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Hello, before I left for BMQ I was in here all the bloody time. Now that BMQ is over and I have come to waste away the days on PRETC in Borden I will get right back to it I suppose. To new members, this site is a great source of info if you're willing to take the time to read it.
So, how is BMQ you ask>?
Week 1 is miserable, all you do is push papers and stand there in your civi cloths looking like idiots while others march smartly around you. They throw 70 strangers into a floor together and tempers begin to flare quick. Your instructors are not TOO hard on you because your just a bunch of FNGs, don't worry that changes real quick.
Week 2 is more of the same, accept now your properly dressed idiots walking around and getting screamed at and jacked up. Now I don't even remember what I was learning in week 2 but you do a LOT of classroom sitting with slideshows and not falling asleep is very difficult. You will get your first PT and Inspection and you will be miserable at it. Your timings will be impossible to meet and eating becomes the best time of the day.
Weeks 2 - 4 are pretty much all the same accept on week 4 you finally get the hell out of the MEGA and go to Ottawa so you will all LOVE that, including the stop at Tims on the way. Oh heaven.
Friday week 4 you get your Cap Brass if you pass your Drill Test which almost everyone does granted that you are not all completely useless. I saw ONE platoon wearing 5s without their Brass and did feel quite sorry for them. Now if you have been super good (unlikely) or your instructors and just merciful then you will be let out for your first weekend out. It will be magical, trumpets will sound, angels descend from the clouds and so on. BE GOOD or else your in big trouble come Monday morning PT.
In my platoon, someone stole some pants and as a result we got to go running with the Company Commander, this would have been fun if not for the fact that he was 6'8 and took strides the length of a soccer field. Keep your guys out of trouble, if you know they are in the wrong, tell them or else you will all be paying for it!
Week 6 you get your rifles, dear god there were some guys I did not trust with the thing but oh well. Week 7 will be ALL weapons and drill classes, its tiring but you're sure as hell gonna know your stoppages.
Week 8 is exams, weapons exam, drill test, Topo exam....they are all pretty basic as long as you have been paying attention in class and can remember the information.
Week 9 is first week in the Field, you live in the barracks and just spend the day outside, its a lot of fun and you do your 13km march then dig a trench in under 6 min after doing the fireman's carry. Try not to stress about this, my platoon had a 5'1 120 pound woman who finished the march no problem, but then again she was just sweet in general.
Week 10 is CBRN (gas gas gas) and you will spend all of it in class and practicing putting on your suits and surviving in a contaminated environment. Its bloody hot. Friday you do the gas chamber which is a lot of fun, then you get to go shower all the crap off your skin and have it burn your eyes.
Week 11 SUCKS, no lie. You live outside in little tarps and there is NO escape from the cold or wind or rain or snow. You do Topo from 8am till 11pm and a couple of our guys got hypothermia and had to be taken out of there. Then that same night all our shelters blew away or were flooded and we had to go sleep in the gym. We upgraded to 10 man tents after that night. You will get VERY LITTLE SLEEP due to all the duties, raids on your camp, classes, and patrols and sentry jobs that have to be done all through the night. Its a great learning experience but it sucks. The only thing your gonna want when you get back is food, and sleep. PS you won't even be allowed to leave the base that Friday night, your ordered to stay in and take it easy. That however does NOT stop you from going down to the Bistro and getting loaded, so I don't know why they do it, but hey.
Week 12, you do missions and simulations ALL day, 4-5 a day and they all last 4-5 hours. Do the math on how much sleep you will be getting eh? One of the missions you will do is "FOB Security" where you just stand post at various positions in the camp and keep watch for the enemy. Or you work the gate and keep tabs on the vehicles going in and out (usually driven by your instructors going to Tims for lunch, curb your hate into something productive). The final simulation is super cool with lots of flares and artillery sims and grenades going off and gas everywhere. THEN you get to leave and it feels pretty damn good.
Week 13 is parade practice all week, with lots of ADMIN (the process of kicking your ass out of CFLRS and to your next posting) Your instructors are all pretty relaxed and friendly and on your grad day they will be in that Proud Parent mode. Its an amazing feeling to be done after the grad parade, personally I was my platoons commander for the parade and my PO had a talk with me after that was pretty moving. You will feel so happy just that you have made your instructors proud cause as much as they are hard on you, you will respect them and love them for it by the end.
So here I am, at Borden after my 13 weeks, if any of you guys have any questions, I'm fresh out the door so I can most likely give you a pretty updated answer. Feel free to message me.
Cheers everyone, Kyle
So, how is BMQ you ask>?
Week 1 is miserable, all you do is push papers and stand there in your civi cloths looking like idiots while others march smartly around you. They throw 70 strangers into a floor together and tempers begin to flare quick. Your instructors are not TOO hard on you because your just a bunch of FNGs, don't worry that changes real quick.
Week 2 is more of the same, accept now your properly dressed idiots walking around and getting screamed at and jacked up. Now I don't even remember what I was learning in week 2 but you do a LOT of classroom sitting with slideshows and not falling asleep is very difficult. You will get your first PT and Inspection and you will be miserable at it. Your timings will be impossible to meet and eating becomes the best time of the day.
Weeks 2 - 4 are pretty much all the same accept on week 4 you finally get the hell out of the MEGA and go to Ottawa so you will all LOVE that, including the stop at Tims on the way. Oh heaven.
Friday week 4 you get your Cap Brass if you pass your Drill Test which almost everyone does granted that you are not all completely useless. I saw ONE platoon wearing 5s without their Brass and did feel quite sorry for them. Now if you have been super good (unlikely) or your instructors and just merciful then you will be let out for your first weekend out. It will be magical, trumpets will sound, angels descend from the clouds and so on. BE GOOD or else your in big trouble come Monday morning PT.
In my platoon, someone stole some pants and as a result we got to go running with the Company Commander, this would have been fun if not for the fact that he was 6'8 and took strides the length of a soccer field. Keep your guys out of trouble, if you know they are in the wrong, tell them or else you will all be paying for it!
Week 6 you get your rifles, dear god there were some guys I did not trust with the thing but oh well. Week 7 will be ALL weapons and drill classes, its tiring but you're sure as hell gonna know your stoppages.
Week 8 is exams, weapons exam, drill test, Topo exam....they are all pretty basic as long as you have been paying attention in class and can remember the information.
Week 9 is first week in the Field, you live in the barracks and just spend the day outside, its a lot of fun and you do your 13km march then dig a trench in under 6 min after doing the fireman's carry. Try not to stress about this, my platoon had a 5'1 120 pound woman who finished the march no problem, but then again she was just sweet in general.
Week 10 is CBRN (gas gas gas) and you will spend all of it in class and practicing putting on your suits and surviving in a contaminated environment. Its bloody hot. Friday you do the gas chamber which is a lot of fun, then you get to go shower all the crap off your skin and have it burn your eyes.
Week 11 SUCKS, no lie. You live outside in little tarps and there is NO escape from the cold or wind or rain or snow. You do Topo from 8am till 11pm and a couple of our guys got hypothermia and had to be taken out of there. Then that same night all our shelters blew away or were flooded and we had to go sleep in the gym. We upgraded to 10 man tents after that night. You will get VERY LITTLE SLEEP due to all the duties, raids on your camp, classes, and patrols and sentry jobs that have to be done all through the night. Its a great learning experience but it sucks. The only thing your gonna want when you get back is food, and sleep. PS you won't even be allowed to leave the base that Friday night, your ordered to stay in and take it easy. That however does NOT stop you from going down to the Bistro and getting loaded, so I don't know why they do it, but hey.
Week 12, you do missions and simulations ALL day, 4-5 a day and they all last 4-5 hours. Do the math on how much sleep you will be getting eh? One of the missions you will do is "FOB Security" where you just stand post at various positions in the camp and keep watch for the enemy. Or you work the gate and keep tabs on the vehicles going in and out (usually driven by your instructors going to Tims for lunch, curb your hate into something productive). The final simulation is super cool with lots of flares and artillery sims and grenades going off and gas everywhere. THEN you get to leave and it feels pretty damn good.
Week 13 is parade practice all week, with lots of ADMIN (the process of kicking your ass out of CFLRS and to your next posting) Your instructors are all pretty relaxed and friendly and on your grad day they will be in that Proud Parent mode. Its an amazing feeling to be done after the grad parade, personally I was my platoons commander for the parade and my PO had a talk with me after that was pretty moving. You will feel so happy just that you have made your instructors proud cause as much as they are hard on you, you will respect them and love them for it by the end.
So here I am, at Borden after my 13 weeks, if any of you guys have any questions, I'm fresh out the door so I can most likely give you a pretty updated answer. Feel free to message me.
Cheers everyone, Kyle
