Topic: no excuse (bmq tips)

[NavComm]

I agree with just do as your told rule. On my bmq (June05) smokers would not have been allowed to chew nicorette gum, because chewing gum in uniform is not allowed. Consider brining patches.

Also, bringing two pairs of running shoes is a great idea, and I agree with Allan's comments on why you should have two pairs...I suppose you could put one pair with your civvie outfit in the locker and just keep your real civvie shoes in civvie lockup until you get leave?

[atticus]

quick note, im on BMQ right now. Don't bring two pairs of shoes, you don't have the room.
Also smokers aren't allowed to smoke until the end of the day in most platoons here. others you can at lunch or a short break, but not most.

[Sigs Guy]

I just finished my BMQ, and personally the best advice I'd give is always follow what the instructors say no matter what. Always pay close attention to detail, during my BMQ I screwed up on this a few times and this resulted in close to 6 counsellings. Always give it a 110%, don't get too stressed out, especially during the first few weeks, it may seem like BMQ is impossible but once you get into the swing of things it'll get a little bit easier. Whenever you are leaving for Farnham, or have a timing double check that you have eall the kit you need. With inspections have the whole section help each other out to double check to make sure everything was done properly. I remember the week after Farnham I thought I had properly cleaned my kit and didn't bother to double check and got reemed out for it as well as a counselling.

Remember basic is also a learning process, during which I found out were my strengths are, and were I have to improve.

When the instructors are yelling at you, don't take it personally, more then likely they are only trying to help you out. At the end of the course your instructors will get together with you and tell you good luck on your next training phase.

Most importantly always have a sense of humor, if you have a bad day laugh it off and remember tommorrow is a new day. Don't let life get you down.

[Allan Luomala]

Good advice for all future recruits, Futuretrooper. There IS a method to the madness, even though some huggy-kissy leaning social scientist types might not understand that. It has worked, in more or less the same fashion for thousands of years (creating fighting soldiers), so as long as the potential soldier realizes that they are joining the military, and conform to the system, rather than expecting the system to conform to their wants and desires, they will make out OK.

Al

[Mojo Magnum]

I have just graduated from BMQ.  Wednesday of this week the school commander spoke with the graduates.   I was shocked when the first thing he said was......how many of you have been on army.ca since you started the course.   About ten hands went up.   He cautioned us against posting answers to exam questions but mentioned that most of the feedback was positive.

I was challenged by my time at the Mega.  Not so much by the course content but by not knowing what was coming next and wondering just how far the whole thing was gonna go.    Worry was the hardest part.   Now that it's over, I look back and think, "hey, that wasn't so tuff."

now it's on to SQ, I suspect it will be a more challenging experience.
we'll see.

[scottypara]

There's no really good tips... If you go in with good physical fitness and the right mentally it's pretty simple.

For me I'm going week 8, with no PO's and 0 counsulings... just be the quiet guy and do what you are asked to do.

Just can't wait for battle school.

[atticus]

For me I'm going week 8, with no PO's and 0 counsulings... just be the quiet guy and do what you are asked to do.

With some instructors it is impossible to get through with out a single counseling. In my platoon there were crazy counsellings given out for things like spelling a name wrong or having your boots not laced the exact way their sapposed to be and having a fourty degree angle on your bed instead of a 45. Not that these were any of mine, I got through with one counselling, for haveing dirt on the sole of my boot.

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Quote from Mojo Magnum,
He cautioned us against posting answers to exam questions but mentioned that most of the feedback was positive

Anyone reading this from the Mega can be assured that those answers and the poster would quickly be "deleted/slashed/banned/quartered/etc......."

[Beadwindow 7]

whats this counseling.Must be the new army.

Counselling...Isn't that were you lie on a couch, talking to some guy with glasses and a beard, and tell him where you feel really uncomfortable, and he tells you that you're normal and nothings wrong with you, and that everyone loves you?

Whatever happened to marking time, pushups, rifle PT, leg raises, and other forms of "positive reinforcement".

[atticus]

Whatever happened to marking time, pushups, rifle PT, leg raises, and other forms of "positive reinforcement".

That still happens, though that depends on your instuctors. Mine gave that plus a counciling to certain people (depending what it was). Usually you get a counsilling for forgeting something or having unsecure kit, but sometimes they go overboard. Seven counsilings and your recoursed or get released. All they did for me was make me paranoid.

[Allan Luomala]

"Counselling" is usually just discussing the student's shortcomings in a given area, with possible solutions to improve, and an outcome if the shortcomings aren't resolved: "Pte Bloggins, your weapon is dirty. You have been shown how to clean it in class, and if you need assistance ask a fellow soldier or a DS. If you do not make an improvement in the level of cleanliness, you will be placed on Verbal/Written/Final Warning. Do you understand?"

The Red Chit system is still in effect (in most training centres as far as I know), but not to the ridculous level where it had been in the past. It had turned into a joke, and had lost all effectiveness. The "chit" is just another tool in the belt of the instructors to record where a student needs to improve, and if there is no improvement, it is a record of that failing, and the paperwork can begin to remove them from the system. The way it had been abused in the past, people didn't "fear" the chits, and in fact wore them like a badge of honour. In other words, they were a hollow threat. If used effectively, they can help a student see where they need to improve, and as well, can assist the course staff in seeing where student's need help. An example of this would be where the majority of the soldiers in a section get chitted for not cleaning their weapons properly. The DS could put 2 and 2 together and realize that that section was probably never taught how to properly clean weapons, and require remedial training.

