One Step Further

So as of yesterday I completed the first step of my training in the CF. My Initial Assessment Period is finished and with much success. The only negative point on my course report was about my lacking in upper body strength and everything else was postive (supposedly I have remarkable leadership ability!). Anyways it was both fun and a good challenge and I made it through without getting in trouble or losing anything (except those 15 pounds I no longer carry with me, I musta been fat when I left).

So after a slight hassle leaving the Mega (I forgot to take pictures of it, oh well) I hopped on a city bus to Montreal. Once getting to Montreal I relied on the kindness of people to get my 3 huge bags and 2 smaller ones across two streets from the bus station to the train station. I then hopped on a train for Ottawa. The train is by far the best method of transportation I've taken with the exception of an airliner. Way better then the stinky old Greyhound I would have taken had I been in the Prairies. I still miss the Prairies, though VIA rail should maybe look into being more available in the Prairies. Once I got to Ottawa I was picked up by my Uncle, who I'm staying with until Monday. I'm enjoying a nice bed, home cooked meals, and other things you get when you live in a house.

On Monday I report to Kingston, on the 10th I start classes, and that's all I know about my future at the moment. I do know however that I'll be home for Christmas lol! Anyways that's all that's new with me and hopefully I can keep this updated through FYOP (First Year Orientation Period). Take care and have fun at school!

One week till Kingston

So this past week I spent in lovely Farnham, which if you haven't heard is the field training site for St. Jean. The first four days were leadership evaluations. I scored a nice 52/55 which put me as one of the highest in the platoon on that evaluation. We also got ambushed a few times. Artillery simulators were going off, gun shots, etc, etc. Very fun! Seriously. On Friday we had our 13km rucksack march (in the rain) so our 40 or so pounds of equipment was soaked. Let's just say it wasn't the best 2 hours and 23 minutes I've had lately. To top it all off we had to do the firemans carry and dig a trench. I dug mine in under 6 minutes, which means I'm hot shit supposedly.

This week we hand in a bunch of equipment we never used but I'm glad to give it back. For example I shouldn't need mucklucks at university. We also get to hand our rifles in. What a sad day that will be.......NOT!! Can't wait to get rid of that giant pain in the butt. Hopefully on Thursday night I'm on a train to Ottawa to visit some relatives before I move to Kingston next Monday. Can't wait to get to Kingston the home of a large federal pen, The Tragically Hip, Queens University (lets hope the stories about the girls are true lol), and of course the Royal Military College of Canada. Once I get there First Year Orientation begins and the month of September 2007 will be a very memorable one full of PT, and other assorted torture tests lol!

So yeah, that's bout all that's new with me. Things are great. I'll admit I'm missing not being around the farm everytime I see a combine or grain bin. FYI the people here have giant combines for the size of their farms. 9610s and bigger for a few hundred acres! That's retarded. Silly farmers here in Quebec. But to sum it all up I'm enjoying the military life and am really excited to start classes on the 10th! Anyways good luck to all of those going on to university soon and for all of those lucky people going back to high school. Live it up and take advantage of it while you still can!!

Almost Outta Here

So I'm almost done my first stint here at St. Jean! But first I must get through Ex-Challenge and the 13km ruck sack march at lovely Farnham. Ahh Farnham what a fun place but only after you've left and look back at it. I also have to redo my fitness test, because I can't push a whole lot up.

So I'll briefly go over my past week. First off Monday was nothing exciting. Can't even remember it. Tuesday/Wednesday were spent out at Farnham learning how to setup roadblocks, biouvacs, patrols, searches, how to bust into a house, search POWs, and everything a person needs to know before deploying. Thursday was the big inspection, drill test, and PT test. Made it through all of them except for the PT one because of my lacking in the arm muscle area. Friday was slack. Wrote an easy multiple choice exam and had my head shaved for the 3rd or 2nd time in the last 2 months! Went to Montreal (the city where it's hard to find an Alexander Keith's but very easy to find tobacco, porn, and other things that take effort to find in any other province). Did the tourist thing there for Friday/Saturday.

