Canadian Army recruiting video - 2024

[brihard]

Well, the USN recognizes it’s Met Techs for great job!

I saw that- same day Navy Achievement Medal. Her arm’s mostly covering it, but she’s wearing it in the photo.

“Chowdah” Hill is captain of USS Eisenhower, currently taking no shit and lots of names in the Red Sea. His Twitter account is a daily recognition of his troops, CENTCOM updates, and occasional photos of his dog and other snippets of life on a CVN. He’s doing some fantastic PR work for the navy, in the middle of active combat operations.

 

[markppcli]

Edit. Deleted by mistake

Basically, you can create a set of ads tying in the integral role of J2, etc.

1. “Knowledge is Power”: Inf Coy gets ready for an attack. Zoom in to the Coy Comd, then the Int briefing to that Coy
2. “No Comms, No Bombs”: CF-18 talks to JTAC. Zoom up to a satellite, then back to an ATIS/Sig Op setting up/maintaining a satellite dish.

We do sat comms?

And the thing we dont sell is that none of those planes dropping bombs, guns shooting etc. without the support behind it.

C4ISR, J2, IO, Cyber, are all Force Enablers. That Infantry Coy is going to hammer that enemy position; but it first needs to know where it is, what toys the enemy has to play with, get some eyes on it, shape the IO campaign, and be able to have the TacC2IS to coordinate and control combat effects. Russia has been decimated in Ukraine by thinking it can throw meat to the grinder and overwhelm with firepower. The Ukranians are out thinking them and have shaped the battlespace around Force Enablers vice Force Projection.

If the CAF were slick, it would make that aspect of the CAF attractive to the Comicon, D&D, Gamer groups of our population and delineate from the "every CAF member a Warrior" mantra from the early Afghanistan days.

As much as I love to make fun of signallers for this stuff… pretty much everyone in every trade is a nerd now. There’s fail magic the gather games in the Op battery in a part of, the instructors of my close quarter combat course played between classes as well. Hell there’s a table to DnD group in Latvia (actually I think they play pathfinder…).

 

[rmc_wannabe]

We do sat comms?

Yes. A lot of Sat Comms. Like, a lot alot.

As much as I love to make fun of signallers for this stuff… pretty much everyone in every trade is a nerd now. There’s fail magic the gather games in the Op battery in a part of, the instructors of my close quarter combat course played between classes as well. Hell there’s a table to DnD group in Latvia (actually I think they play pathfinder…).

Well to be fair, most of the current generations of CAF soldier grew up around the time videogames were normalized as a "bro zone" pass time, vice being for nerds.

Warhammer, MTG, D&D, Tabletop games etc. all have become popular again because of the positive portrayal of them in shows like Stranger Things.

Hell I explained what a CAX was to my 17 year old and she basically laughed at the fact I was going to be paid to do a 2 week Military themed D&D campaign.... I can't think of them any other way now.

 

[dimsum]

Yes. A lot of Sat Comms. Like, a lot alot.

What @markppcli may be referring to is the JTAC part. Not sure if they use SATCOM, but I suppose the voice comms part could be substituted with GPS. I just couldn’t think of a “line of sight” comms example that would look good visually in an ad.

Hell, you could put a good ad in for 3 Canadian Space Division and the “space” stuff purely by posting pictures of some* of their posting locations: Buckley SFB (Denver, CO), Peterson SFB (Colorado Springs, CO), and Vandenberg SFB (southern CA).

* just forget the postings at Clear AK and Cavalier ND

 

[dapaterson]

Yes. A lot of Sat Comms. Like, a lot alot.


Well to be fair, most of the current generations of CAF soldier grew up around the time videogames were normalized as a "bro zone" pass time, vice being for nerds.

Warhammer, MTG, D&D, Tabletop games etc. all have become popular again because of the positive portrayal of them in shows like Stranger Things.

Hell I explained what a CAX was to my 17 year old and she basically laughed at the fact I was going to be paid to do a 2 week Military themed D&D campaign.... I can't think of them any other way now.

Infantry = Barbarians
Armour = Paladins
Sigs = Magic Users

...

