Why Can’t We All Just Get Along – Guest Post by the Young Retiree!

 This blog series is called

Why Can’t We All Just Get Along

What
that means, is that sometimes we tend to turn life into a big loser
contest, where we figure we have it harder than everyone else. 
Especially on Military forums and support groups.  We judge the
experiences of different branches, different bases, different families,
and we argue over who has it worse.

Let’s not anymore, okay?

So
in this series, I have some amazing guest bloggers who have written me
what it’s like to walk a mile in their shoes.  The good and the bad. 
Because all our struggles and victories may be different, but that
doesn’t make them any less valid.

And for my readers who are not military, it’s a chance to see how unique each military family is and what their day to day life is like!  

Before
each blogger, I am going to take a moment to answer a question from you
guys about what it’s like to be a Canadian military spouse.  And the
best part is, commenting and asking a question enters you into a draw
for Canadian Maple Syrup candies! When the series is all done, I will
use random.org to pick one of our question-askers as the winner of the candies :).

A Canadian Contest

So today I decided to answer a question from the fabulous guest blogger today!  Elizabeth had A LOT to ask, which is so awesome.  I’m going to try and be to the point so this doesn’t take long and we can get to her great post!

Is it difficult with part of the country speaking French and part
speaking English?
That could be a VERY long answer, but for the most part, no.
As for the military, because there are some french speaking Units (that you are typically not posted to if you are not Francophone), and because we have two nationally official languages, English AND French, once a soldier hits a certain rank he must train in the language he does not speak so he is capable of dealing with ALL troops.  DH is bilingual already from attending French Immersion school as a kid, but he would still have to challenge a test to have French language on his papers to advance to a certain rank and above.  The only big hiccup can be that the training base for soldiers attending Basic Training (Boot Camp) is in a primarily French Speaking province, which is a pain if a strictly English speaking family is posted there to teach.
I will mention that while I was actually born in Quebec, my family is Anglophone and I then lived my entire adult life out west before this last posting, so my french is not good at all!

It seems Americans are deploying all the time and Canada seems so laid
back- do you all have deployments? (I mean, I know Gene was with some
Canadian fellows on the NATO base!)


Canadians have been actively involved in the war in Afghanistan, but never went to war in Iraq.  We had soldiers in Kandahar in the very beginning with the American’s in 2002, they moved to a different role in Kabul after that, and then back to Kandahar where they were in a combat role from 2006-2011.  Our force there was tiny compared to America’s, (fluctuating 1 400ish to the American 100 000ish) but that’s because we have a tiny military compared to you (70 000 to the American 1.5 million)!
We have lost almost 160 soldiers in Afghanistan since the war began, but what most people (and most Canadians) don’t realize is that if that’s stacked up to the number of Canadians there, that’s actually about the same percentage of loss as American and British forces.  Our small in numbers country has felt the loss a great deal.
In 2011 the Canadian government ended the combat role in Afghanistan.  So while we still have many soldiers there now, they operate in Kabul as trainers and mentors to the Afghan forces, not in combat positions.
Canada also had a part in the military action in Lybia just over a year ago, and has sent many UN Peace Support deployments to places like Cyprus, Bosnia, etc.in the past.
Your average deployment is 6-7 months for a Combat type soldier, 9-11 months for a soldier who works more in the support trades.  I say average, because there are always exceptions.  And these past 10 years have meant a lot of them, many soldiers have deployed 3, 4 times or more to Afghanistan during this war.
But that’s army.  I admit that I know very little about how our Navy ship deployment works, other than I believe they can be up to a year.  And I know nothing about Air Force….I need a pinch hitter for those answers!


Do they do field training in remote parts of Canada?
We do have a base in Yellowknife, North West Territories, which is about as remote as you get for a city,  and the military holds an Arctic training exercise I believe every year or couple of years.  We have a unit called the Rangers that are strictly an Arctic Force.  And there is a ‘base’ that soldier’s deploy to (no families) at the very very far Arctic called Alert.  Soldiers do 1 year postings there…. I can’t say I understand what they do but it involves Arctic Sovereignty (it’s OUR ice darn it!)



Is your military open to both genders?
YES!  We differ from the American military in that woman, as long as they can pass the entrance physical, can enlist in ALL trades in the Canadian Forces, including Combat Arms (the Army units that are involved in direct combat).  Once in the Forces, woman are also welcome to try out for both Special Forces and Special Operations units as well.
Do you see a lot of women in these trades?  Not often, no.  But they are there! 

Do you have a question about life as a Canadian Military Spouse? Check out the facebook
page (I know it’s called Worth Missing while I await my blog
transformation by Utterly Chaotic, but it’s me, I promise) and then
leave a comment here with a question (and don’t forget an email address
so I can contact you)!

________________________________________________________________________________

 So today we get to hear from Elizabeth over at The Young Retiree!  She’s sharing a look into her life as an American Navy family! 

 Hello, hello new friends (and maybe some old ones too)! My name is Elizabeth and I write all about my little life over at The Young Retiree. I am down here on the “Golden Coast” of California with my husband. See what he has to put up with::

I hope I have shed a little light on the matter. We’re just like everyone else, only have special circumstances that make us different. If you have any questions for me- feel free to drop me a line or leave a comment! I’ll do my best to answer them!

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