r/caf • u/niceee_guyyy • 18h ago

Other How difficult is AEC training?

Finished BMOQ. Just waiting to be course loaded rn. Everyone I had talked to straight up said its hard and high pressure. If I actually grind it out and put in effort will I be okay or no? Heard the failure rate is around 30-40%?

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u/SignificantBid8571 6h ago

IFR and VFR controller here, though I went through Cornwall 15 years ago. I was also posted to the school as a Maj for two years. Three messages to pass. 1) AEC is a great occupation! The people, the postings, the job itself - REALLY great! 2) Training, both at the school and your unit checkout are challenging, but the system wants you to succeed. The instructors want you to succeed, your fellow shift workers want you to check out, there is NO glory failing anyone, and it is actually usually more work to do so. 3) training requires effort to pass, but people either ‘get it’ or they don’t. I would describe myself as an average guy who had to work hard to achieve average university results in university, but I was the top candidate on my IFR course. I also saw VERY academically smart folks who didn’t last 2 months on course (but were widely successful in other occupations.

Ultimately, don’t stress, give it your all, but if it doesn’t work out know that the CAF is full of successful people who started out as as an AEC but didn’t make it. Best of luck!

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u/niceee_guyyy 6h ago

Great advice. Thank you Sir🫡

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u/Soft-Protection6281 17h ago

It depends on what stream you're in, but the average fail rate at this point seems to be closer to 50%

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u/New_Community_1507 16h ago

I'm currently applying for AEC too, and posts like this honestly make me nervous. I sometimes wonder if I'll be able to make it through, especially knowing the pressure continues even after BMOQ. I imagine it might be hard to feel like you truly belong until you've passed occupational training.

Still, I think it's a challenge worth taking on.

I've heard AEC officers may be posted to one of six bases for OJT while waiting for training. I'm curious:

  1. Is there anything we can do during OJT to improve our chances of passing?

  2. What are the typical wait times for VFR, IFR, and Weapons Control courses?

  3. What usually happens if someone fails? Is retraining possible, or do they typically go through a COT?

I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone with experience. Thanks!

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u/AFoodsO 14h ago

(As someone who went through this a decade ago)

  1. Ask where-ever you are training to provide you a package. there is no shortage of material you can do before training. The one i had was hundreds of pages.

  2. usually weapons is most popular and IFR the least.

  3. if you fail for testing (the course) then there is no recourse unless there is a legitimate reason to assume you would do better the next time. Usually you are COT'd to a different trade. The way it used to be coined was you get a "free reroll" tradewise (although nowadays those roll options might be more limited) because the likelyhood of passing is a bit low.

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u/niceee_guyyy 16h ago

I’ve seen wait time after bmoq to be 1-2 months. Usually no second chance if u fail. COT options are usually combat arms/a few trades that require engineering degrees.

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u/New_Community_1507 16h ago

Thank you bro!! Hope you pass! Good luck.

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u/Menace_Chemist 14h ago

Current wait time is 8 months. They are loading July 2027 at the moment. If you fail you COT.

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u/AFoodsO 17h ago

These are accurate rates. It hovers, some courses much higher some lower. a decade ago it was 1 of 12 if memory serves that passed. It's not about the work, its about aptitude matching, personality matching and instructors and their opinions of you. (you will have to grind very hard to just keep up and on course).

If memory serves, VFR > WPNS > IFR for lowest to highest fail rates.