CREDIT: TREVOR SHEWAGA'S FACEBOOK PAGE
Ordinary Seaman Trevor Shewaga is wrapping up basic military qualification in Quebec before going to British Columbia

No cellphones during the day, no food in your room, daily inspections, a 5 a.m. wake-up call every morning, and prohibited access to elevators. It may not seem like the most desirable residence experience, but for every member of the Canadian Forces it's a crucial aspect of their journey to serving in our military.

Every single person in the Canadian Forces goes through Basic Military Qualification (BMQ) or Basic Military Officer Qualification (BMOQ) before they are sent to their base or place of work. Ordinary Seaman Trevor Shewaga is a London Welding At Its Best graduate and was in his 10th week of BMQ when I visited the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School (CFLRS) on November 1. Shewaga is on his journey to become a hull technician in British Columbia. Hull techs maintain a ship's structure, stability, plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, damage control and firefighting equipment.

He said the first few weeks of BMQ was very introductory. "It's all everyday, down to basics, even if you were taught first aid, you're down to basics. There's battle tactics, protect yourself, weapons training, but all that is all still written; at the beginning we haven't touched anything yet."

According to Lieutenant (N) Calley Gray, CFLRS visits officer, "They go over lectures on military ethics, the basics of the section attack, they'll cover rank structure ... they cover basic military theory in the classroom."

Shewaga said one of the most difficult parts was staying awake in class. "Death by PowerPoint, everything that's on PowerPoint — 'cause you're dead tired and you get stuck in a class and you're sitting looking at something on the screen, they flick off the lights and you're just trying to stay awake."

As the course continues, however, recruits begin to receive more practical instruction, something Shewaga has enjoyed. "We just did our firing range, learned how to camp outside, how to tie ropes, safety, first aid ... it's a lot more hands-on."

In addition to their classes, recruits' days are often filled with physical training (PT). During the first week of training, each recruit must pass the Physical Fitness Evaluation, which involves a 20- metre shuttle run, a hand grip test, push-ups and sit-ups. CFLRS fitness manager Simon Belanger said the most common failed aspect for males and females is the push-ups. The required number of push-ups and sit-ups depends on age and gender — for example, men under the age of 35 have to complete 19 while women under 35 have to complete nine.

Fitness becomes a regular part of the recruits' lives. "You wake up stupid early, you usually have morning PT by the Platoon Commander, but they are instructed not to make it too difficult because they get more fitness training throughout the day by the Personnel Support Programs staff. It's more like a wake-up fitness; they'll take you for a run for example, it's about 40 minutes," said Lt. (N) Gray.

The recruits are physically active every day. Belanger said that the average recruit has between two and three sessions with the fitness trainers per week. "If they don't have morning PT, they have afternoon PSP-directed fitness classes."

The fitness training includes weight training sessions, and more functional training sessions with sandbags and stretchers. "It's the basic training," said Belanger. "We try to show them how to train, how to help a partner, how to be ready after the 14-week program and be good to train by themselves." Recruits face many physical challenges along the way, such as obstacle course training, a swimming test, a 13-km forced march and field exercises.

The recruits live a very structured lifestyle, their days from 5 a.m to 6 p.m. consist of workouts, classes and quick mealtimes. After 6 p.m., recruits do have down time but according to Lt. (N) Gray, it's not really free time. "The recruits will prepare for inspection, prepare their kits, study for tests, polish their boots."

OS Shewaga confirmed there's not much time to just hang out. "Lights out at 11 means lights are out — you can flick on your light but it doesn't usually happen 'cause you're dead (tired). You may shoot the shit for an hour or play a prank on a random guy but after that you're dead asleep."

But according to Shewaga, with everyone having the same schedule, it's easy to develop close friendships. "The best part hands down is just you get to the point where you're with your platoon and you're a solid family. You all know each other, you know little jokes on each other and even through hard classes and fun classes it always just kinda makes everything better because now they're all your best friends."

The support from your platoon is essential as many recruits find the course mentally challenging. Lt. (N) Gray said it's a big adjustment. "They're wearing clothes that they don't know how to put on, they're meeting all these new people, they're being told where to go, so some of them may feel like they don't have control over what they're doing — it's the whole mental stress."

The first five weeks are the most controlled, as recruits cannot leave the premises, and they continue doing practical courses on weekends. After that, the recruits are free to do what they want on weekends, granted they don't get in trouble. "We go to Montreal, some people go home, you can do whatever you want but you've gotta sign a form because they need to know exactly where you are," said Shewaga.

Getting in trouble is common for most recruits, according to Shewaga. "We've all gotten in trouble for something; the most common is when you do your inspections, everything's gotta be clean. Keeping a floor clean is impossible here because I think they're pumping dust into the vents. There's always dust everywhere." He added that other common mistakes are wearing your uniform improperly or forgetting your weapon somewhere, and the most common punishment is pushups.

OS Shewaga is excited to head to B.C. for the first portion of his trades course in just a few short weeks. His voyage has been successful so far, but he warned that it's not always easy. "You can't be your own person, you have to be prepared to be a team, play as a team, and you're gonna mess up and get yelled at, so you've gotta be able to take the punches. You can't come in here weak-minded or weak physically either, but they'll build you up."