 

[dimsum]

Infantry = Barbarians
Armour = Paladins
Sigs = Magic Users

...

Cbt Engrs: Goblin Sappers
Medics: Healers

Aviation: Those guys flying on griffons? (Apt…)

 

[rmc_wannabe]

What @markppcli may be referring to is the JTAC part. Not sure if they use SATCOM, but I suppose the voice comms part could be substituted with GPS.

JTAC and TACP use "voice" comms, but the signal path can be anything from HF, VHF, UHF, SATCOM, or two cans and string.

Especially with where were are moving with loitering munitions and CUAS, its going to be a lot more interconnected and SATCOM dependent to get bombs on targets.

I just couldn’t think of a “line of sight” comms example that would look good visually in an ad.

Most of our Land C4ISR is moving away from LoS and towards Mesh MANET. Continuous passive transmit and redunancy, with eventual spoofing and decoy frequencies. Makes EW DF a lot like trying to find a needle in a stack of needles.

Hell, you could put a good ad in for 3 Canadian Space Division and the “space” stuff purely by posting pictures of some* of their posting locations: Buckley SFB (Denver, CO), Peterson SFB (Colorado Springs, CO), and Vandenberg SFB (southern CA).

* just forget the postings at Clear AK and Cavalier ND

"Join 3 CSD, and work for the USSF...." doesn't have the same ring as you think it does....

 

[Haggis]

My trade resorts to shots of aircraft flying, guns shooting, etc., in our recruiting video, but the reality is Met Techs don't do that stuff. We sit at desks analyzing/forecasting weather data, then passing the important bits on to the people who do the cool stuff. It's critical work, but it isn't "cool".

Looking for a job where nobody really understands what you do?

Or how you do it? Are you a scientist or a wizard?

The quality of your work is affected by the gods.

You can be wrong your entire career and still progress in your profession.

Met Tech is the job for you!

(with apologies to Met Techs and forecasters everywhere. Bitching about the weather is a Canadian thing.)

 

[rmc_wannabe]

Looking for a job where nobody really understands what you do?

Or how you do it? Are you a scientist or a wizard?

The quality of your work is affected by the gods.

You can be wrong your entire career and still progress in your profession.

Met Tech is the job for you!

(with apologies to Met Techs and forecasters everywhere. Bitching about the weather is a Canadian thing.)

As my old man once told me "Meteorology is a step above Astrology"

 

[Blackadder1916]

As my old man once told me "Meteorology is a step above Astrology"

 

[Furniture]

The jokes are hilarious, but also highlight the problem. How do you sell military jobs that people joke about all the time to potential recruits? Not just Met, but Int, HRA, FSA, cook, etc...

There are lots of critical jobs that we as a society denigrate, so how do you convince people to do them in uniform, with all of the drawbacks that entails? Most people don't think pensions and benefits when signing up for jobs when they are young, so while they are good retention tools, I doubt they help with recruiting in most cases.

 

[rmc_wannabe]

The jokes are hilarious, but also highlight the problem. How do you sell military jobs that people joke about all the time to potential recruits? Not just Met, but Int, HRA, FSA, cook, etc...

There are lots of critical jobs that we as a society denigrate, so how do you convince people to do them in uniform, with all of the drawbacks that entails? Most people don't think pensions and benefits when signing up for jobs when they are young, so while they are good retention tools, I doubt they help with recruiting in most cases.

The USMC has an interesting approach:

A Marine is a Marine for life, but not necessarily within the Corps. They sell it as a stepping stone out of where you are to where you want to be. That's the draw and part of the deal.

The CAF is content with trying to convince an 18 year old to commit to 25 years for a pension, and tries hard to be "as good" as private industry.

If we were to sell the CAF a lifelong association: we recruit, train, employ, and send the next generation of movers and shakers in Canadian Society... vice the " release processed, you're no longer on strength effective 0000hrs, exit stage left" as it has been for most... you might see more appetite from younger applicants.

Until then, we will continue to be an involuntary conduit to the Public Service and private industry.

 

[Furniture]

The USMC has an interesting approach:

A Marine is a Marine for life, but not necessarily within the Corps. They sell it as a stepping stone out of where you are to where you want to be. That's the draw and part of the deal.

The CAF is content with trying to convince an 18 year old to commit to 25 years for a pension, and tries hard to be "as good" as private industry.

If we were to sell the CAF a lifelong association: we recruit, train, employ, and send the next generation of movers and shakers in Canadian Society... vice the " release processed, you're no longer on strength effective 0000hrs, exit stage left" as it has been for most... you might see more appetite from younger applicants.

Until then, we will continue to be an involuntary conduit to the Public Service and private industry.

The only issue I see with that approach is that Canada, and Canadian society only care about military service for one week every year. It's hard to sell it as a positive boost for your CV, when Canadian employers/society don't see CAF service as special or desirable.

When the government doesn't take the CAF seriously, why should anyone else?

 

[daftandbarmy]

The only issue I see with that approach is that Canada, and Canadian society only care about military service for one week every year. It's hard to sell it as a positive boost for your CV, when Canadian employers/society don't see CAF service as special or desirable.

When the government doesn't take the CAF seriously, why should anyone else?

FWIW, I saw my first CAF member (in uniform) downtown in more than 6 months yesterday. A Lt (N) walking down the street just like any other ordinary human.

I mean, you couldn't tell that Canada's biggest CAF base on the strategic Pacific Coast is a 10 minute drive from downtown.

 

[markppcli]

JTAC and TACP use "voice" comms, but the signal path can be anything from HF, VHF, UHF, SATCOM, or two cans and string.

Especially with where were are moving with loitering munitions and CUAS, its going to be a lot more interconnected and SATCOM dependent to get bombs on targets.


Most of our Land C4ISR is moving away from LoS and towards Mesh MANET. Continuous passive transmit and redunancy, with eventual spoofing and decoy frequencies. Makes EW DF a lot like trying to find a needle in a stack of needles.


"Join 3 CSD, and work for the USSF...." doesn't have the same ring as you think it does....

The signal path is essentially always going to be UHF. Which is what I meant. Mesh networks in the ground for sure, but we’re still VMF over UHF for ground to air data, and so is everyone else we work with.

 

[rmc_wannabe]

The only issue I see with that approach is that Canada, and Canadian society only care about military service for one week every year. It's hard to sell it as a positive boost for your CV, when Canadian employers/society don't see CAF service as special or desirable.

This is why we have HCols who should be able to make those in roads. We also have been our own worst enemy by burning folks as they walk out the door. Former serving members should be our greatest champions.

Instead (as seen on Reddit and social media...) we have a very loud portion of the former sevice members telling anyone who will listen why the CAF is awful and how much they got fucked over by us.

When we do better, we look better, and we dont have to try and market dog shit as ice cream.

When the government doesn't take the CAF seriously, why should anyone else?

The problem is that its more than the government. The Loyal Opposition, doesnt care. Most politicalnparties, dont care. Apart from some of the Institutes, we're not on the radar. So we are left to bail out our own boat with a thimble.

 

[rmc_wannabe]

The signal path is essentially always going to be UHF. Which is what I meant. Mesh networks in the ground for sure, but we’re still VMF over UHF for ground to air data, and so is everyone else we work with.

Agreed. But like all good Siggies, I never bank on P in PACE and look at how else we can get the message passed. A/G/A has many ways to skin the cat.

 

[dapaterson]

The CAF needs to rethink its retention centric view, and plan on a broad base that uses gating for regular renewal. If you view anything below 25 years as a fail, you fail.

This means a need to invest in the schoolhouses for DP1, to fix policies and processes to streamline intake, to reduce time to OFP, and to accept that attrition that is too low is an organizational problem, not a benefit.

 

[mariomike]

The CAF is content with trying to convince an 18 year old to commit to 25 years for a pension,

That will pay 50%.

Or, stay in, the Regular Force, for the whole ride and retire on 70%.

 

[ArmyRick]

Not bad, actually.

Big hell yes to this video.