My name is April, I'm 18, and I recently applied to the Canadian Naval Reserve unit HMCS Discovery in Vancouver, British Columbia
This is their unit badge.
I tried once to pass the physical, but because I was not physically ready (I couldn't complete one of the required items, I've decided to do both my basic training and my classification training (that's the job-specific training) next summer between May and August. Right now, I've decided to apply again to the unit in September.
Next summer I'd be doing basic training (boot camp for you laymen)in Borden, Ontario. That's 8 weeks long, then I'd go to work at the unit while I go to school (college).
One of the misconceptions about the Reserves, is that it's easier (less work) than the Regular Force. Well, that's not true. The only major difference between the Reg Force and the Reserves is that Reserves is part time, whereas the Regs are full time. It's a great option for students, cause it only requires you to work one night per week, and one weekend per month during the school year, but also gives you a full-time job during the summer months. During the summer months, Reservists can serve on one of the MCDV (Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel), like this picture of the HMCS Ville de Quebec
(by the way, if you click on the picture, you can go to the ship's homepage and take a virtual tour to see what the ship REALLY looks like, and the people that work aboard her).
The Ville De Quebec is a Halifax Class Frigate, one of the 12 MCDV's being built by the Navy, and these ships are primarily manned by Reservists. Check out these other pics from the Naval Photo Gallery.
This is the HMCS Toronto, a _______ Class ship. (This is also the ship on the Tim Horton's commercial!)
This is a picture of a Halifax Class ship (the same as the V.D.Quebec), the MCDV ships manned by the Reservists
This is the HMCS Algonquin, coming into her home port of Esquimalt, BC
One of the Oberon Class submarines being retired/replaced by the 4 newer Upholder
class submarines, bought from the British Navy last year.
