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The Royal Canadian Regiment - 20 Questions
The Young Officer

The Regimental Adjutant is looking for Royal Canadians who can provide answers to these "20 Questions - The Young Officer". If you would like to participate in the "20 Questions" program, please submit your responses to the questions below to the Regimental Adjutant (link to contact page).

20 Questions - The Young Officer

Please provide: Name, rank achieved, years of service with The RCR (from - to)

1.     What year were you recruited?

2.     What was your entry plan as an officer? How long was it between enrolment and commissioning for you?

3.     Where did you take your basic officer training and how many weeks did the course run?

4.     Where did you take your infantry officer training and many weeks did the course(s) run?

5.     What training events do you best remember from your infantry officer training?

6.     When were you posted to the Regiment, what location were you posted to, and to what Battalion, Company and Platoon?

7.     How many men were in your platoon?

8.     What vehicles and weapons did the platoon have? What was your personal weapon?

9.     How long, on average, could you expect to be a rifle platoon commander when you joined the Battalion?

10.     Approximately how many young officers in the battalion lived in the barracks, and how long was it before you could request permission to move out on the economy?

11.     What was the best aspect about being a platoon commander? What was your least favourite task as a platoon commander?

12.     How often were you expected to be at the Officers' Mess? Daily? Weekly? Monthly?

13.     How often did you attend Mess Dinners? How long were you in the dining room during the longest Mess Dinner you remember attending?

14.     What standard of dress were you expected to maintain in your off-duty hours?

15.     How much were you paid each month as a new officer?

16.     Were junior officers often sent on additional training courses? What courses did you attend outside the battalion as a young officer?

17.     What exercise or training event did you find that best promoted your development as a young officer?

18.     What type training would you have liked to do more of if you'd had the opportunity?

19.     Were there any particular battalion eccentricities (dress or deportment) that all officers' in your Battalion were expected to follow?

20.     How often might you normally have been the Duty Officer for the Battalion or the Base? What was the oddest duty you had to perform as the Duty officer?

And, for extra credit:
21.     What was the greatest number of extra duties you remember a peer getting, and, if not sworn to secrecy, what were they for?

 

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