Jules, let me try a different approach.
Having recruits use cellphones isn't going to destroy the Canadian Forces. There i said it!
What a lot of us are trying to argue and hammer home is that taking recruits "stuff" away is a way to indoctrinate them and preparing them for having no access to that stuff. That includes all the "minor snowballing emergencies" which honestly aren't as big of a deal as people make them out to be.
I don't want to say "You don't know what it's like until you experience it, maaaaaan" but it's true. Sitting at basic training may not seem like a big deal and you can say "I'm sure I can easily function without my cellphone/stuff" but until you have to you don't really know. "We" have seen lots of people literally go to crap because they don't have their stuff. It plays a huge psychological factor in a lot of people. You would be surprised at how very miniscule things can psychologically effect someone.
We sent a Sgt home from Afghanistan because he couldn't disconnect from the internet. He kept sneaking off during duty to check his mail. Lot of wasted money there.
We deprive recruits of sleep because it will be something they face in their career down the road and they need to experience it in a training environment first.
Different courses deprive soldiers of food (quantity and quality) to prepare them for modified diets they may face.
We put weight on soldiers backs and make them do rucksack marches to prepare them for carrying weight around on their back in the future.
We yell and scream (in a fashion) so that when stress levels are through the roof and everything is chaotic and someone yells GET THE %&#$ OUT OF THE WAY the person reacts and moves- not sit down and get teary eyed because someone raised their voice at them.
We give recruits 5 minutes to do an 8 minute job to jack up their stress levels. See who the leaders are, see who the followers are, see who turns into a bag of poop.
We do inspections and catch you trying to take short cuts to teach you NOT to take short cuts and to do the job right the first time.
Disconnecting with your family, the news, social media, electronics and free time is a major thing soldiers are forced to deal with on training and during operations. If a soldier is too bent out of shape because he or she hasn't spoken to their loved ones in a couple of days then they won't see the little wire half burried in the sand they're about to kick. Or realize that they didn't take their mag off when they unloaded their rifle and are about to fire off their action into a tent wall.
This is actually a much bigger issue than recruit school. We as a society are progressively finding it more and more difficult to disconnect from "things".
You mentioned it's easier for recruits to deal with some issues on their own. The same recruits that don't follow simple orders (Don't use your cell until X time). They lack discipline and self-control.
The problem is the same troops take advantage of the "deal with it on your own" approach where upon every little thing becomes an emergency and you can bet your beret they will invent ALL kinds of "issues" they need to deal with if it means they get time away from PT, training, cleaning weapons, watchful gaze of their instructors.
You may not see it from your perspective, and being new to the CF that's totally understandable. Instructors HAVE seen it. It's the same reason why we know that you guys hide stuff under your pillows and in your boots during inspection. We've dealt with it in the past so so we know what to expect.
