OldSolduer
Army.ca Relic
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So what would y'all say about Regina? I will wait....
I dislike RMC
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UH OH UH OH
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It's the city that rhymes with FUN!
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lol, not mine, my wife's. She tells it with far more panache, but most of the time couldn't believe she was paying $20k a year for over loaded classes, general lack of support, and administrative failures that would make the GoC blush. It was amateur hour in the worst ways. I'd be embarrassed to have some kind of volunteer organization that poorly run. We've got a few post secondary schools between us, and it was far and away the worst by a long shot.
{Imagine for one fabulous moment a gif of Coach from LetterKenny kicking a garbage can yelling 'Embarrassing'}
stoker dave
Full Member
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OK, I have had a few beers. Pardon what follows. I am an RMC grad from many decades ago. I think one of the root problems with RMC is that it doesn't know what it wants to be.
I welcome the Arbour report and think a fundamental review of RMC's role and purpose is needed. That review should allow RMC to stand or fall based on its merit.
For the original poster: first year at RMC is awful. Second year is pretty bad. But then it gets less worse. By the end it you will find it tolerable. Hang in there. If you really hate everything about it, leave right away.
- It wants to be bound to tradition from its founding but wants to be modern.
- It wants to provide an education comparable to civilian universities but wants to train junior officers.
- It wants to be demanding (physically, emotionally, psychologically) but wants to mollycoddle.
- It wants everyone to have an extremely high level of physical fitness but doesn't want that to interfere with other aspects of the college.
- It wants everyone to learn the art and science of military leadership but doesn't want that to interfere with other aspects of the college.
- It wants everyone to excel at academics but doesn't want that to interfere with other aspects of the college.
- It wants everyone to be bilingual but doesn't want that to interfere with other aspects of the college.
- It wants an academic staff to do cutting-edge research but is tied to DND's requirements (which are often decades behind the current technology).
I welcome the Arbour report and think a fundamental review of RMC's role and purpose is needed. That review should allow RMC to stand or fall based on its merit.
For the original poster: first year at RMC is awful. Second year is pretty bad. But then it gets less worse. By the end it you will find it tolerable. Hang in there. If you really hate everything about it, leave right away.
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
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Halifax Tar
Army.ca Fixture
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That highlighted bit.
A big part of the problem, and its not just RMC, is that we seem to think we can create a leader. So we give people "qualifications" and call then leaders. Its ridiculous.
We cannot, all stop, create a leader. Absolutely not. Its a ingrained character trait, not something one simply becomes with a ring and certificate. At best we can hone and fine tune the preexisting character trait.
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
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Now you've opened a can of worms
Asking Whether Leaders Are Born or Made Is the Wrong Question
Are leaders born or made? When I pose this question to executives or HR professionals, the vast majority say that leaders are made; that is, leadership is something one can learn. Yet researchers have found traits, such as extraversion and intelligence, which differentiate leaders from others. This seems to imply that we can identify future leaders by looking at their traits – but we must be cautious when drawing such conclusions.
So are leaders born or made? What is this question really asking? If it is asking whether someone will emerge as a leader among a group of peers, then those types of leaders are born. But if it is asking whether someone will perform effectively in a leadership position, then that is dependent on the context, the type of job, and the person’s ability to develop leadership skills. This cannot be predicted by their traits.
Unfortunately, we often choose our leaders based on traits such as extraversion, charisma, and intelligence (or perceived intelligence). And then we wonder why their performance does not live up to our expectations.
Asking Whether Leaders Are Born or Made Is the Wrong Question
The traits that help us get promoted aren’t the ones that make us effective managers.
hbr.org
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Leaders are both IMHO.
Much like forging a knife, you can easily make it out of whatever material you'd like... but a piece of steel is optimal. That raw material is still raw material unless it's refined.
Conversely, I can fashion a workable, aesthetically pleasing knife our of resin, but it may not hold an edge that well or be as resilient as the steel knife.
Much like forging a knife, you can easily make it out of whatever material you'd like... but a piece of steel is optimal. That raw material is still raw material unless it's refined.
Conversely, I can fashion a workable, aesthetically pleasing knife our of resin, but it may not hold an edge that well or be as resilient as the steel knife.
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
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Knives aside, I find it ironic that our leaders don't actually ever get much formal training, or exposure to leadership theory, which is a huge field of study world wide.
And it shows, sometimes ....
Halifax Tar
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Knives aside, I find it ironic that our leaders don't actually ever get much formal training, or exposure to leadership theory, which is a huge field of study world wide.
And it shows, sometimes ....
You mean leading a morning 5K 3 times a week isn't leadership?
Halifax Tar
Army.ca Fixture
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I think we have lots of people with the leader characteristic. But we are bad at recognizing that and growing it.
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You have acknowledged an issue and now you need to decide how to deal with it.
I don‘t know how exactly releases work for RMC but normally it takes 6 months.
This is what I would do:
1. Talk to upper years to see if it gets better. You are done your first year in about a month.
2. book an appointment with the release section to see what you would owe and how long the process will take.
