FJAG
Army.ca Legend
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CBH99 said:... someone made a good point about the US military knowing that a vast majority of it's people aren't going to make a 20 year + career out of it. Get in, do some cool stuff for a few years, have a chance to participate in operations that will be exciting & globally relevant, take your education money & off ya go!
One factor that might play into the above is how much more expensive college & university is in the US, compared to here. That could be a real driving force behind young people choosing to do a stint, maybe extend, and then leave - especially folks from low income areas that only have student loans or military service as options.
:dunno: :2c:
I'm in that category. We need to make the military a viable service to country career option for our young folks (especially for reservists) with a concept whereby we fund, in part their education, employ them for a set period of time to gain experience and then also provide a funding element to help them get further education at the end of their "short" career.
Obviously with any "up-front" funding there needs to be a term of obligatory service attached and with "post service" education benefits there must be a criteria of satisfactorily completed service.
What we need is a good option for high school kids to look at which says "yup, I get some pay, some experience and an education. That makes serving worthwhile." We can then look at career development for senior NCOs and officers for those that have gotten the bug for further service.
In order for reservists, in particular, to stay on they must be able to clearly see that there is a balanced, scheduled life between their family, their civilian careers and their military ones. For the regulars there also needs to be a balance for the family. Fewer and shorter away from home career courses and fewer geographical postings are major elements in that. Over the decades the CAF has been converting more and more "could knows" and "should knows" into "must know" requirements for people to learn in order to advance. We need to reverse that trend and focus on the true essentials in order to give folks more stability. Not every private soldier needs to have a marshal's baton in his or her knapsack.
:2c: