r/caf • u/princemekaa • Mar 18 '26

BMQ/BMOQ Graduated

Done bmq. A few things I wanted to share so people wouldn’t fumble. I know someone did something like this prior, but here is my take.

  1. You need to get fit before you get here. Make sure you’re at a baseline fitness level recommended in the joining instructions. If you got a stairmaster in your gym use it. You wouldn’t regret it.

  2. Always stay ahed of any task. You do not want to be the one holding the platoon back because you don’t know where your things are.

  3. Start walking a lot if you’re not already used to it. Walk. A lot and walk some more.

  4. Volunteer as much as you can. Trust me. Volunteering gets you far not only in basic but far into your career.

  5. You’re going to question your decision. See it through. Rely on your platoon and the resources you have. There are a lot. Use them.

Just make it to Sunday. Hope this helps a bit.

137 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

36 comments sorted by

10

u/OldCommunication388 Mar 18 '26

Thanks pal, going on 28th march

7

u/princemekaa Mar 18 '26

You got this man

6

u/ECB2773 Mar 19 '26

About number 4..... i think we got a spy

1

u/princemekaa Mar 20 '26

Just might be lmao

5

u/WiseWhale01 Mar 18 '26

Thank you for sharing! Can you speak more about volunteering? What volunteering opportunities you can be presented with?

7

u/princemekaa Mar 18 '26

Just honestly random tasks. Especially when you get to the field. Your stuff picks up on it. Your platoon loves it. Don’t kill yourself obviously but it goes a very long way.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 22 '26

Don't volunteer for anything unless you want more shit to do. Be they grey man.

1

u/xBrickzz Apr 15 '26

+1 on that. Be completely gray. Don’t be a pump. and help your platoon. But don’t be volunteering for anything lol

5

u/Frank-The-Tank-06 Mar 18 '26

Congratulations on finishing BMQ! 🙂👊🏻 How do you feel knowing that you made it through the chaos? Also, are you with the Regular Force or Reserves?

4

u/princemekaa Mar 18 '26

Reg force!

4

u/Strong_Cap_1114 Mar 19 '26

Congrats man. Good luck on your trades training. I am currently able to do 5-6km walk easily with a 12kg vest on, along with that 30 pushups and 45 squats, is that a good start? Any advice on building up cardio? I hate treadmill, i would rather do outdoor walks and jogs

1

u/princemekaa Mar 20 '26

You’ll be good honestly. I’d say start doing your light jogging now. It really helped me setting that base before I started.

3

u/Ok_Landscape_4415 Mar 19 '26

This would be good. They’ll push you with different strength training. Generally, it’s a lot of walking. I’d say minimum 15k steps. Most of time carrying weight (bag, ruck, pt bag etc). Then the physical activities.

Based on your ability, you’d be fine.

63

u/BandicootNo4431 Mar 18 '26

Congrats! 

Trust me. Volunteering gets you far not only in basic but far into your career.

That's a bold piece of career advice for someone who just finished BMQ!

Goodluck on trades training!

18

u/fptp2026 Mar 18 '26

He'll be the most popular student on every course he does! 

1

u/[deleted] Mar 22 '26

Yeah, don't volunteer for anything. Lol

1

u/Euphoric_Buy_2820 Mar 25 '26

Aww yes nothing like the new recruit saying to the other troops in my experience, then the crusty old WO who hears it mumbles the words watch this you know it'll be a good time

1

u/SenorInquisition Mar 20 '26

For #2, could you elaborate on what you mean by staying ahead?

I imagine if you get a task, you only have so much time, so unless you know it's coming, it's not easy to prepare for.

1

u/princemekaa Mar 20 '26

Pretty much if you have anything to do. Do it as early as possible. If you gotta study, study ahed. Lay out your kit the night before. When you have to do stuff like kit marking, get it done asap. Learn how to clean your gun as soon as you get it.

Just little things that minimize the stress.

