From one new member to the others....

[2ndChoiceName]

Hello,

I am a relatively new member on this forum, and I thought I would share a checklist of things for new members to do on this forum, and especially members who are not in the Forces, like me. These are things I have gathered from reading, making a few mistakes first hand, and checking out the last few posts of those members who have been banned. This is definitely going to overlap with the main thread for new members, but I think I can add a few things.

1) Try and keep your mouth shut if you can. Not everything really needs to be said. Yes, that may be how some of the army.ca veterans do it, but they've earned it.
2) Stay out of the weapons forums. You may have something to say, or something to ask about the C6/7/8/9, whatever, but again, a lot of the more "seasoned" members don't like it, and it's probably not necessary.
3) If you feel like you've been wronged or insulted, just "walk" away. As a new member, it's probably not a good idea to get into an argument with one of the more senior members on here. Even if in your mind, or reality, they are in the wrong, it's still just not a good idea.
4) SEARCH. This is one of the main things the other members get mad at us newbies for. If you don't know, search. Keep searching for a while, and then, if you still don't find anything, ask yourself if this really needs to be asked. If it does, then create a new post.
5) Spell correctly and use proper punctuation. It's not even that hard, you have the little squiggly lines to tell you when you misspelled something, and it makes others take you more seriously.
6) Don't get ahead of yourself. If you're not even sworn in yet, don't go asking about Para, Recce, Sniper, courses etc. And if you really want to know, then just search, because, almost guaranteed, some other newbie has asked the question.


So that's all that I can think of. If I come across as a d*ck or this post is redundant (I know there's a lot of overlap with the main thread) please let me know and I will go away forever.

-2ndChoiceName

 

[Sizzle709]

This is probably one of the best posts I've read on here.

We should have this stickied within the forum.

 

[2ndChoiceName]

The bad part about this subforum is that none of the senior members are on it, and aren't here to give their approval or answers to the junior members, so this forum is basically just a bunch of newbies asking each other if they know anything. Oh well.

 

[Motard]

Which is a plus for this section, you can ask anything without someone making a condescending remark because the topic may have been discussed 5 years ago.

Trying to search for info on this forum is awful, 90% of searches just end up with me finding the question I'm looking for but then some senior member just insults the grammar used or says to use the search function without posting a link to the thread which has the info being requested. Then the post just degrades into personal attacks.

Don't get me wrong, there is still some great info here and some really helpful members.

 

[Monsoon]

Trying to search for info on this forum is awful, 90% of searches just end up with me finding the question I'm looking for but then some senior member just insults the grammar used or says to use the search function without posting a link to the thread which has the info being requested. Then the post just degrades into personal attacks.

You're absolutely right - the way to search this site is using Google, not the built-in search engine. Enter the query [site:army.ca "How do I become a JTF2 sniper?"] and you'll actually get the answer, rather than the questions or the snippy responses by long-term members. "site:X" limits Google to search a specific web site.

 

[Vanguard48]

Awesome post 2ndChoice!!!

 

[armyvern]

The bad part about this subforum is that none of the senior members are on it, and aren't here to give their approval or answers to the junior members, so this forum is basically just a bunch of newbies asking each other if they know anything. Oh well.

Lots of senior members actually do come in here. Many stay away due to frustration usually caused, as you've posted, by seeing the same questions posed again and again due to lack of searching.

There is a post on the site about how to "search". I'll go dig for it and post it in this thread. Many do not realize they can drill further into the search function making it turn, hopefully, some better results for them.

Anyway, good post.  Milpoints inbound.



Edited to add link to the functionality post:

Need HELP figuring out Army.ca functionality??

 

[2ndChoiceName]

Thanks everyone for the positive response! If you can think of anything else to add just post it here and I'll edit the Original Post to include them.

-2C

 

[Tyson Fox]

2ndChoiceName, some of your suggestions are the worst I've ever read.

1) It's a forum, you can say whatever you want, no one here has "earned" the right to say things that you can't. As long as you keep things respectful.
2) If you want to talk about weapons, go to the weapons forum.
3) If you feel you've been insulted or wronged, stand up for yourself, because personal attacks aren't on here.

Most everything else you said is pretty spot on, search, try to spell semi-coherently. Just don't let people force you around because they have more milpoints than you.

 

[MSEng314]

2ndChoiceName, some of your suggestions are the worst I've ever read.

1) It's a forum, you can say whatever you want, no one here has "earned" the right to say things that you can't. As long as you keep things respectful.
2) If you want to talk about weapons, go to the weapons forum.
3) If you feel you've been insulted or wronged, stand up for yourself, because personal attacks aren't on here.

