trades with the armed forces

[Phantom]

hey everyone,

I have a friend who is taking a heavy duty mechanics apprenticeship with the Canadian army. Says he loves it, the start was real rough but after 4 years he will be fully ticketed. So I was wondering if anyone here has done anything like that and if you did please share your experience.

[CaberTosser]

I was looking into signing up with the CF more than once, though I never did. A few years back they were advertising in some of the trades-related magazines that I get free at plumbing/heating wholesalers. They were offering $20,000 signing bonuses for Journeyman plumbers and tinsmiths (I'm a journeyman plumber/gasfitter). They also had $40,000 signing bonuses for licensed engineers, and I believe it was $100,000 for dentists. These bonuses were payable after completion of 6 or 8 weeks of basic training, and only required a 3 year commitment. Kind of odd to think I'd have already completed that by this point had I opted in. The one thing that stopped me was that I'd have likely been doing maintenance work on decrepit old base buildings instead of heading out to theatre where your adrenalin gets flowing. I suppose I could have gone in for infantry, but the pay cut woulda sucked.

I was an Air Cadet as a kid, and had lots of grandparents and uncles who'd served, so I was always interested in the Forces. If you're up for a challenge and the commitment, you'd be smart to give this a good look. There are plenty of trades to go into that keep you in the rear echelon if you're not interested in "front line varminting". My uncle who's a commercial pilot wished he stayed in the Air Cadets as a kid, he'd have saved lots of $$$ on his licencing and training by sticking it out.

[Ratlander]

I am currently in Halifax taking a military electrician course. I spent 12 years in the infantry and wanted to get a good trade before I retire, so in went the remuster. The military has plenty of different trades to offer, benefits and a good pension plan.

[Rollie]

I know of lots of guys that get the trade in the military then release to take civilian jobs....no debt for school and get paid to learn. The only thing is you have to commit for a few years to get the required courses. What we call our 3's is basic trade 1st yr apprentice then generally 2 yrs of OJT at a unit then the 5's (military version of a journeyman) after that you can get some speciality courses or release and challenge the civilian tickets. Depends on what you want.