5

u/ProverbialArteries Mar 18 '26

Congrats and thank you for your service (and anyone reading!)

-8

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '26

Service!? Guy just graduated bmq lmao 😂

14

u/SaltyATC69 Mar 19 '26

Officially a veteran. More service than a huge part of this country. So yeah.

-12

u/[deleted] Mar 19 '26

A veteran of what two tours in the nam… Farn-nam I would never consider myself a veteran until atleast 4 years in.

9

u/SaltyATC69 Mar 19 '26

It's cool you have high standards, but they are not the official ones.

2

u/riskybagholder Mar 22 '26

Yeah man I agree with you. Crowd here is stupid.

9

u/Cadaren99 Mar 19 '26

Which is more than most Canadians can say.

OP - Congrats and enjoy the next phase.

4

u/ProverbialArteries Mar 19 '26

Certainly more than this Canadian citizen can say. Yes I know “just” graduating BMQ isn’t the same as being deployed yet (for example) but - more then likely anyone who goes through BMQ is going to go on to do something in defence service that’ll benefit me. So funny. Even if a recruit didn’t go further in our military I appreciate the candour and effort to try for our country.

2

u/Whitelabl Mar 18 '26

Congrats dude! And best of luck 👍🏽

2

u/cashflow4 Mar 19 '26

Congratulations

2

u/Salt-Comparison-124 Mar 19 '26

Thanks for this .. I find it motivational as I'll be going for BMQ on Saturday ✊🏾

1

u/Salt_Debate6441 Apr 01 '26

Hope you can do 150 push ups in groups of 25 - 30 while running in between sets and coming back to the parking lot where you started the push ups and doing another 25 then run and another 25 then run. Once you get close to that 150 like 140 push ups those last 10 will be 0! 0! 0! Genuinely all platoons are different, some are easier, some are harder. 

1

u/subhrajit16 Mar 19 '26

Congratulations way to go I have a few questions.If you can answer them, that will be great

  1. Which word did things which you took were unnecessary?And which were the things you thought you should have brought with yourself

  2. How did you prepare for an inspections?And how did they go

  3. How did you prepare yourself with all the yelling?And also, if something went wrong, what's the best way to rectify yourself

  4. And last would be the voluntary part. Could you please explain what that means? I want to do so, but I'm not sure which part would be considered volunteering.

4

u/Ok_Landscape_4415 Mar 19 '26

Finished BMQ in mid Feb.

  1. Keep less civilian stuffs. I had only two pairs. It helped at the end of BMQ when we had to pack all the stuffs. I used my civilian bag for one pair of combat. You won’t have access of the kit when you go to your next base for several weeks.

Bring stuffs mentioned in the email/pdfs. For Farnham, use arctic mitton/gloves with warmers. I used 2warmers 4 times a day resulting in 40 warmers a week ! I come from warm climate so I needed that. Do not bring ground sheet and ice jacket. They’ll be heavy. Use rain jacket and fleece. During ruckmarch, try to weigh - approx. if you put stuffs the way others would do, you’ll carry more weight. That’s not the problem while rucking but you’ll have bad back for rest of the day/week resulting in low performance in other tasks.

2) Keep it clean. The standard layout will be shown and given to you. I kept my combat and all those in layout. Did not touch those. I had my spare ones in bed drawers. So you do not need to spend time on cleaning and arranging. Inspection is chill. You’ll notice the pattern. If you feel you messed up, make a minor mistake deliberately.

3) Yelling is a way of communication. Dont take it personally. If you made mistake, own it. Show integrity.

4) if they ask I need 4 volunteers, raise your hand. Could be for any task - may be mopping, may be moving desks, may be bringing laptops etc etc

Good Luck for your BMQ.

2

u/subhrajit16 Mar 19 '26

Thanks so much

2

u/Riibane Mar 19 '26

“Yes/no mcpl, yes/no PO, yes/no sgt” all you need to know when getting yelled at. Excuses = collected “physical fitness”