3. Apply as a transfer student to the university you would go to. This will cost $120 or so. As an Engineering student it is important to do this after first year, because if you do it later a lot of the courses won’t transfer and you have wasted time and money. Having an acceptance will improve your chances for a release by September rather than October if they follow the 6 month process.
4. Decide if you can afford the release or if you think it will be a better atmosphere going forward.
I am not sure what the pilot training is like, however, I think having an RMC background with all of the extra curricular’s will prepare you for that training. Every year you are in school is one less year you owe as a pilot. It will also mean an earlier retirement by 4 or 5 years.
6 months after your release you can most likely reapply for the ROTP position. If you get it, you get some of the benefits, if you don’t, oh well.
I would honestly stay the course for a bunch of reasons, but quick access to my wings wouldn’t be one of them. The pilot backlog is insane from what I read and could be another level of frustration for you as you are on BTL waiting x years to qualify for your Lt’s.
As an Engineering student you need to make the choice sooner rather than later. The profession has an accreditation process for each school and this is why the majority of courses don’t transfer between schools smoothly.
I don‘t know how exactly releases work for RMC but normally it takes 6 months.
This is what I would do:
1. Talk to upper years to see if it gets better. You are done your first year in about a month.
2. book an appointment with the release section to see what you would owe and how long the process will take.
3. Apply as a transfer student to the university you would go to. This will cost $120 or so. As an Engineering student it is important to do this after first year, because if you do it later a lot of the courses won’t transfer and you have wasted time and money. Having an acceptance will improve your chances for a release by September rather than October if they follow the 6 month process.
4. Decide if you can afford the release or if you think it will be a better atmosphere going forward.
I am not sure what the pilot training is like, however, I think having an RMC background with all of the extra curricular’s will prepare you for that training. Every year you are in school is one less year you owe as a pilot. It will also mean an earlier retirement by 4 or 5 years.
6 months after your release you can most likely reapply for the ROTP position. If you get it, you get some of the benefits, if you don’t, oh well.
I would honestly stay the course for a bunch of reasons, but quick access to my wings wouldn’t be one of them. The pilot backlog is insane from what I read and could be another level of frustration for you as you are on BTL waiting x years to qualify for your Lt’s.
As an Engineering student you need to make the choice sooner rather than later. The profession has an accreditation process for each school and this is why the majority of courses don’t transfer between schools smoothly.
Unless things have changed, obligatory service is "reset" once Wings are awarded. So, an RMC grad would owe 5 years of service for the subsidized education (during which OJT / pilot training would occur), and subsequently owe another 7 (?) years of service after Wings. While certainly pensionable, attendance at RMC will not shorten service owed after Wings grad. **
As other grads have noted, 1st year really sucks (especially for engineers), but the following years suck less, as you get used to the pace, and are granted more privileges with seniority.
** my info is 10+ years old, so happy to be corrected if this has changed.
edited for brevity
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FTFY...its a grind.
OldSolduer
Army.ca Relic
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Embrace the suck bro.....
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I thought 3rd year was the most terrible one…. Fourth year was busy but fun and interesting.
Hey I'm a student at RMC in 2nd year and I was basically in your situation wanting to VR, but right now I'm living my best life.
Since you're a first-year, there are room inspections like you mentioned, and the drill practices and stuff, which can be very stressful. Just wait about a month and after BMOQ in the summer, the feeling you have right now will completely change. There will only be walk-in inspections like once a week ( I say walk-in, but they will look at your room for like 5 seconds), your uniforms dress inspections? like 5s are gonna be so chill, Your com-secs are not going to care since you're not a first year. Drill practice, I'm assuming you're saying the drill competitions or PD? The drill competitions are useless, and I hate it too, but I guess you just gotta do it. For PD, all our PD classes this semester. For weekend activities, I'm assuming you're talking about duty weekends? I don't think we had a lot this semester or was it your flight stuff? because first year you have a lot of flight activities and you're kinda forced to stuff, whereas in 2nd year they don't care. Unless you really want to do engineering, maybe think of switching to business lol, because if you're a pilot, you won't really use your degree. I can tell you other stuff that I can't tell you in the forum as it can be bad, but what I want to say is after this month and your first year, life will get REALLY different. I regret that I overthought about everything last semester about school and people, but after 2nd year hit with much freedom, I didn't overthink everything, life has been really easy
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Hmmm not true. Undergrad engineering taught me a discipline and work ethics that went a long way during pilot training. That discipline allowed me to focus on what was important and the work ethics to put the efforts when I needed to put them, regardless of what my social desires were. Also, my engineering degree allowed me to apply, be selected to attend Test Pilot School, and become a test pilot (and excel on the course).
A degree gives you a LOT more than what the materiel you learn listening at a lecture.
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Good points Max about the part that technical streams can aid some in pilot training (not for all, friends with History degrees did well in training)...or split the different and do a technical degree in the sciences that would be applicable to the more technical side of aviation if you want to pursue related activities later (like TPS as Max mentions), and if you want to dive into more focused disciplines in engineering, follow-up with post-grad afterwards as a path.
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