Al

[Flower]

NavComm mentioned something about chewing gum not being allowed in the military.
IMO if it comes in ur IMP eat it... ok.... Maybe not the honey.. Or the potatoes.. Everything else is good though even the gum..

[FourNinerZero]

Here is some of my basic tips...more to keep you sane than on how to make your inspection go easier...besides most of thoes have alerady been covered. here goes, FourNinerZeros tips for BMQ.

dont be stupid
use common sense( this is in conjunction with # 1   )
your weapon is never clean enough  
meet timings
dont piss of the warrent
avoid fuckups  
never give up a chance to relax  
dont be uber serious  
have a sense of humor the darker the better  
 have a few buddies. be good to them
gomer pyle does exist. be nice to him. he gets a weapon too.  
no eyeballin'  
dont purposly frig with the master bombadier's inspection  
sleep as long as you can     
learn to shower fast
a night out involving large amounts of booze will do you wonders
yelling is part of life now. get used to it.
dont buy gucci stuff with no purpose. get gucci kit to make life easier.
dont be stupid.it needs to be said twice  
Looks are everything.always make it look like your doing something important.

[Sigs Guy]

"Counselling" is usually just discussing the student's shortcomings in a given area, with possible solutions to improve, and an outcome if the shortcomings aren't resolved: "Pte Bloggins, your weapon is dirty. You have been shown how to clean it in class, and if you need assistance ask a fellow soldier or a DS. If you do not make an improvement in the level of cleanliness, you will be placed on Verbal/Written/Final Warning. Do you understand?"

That wasn't what counselling were for during my BMQ. Most likely a recruit would get a counselling for having insecure kit, not shaving, failing to go through the chain of command, etc. I got a counselling once for not having my weapon cleaned up to standard even though I ran out of cleaning supplies, and was never given any of the options above, only a counselling. As well a counselling can get you recoursed, the limit for my course was seven counsellings.

[Hoover]

7 got you a warrant's inspection on my course.

[RowdyBowdy]

When I went through last year they called it "directives". 7 directives and you were recoursed.

[SoF]

gomer pyle does exist. be nice to him. he gets a weapon too.   

Lol gomer pyle. How does that work. Is gomer the first person to F up or do they just pick them if they don't like the way they look.

[Mojo Magnum]

Gomer is the nutbar who never should have been allowed near a weapon, let alone live ammo.  We had two.  One shot at the wrong target (more than once), shot down range when there was no target to shoot at and then decided it would be a good idea to argue with the weapons instructors about the whole affair.

and somehow, he graduated right beside the rest of us......
gomer lives to strike another day.

[FourNinerZero]

Lol gomer pyle. How does that work. Is gomer the first person to F up or do they just pick them if they don't like the way they look.

Gomer is the guy who perpetually makes stupid mistakes, is inept and incompetent, and should never be allowed near sharp or dangerous objects...ie pencils, dummy ammo, possibly even the plastic coating on the ends of shoelaces, let alone Weapons or explosives.

[SemperFidelis]

You're allowed to chew gum in the field.  You get gum in your breakfast IMPs. Personal suggestions as far as IMPs go...the Hashbrown & sausage is good

[Hoover]

Go for the salsa omlette.

Also, tossing 10 ham steak with mustard sauce IMPs into the pressure cooker at 0500 will make you a real hit within your tent, especially when your buddies have been up for more than 24 hours and  know they probably have 24 more hours to go.

[Allan Luomala]

The Hashbrown and Sausage were good, Lasagna, Ravioli and .....the Turkey Vegetables...apart from that, I cant really say much for the IMPs...pretty shitty, but i hear they have different ones for different years...so thats a relief!

I don't want to be one of "those" and tell you about "back when I was a young guy....", but if you are going to complain abour our field rations, I would first suggest you look at the competition (US Army, French, Dutch, Germans, etc) before you complain. Based on what I have seen, ours are FAR superior to the standard rations issued to any NATO military. There might be specialized rations that are better, but on the whole, no comparison. Someone correct me if I am wrong on this one...... Yes, the French get wine, but that is to make up for the lack of quality/quanity of the rest....

If you are a very picky eater, you are pretty much screwed, but that is too bad, so sad. These things have been chosen specially for their nutrional content, longevity (shelf life), feedback from years gone by, etc. Saying they are shitty is like saying McDonalds is shitty, Boston Pizza is shitty, etc. Give specific examples of what is so shitty about them (worms in bread, big chunks of fat in desert, moldy, etc).

The alternative is not eating when you are in the field, and let's see how you make out then (If you don't eat, you don't crap. If you don't crap, you die....).

Al

[Mojo Magnum]

I'll take hey boxes over IMP's anyday of the week.

[Mojo Magnum]

I am currently on my Sig Op MOC appren training in Kingston.  After rereading this thread and having come to know and work with many of the peopel that have responded to this thread over the past year, I must say, this is a very cool experience.  Last September I was sitting in my kitchen posting questions and fears about BMQ.  Now I'm a BMQ, SQ, 404, winter warfare qualified private.  Still a little fish in the pond but..man, I have had so many experiences over the past year.  I am truly happy with my decision to join the forces.  I have made many new friends (and at 35 years of age that ain't always easy), I've gained many new role models and individuals who inspire me, and damn, I'm still having a ball.

Looking back, the most difficult times are the ones I remember and am proudest of.  Because we worked together and got through it. 

[Amsdel]

Sorry if this was mentioned before.

Tip: When on BMQ, DO NOT LAUGH at anyone else in the ranks.  At my BMQ yesterday we had someone who laughed at a fellow Pte when he kept making mistakes.  Since we all make mistakes, that's pretty damn low.