Most everything else you said is pretty spot on, search, try to spell semi-coherently. Just don't let people force you around because they have more milpoints than you.

I think maybe you misunderstood those.

As a starting point, people who are new to the military or this forum should listen to the senior member who have 20+ years of service, guaranteed they know what they are talking about and most new members do not, so talk less and listen more. Same thing for point 2; just because you played Call of Duty doesn't mean you should be discussing weapon mods and tactics with guys who have first hand experience from combat overseas. Finally don't argue via post, if you feel you've been wronged take it to PM's or to one of the mods.

Hopefully that helps clarify a little bit.

 

[2ndChoiceName]

Thanks, MSEng314,

You pretty much got it right on. Number one, that's basically what I meant, talk less listen more. The weapons forums, I just feel like that forum probably gets a lot of pointless posts because the guns and weapons is usually where there is a lot of misinformation and a lot of people who think they know what they're talking about. And yeah, don't argue out in the open, or at all really, because it really doesn't help anything.

 

[Tyson Fox]

Fair enough I suppose. Your original post, however, actually says something very different than just: "Try to be more receptive." As well, I don't understand this stigma that people who aren't in the military can't knowledgeable about weapons. Assault rifles and pistols aren't restricted to us. They want to go to the weapons forum to talk weapons, nothing should hinder them. Finally, you should completely argue with people here on things you care about or else you'll get walked over constantly. If someone says something against site guidelines, the mods will handle it on there own, but less than that, it's only you looking out for you.

 

[2ndChoiceName]

Yeah, the "stay out of the weapons forums" wasn't really meant to say that civilians don't know guns, its just that most civilians don't have first-hand experience with firearms in the applications that the military uses them. And as for the arguing, it's meant to say that if someone says something that offends you, just walk away. I guess this is just where you and I differ, but I say just walk away.

-2C

 

[Tyson Fox]

Guns only have one base application, wouldn't you say? There are plenty of gun enthusiasts out there that can hold their own in conversation against us servicemen. Anyhow, it don't matter to much on an internet forum whether you walk away when people offend you or not, but in the real world, especially in the forces, you'll learn that there will be times to "sit down and shut up" like you put in your motto there, and there will be times to pipe up and not allow yourself to be marginalized. Pick your battles. You are joining the reserves, correct?

 

[2ndChoiceName]

Yes, guns do have one base application, to cause damage to a target, but what I mean by the application used by the military is being carried for long periods of time and used more or less explicitly to train to kill or to kill people. And yes, but a lot of the stuff on this forum is just better not to cause a kerfuffel about (let's see spell check figure that one out!). And yes, I have applied for the reserves. Just for an example of civilians in the weapons forums, a few months ago, I posted in there asking why the C6 ejects out the bottom. I am fairly educated in guns and their different styles of operation. For the most part I got a generally ambivalent response and just ended up with "because it does." as a final answer. It didn't do much to answer my question, and possibly made me less reputable on here, and later I found myself thinking that it was probably better to have not posted at all.

-2C

 

[Tyson Fox]

Yeah, we do carry guns for long distances, and use them to execute lethal force on persons, but I don't know if I'd agree that means you are knowledgeable about guns. I have a story personally, about how I'm in the military, but I only know enough about guns to use them properly and safely, point in case, you mentioned the C6, but I don't even know what kind of weapon that is. Anyway, you hear anything about the reserves yet?

-And I believe it's spelled: "kerfluffle"

 

[2ndChoiceName]

Yes, but all my knowledge about firearms is almost entirely theoretical, while your experience with them is more practical application. But yes, there are most definitely civilians who know more about firearms than military members. And as for the reserves, I'm almost done the processing (only have my Medical left to do and my references to come back clean) and then the file goes over to the GGHG to stack up against all the other applicants. Hopefully I'll be on the Winter weekend BMQ course.

 

[Tyson Fox]

Well, hopefully you'll get your chance to play with all the tools of the trade. I don't know what weekend Basic will be like, but my reserve BMQ was 9 weeks instead of the 13 at St. Jean, Reg force stand, and all that meant was we were more stressed out because we were trying to learn just as much in less time. Don't know if that will translate over to yours. Good luck, hopefully they accept you.

 

[2ndChoiceName]

Yep, hopefully it all works out well. I enjoyed having this little conversation with you and thank you for keeping it civil and respectful.

Regards,

-2ndChoiceName

 

[Johansen]

Your reserve BMQ was 9 weeks full time? Someone correct me if I'm wrong, and I'm fairly certain I'm not, but reserve BMQ is a total of 20 days. How did you manage to get on a 9 week full time course? Also, OP, great post.