that is french.

Anyways.... its just to say that you dont absolutly have to stay in Quebec for your kids to benifit from both languages.  And the rest of the country is nice.  I have fond memories of my childhood outside of Quebec and I wouldnt change it for anything.  Moving around also showed me that there are different kinds of people everywhere and opened my mind to the different cultures.

There isnt anything wrong with staying in Quebec... Im not trying to say that there is... its just that you arent restricted to one province to be bilingual.  And also that if your military career requires you to leave the province, like if you are offered a better position elsewhere for example, well it is possible to leave. 

Again this is my personnal opinion and you do with it what you like. 

 

[Ghost]

What's the point of being in JTF2 if your not even allowed to brag to everybody about how much ass you kicked.

 

[Yves Butterworth]

I don't want to go for bragging rights. I just want to experience working with the best of the best, and seeing how far I can go. It's a personal mission for me. I am proud of this country, and I want to make myself the best defender of its territory and it's people that I can possibly be.

I am worried about going too far from quebec, because I was born in BC, and my mother, a quebecois wanted me to learn french so she sent me to the french immersion school. Often would I bring a letter home from the teacher, and she'd thought I'd written it. This is when I was in grade 4, so you can get the idea.

I know canada has many different peoples and traditions. I was born in BC, spent half my life there. I've also spent alot of time in New Mexico, and  I've also served on American CAP/AFJROTC camps as staff because I love getting to know different peoples and ideas. I've got a fondness for diversity and thats one of the reasons I love Canada.  We are a land of many cultures, and this country brings out the best of all of those. We're tough and ferrocious when the time comes, but are a very peaceful nation, with goals of improving the lives of other peoples, and improving ours with communal programs such as universal health care. I love this country, and one way of being able to learn about it, and be a better citizen is if you are able to speak the language of it's people. So that's why I was thinking of staying in Quebec, where they can learn very good french, and very good english through us. Hope that makes sense, and gives you an idea of what I'm talking about.

 

[Ennasa]

I understand what you are talking about. As my case was the opposite of yours (my parents being french), you have made it more clear as to what your intentions are. Im glad to see that both languages are very important for some people.   I have a 6 year old daughter in grade 1 in an english school.   I speak to her in french at home, she goes to school in english, and for some strange reason she reads better in french then she does in english which I find fantastic     My son (who is only 3) will get the same treatment.   French at home, school in english.   Im just hoping to be in the forces before he starts school lolll.

Anyways... I guess thats all  

 

[Ghost]

Well if your looking for info on JTF 2

http://www.forces.gc.ca/dcds/units/jtf2/default_e.asp

About the only book I could find on JTF 2

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/item.asp?Item=978189589618&Catalog=Books&Lang=en&Section=books&zxac=1