New Career Prospects After WLS

Oct 15, 2012

After 8.5 years of frustration at not finding a decent job in Canada, I applied to the Canadian Armed Forces as a direct entry logistics officer. This was not a consequence of any endearing affinity to a military lifestyle, rather, the sudden realisation that I would rather take a bullet than one more BlackBerry tech support call.

There was an interesting development at my interview. I was informed that they were no longer taking on any more candidates as logistics officers. They invited me to research other positions for which I might be qualified, otherwise consider enlisting as a non-commissioned member, the labourer backbone of the military. It sounded almost like a bait and switch tactic; sell you the penthouse suite over the phone but offer you the basement when you arrive. Not really seeing myself as a welder or floor-scrubber (both better than solving the tech gripes of the snivelling, North American spoilt brat), I indicated that I was only interested in joining as a regular, direct entry officer. We agreed that since I had come all the way, we would continue with the first half of the interview, the personality component, but defer the 'occupation'' component to when I knew for which other officer position I wanted to apply. We could then do that portion of the interview over the phone.

At the end of a very routine interview, I mentioned that I had earned a pilot's licence with a night rating in my native South Africa, at which the captain who was interviewing me asked why I didn't apply as a pilot. I was surprised and said that I didn't think that I was eligible given my age. He quickly checked and confirmed that I was eligible. Age becomes a factor only if the required service period doesn't conflict with the mandatory retirement age of 60. Two years of training and seven years of required service implies that the oldest you can get hired is 51...and I'm 48. You get the picture...

After a week to prepare, I returned for an interview as a pilot. It went very well. It was a rigorous interview about experiences, actions and outcomes. I actually cited many incidents from my past flying and scuba experiences to demonstrate how I react under pressure. When they asked what I knew about life as a military pilot, I recited their brochure citing stages of training, durations, venues and the different aircraft as if I were a recruiter. He had to stop me and ask what research I had done as I seemed to know all of this stuff very well. At the end, they came right out and said that they would ordinarily be sending me on to the next selection phase in Trenton, ON except for a slight glitch in my medicals relating to a diagnosis of type II diabetes back in '09. I scrambled around getting the surgeon in Seattle who did my stomach surgery to say how much weight I had lost, how good I have been with my diet as reflected in normal blood tests, how fit I have become, and how the diabetes was in remission. In fact, all the tests I had to have done as part of my application came out smack in the middle of normal in just about every category.

Over the subsequent two weeks, I submitted the last of the medical and admin. paperwork (including a credit report from South Africa because I have resided outside of Canada within the past decade). Hot-off-the-press news from Thursday gone by, is that they requested a security clearance form because I hold dual citizenship. If all checks out (there's no reason they shouldn't) the CAF will send me to Trenton, ON to take another aptitude test, including an introduction to flying and an exercise in flying a simulator. They will be testing how well candidates react to new information, for example, "this instrument measures the turn rate of the aircraft. Now change heading from North to West at a 30 deg. bank angle." Doing this on a simulator allows them to measure the performance on a computer.

Success in Trenton will culminate in an offer of employment, induction into the military at a ceremony, and finally check-in at the military training base in St. Jean sur Richelieu for 13 weeks of basic officer training, then on to the flying. The basic officer training is more glamorously named than it actually is. This is military boot camp training intended for 18 year olds.

I would never in my wildest dream have imagined that I would be contemplating my childhood ambition to become a professional pilot.

Not to put all my eggs in that basket, a fortnight ago Tuesday I drove 3,200 km roundtrip over 4 days to Ft. McMurray, AB to interview for admission to the haul truck course conducted by Keyano College. This is to operate those monster, 3-storey high pieces of heavy equipment that transport oil-soaked sand from the mines to the refineries. On Thursday I was offered admission to the course starting 7 Jan, and by the time I accepted the offer the next morning, the Jan. class had filled up. I'm therefore scheduled to start training on 4 Feb but am on the waitlist in case of cancellations implying the possibility of a November start date.

Finally, finally, things are looking up! And two years ago when I weighed 360 lb, none of this seemed possible. My 'green' and 'pacifist' street cred is on the line, but some have sold their souls to religion for less.

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