Very excited to be down to 2 weeks here. Looking forward to Kingston, even if the first month is going to be an extremely wild ride of an unknown kind. Well that's bout it. Ohhh one last thing.

Good luck to all my classmates who are on their ways to Winnipeg, Brandon, etc! I love y'all and good luck with moving out. It's definitely a little different but you'll adapt!

Change of Address

So as you all know I'm moving on to Kingston to attend the Royal Military College. I leave St. Jean on the 31st. So if you're going to be sending me mail soon then I'd suggest sending it to Kingston soon. It takes between 5-7 working days for mail to go between St. Jean and the Shoal Lake/Strathclair area. So if you're sending a letter in the next few weeks take that into consideration. My address in Kingston will be:



Officer Cadet Ashcroft,BJ
Royal Military College of Canada
PO Box 17000, Station Forces
Kingston ON K7K 7B4

You're All Effed Up Like A Meat Flavoured Milkshake

So that was one of my favourite lines from the week. It wasn't said to me but I heard it said to a few people. The other favourite line this week was having my French platoon commander ask one of the bilingual members of the platoon what gaggle fuck meant in English. The answer obviously being gaggle fuck.

So I spent this week out at Farnham which is the field training site for the school. The first 2 days we spent out on the range. Very exciting. When they give the order to put the fire selector on automatic and you let it rip at the target, you get quite the rush. Very intense. In between firing on the range we learned how to build lean tos, hoochies, eat ration packs, etc. All very easy stuff since I did all of it in Fortune's pasture! Who woulda thought those weekends would pay off lol! Wednesday was spent doing field training and marching around. Musta marched 10+ kms that day. Thursday was our day and night navigation excercise. Spent the entire day navigating in the bush. Also learned how to face paint our faces to be camoflauged. Friday we spent the morning learning how to crawl and do the hand signals (like the ones in the movies)! Then we returned to St. Jean and the Mega was actually a beautiful sight to see for once lol!

Today some buddies and I found an English theatre and watched both the Simpsons movie and the Borne Ultimatum. Both were so good. The Borne movie was so good I went out and bought the books.

This upcoming week we do a small stint at Farnham and the rest is just some final written and PT exams. Shouldn't be bad. We also have a big inspection which freaks some people out but you just gotta play it cool and it'll be good. Or so I've been doing with success thus far.

Yes I named my rifle Allison. Who ever said that I didn't because of classmates or something is entirely wrong. Just think a little. I'd explain the reasons but I don't have much time to get in depth. Let's just say the Allison I went to school with was always there to get me out of a homework jam just like I hope my rifle will always be there to get me outta a jam in some backwater country while I'm getting shot at. The Allison I dated well was just a good girlfriend (like all of my former gfs) and I just wanted my rifle to remind me of good things. That's the simple explanation. I'm sure I'll be asked to explain it more some other time and I will. Anyways I gotta sign off so take her easy and I think you know the rest. It's back to the gin mill for me!

Short and Sweet

So I don't know if blogging is still cool or if anyone checks my blog anymore. But I've got access to it for 10 minutes so here it goes. First things first I'm going into week 6 of my training. We're going to Farnham which is where we do all our field stuff. I get to fire my rifle on Monday and Tuesday. Tres exciting. Won't mention what I named my rifle but lets just leave it at its partially after an old gf and partially after an old classmate. Take your guesses. What else is there. The training isn't to hard. It's mostly mental stuff. Like why do we have to do so may retarded things that make no sense. I'll explain the retarded things in more detail when I get home at Christmas or call you on the phone someday. The physical training was intense but I'm getting in shape so it isn't as bad anymore. Hopefully the hometown girls will swoon at Christmas. Probably not though. Going out on the town was sweet. Except the girls don't like bald headed, Anglophone, military members that have no idea of anything going on in St. Jean. Hmmm what else. Send some letters people. Those really keep a person encouraged and happy. Ummm hmmmmm yeah that's bout all I can think of at the moment. I definitely miss the small town atmosphere and the prairies in general where there is no humidity and +40 happens once a year if we're lucky. But I'm adapting and having fun. So yeah my time on the interweb is running out so keep on rocking in the free world and keep in touch.