I got permission from my facilitators to update this site. There had been some concern over websites going into too much detail of the training and inappropriate pictures of the cadets. So if I say I can't go into detail there is a reason for it. As for pictures they will follow some time soon, I haven't been taking a lot lately but I will start up here soon.
This is the beginning of my 22 week journey here at Depot. I think I can call this week 1, we started on a Wednesday so I am not sure if this counts as a full week or not.
Anyways on Tuesday I reported to F division headquarters to sign some papers and meet some of my troop mates. There are 5 other people from Saskatchewan in our troop, which is cool. Some of the guys were on the short notice list and boy did they get short notice. They got a call and were asked "Can you be here in 4 hours?" I am glad I got all the notice I did when I heard that. So after we met for a while we had to sign our papers and then head over to Depot to sign more stuff and get our bedding.
I would compare entering Depot like entering prison. You get handed a pillow and some blankets and you are set off to share a room with 30 other people. The main difference is that everyone at Depot is super friendly and are willing to help you with anything. Since we don't have our picture ID yet we get these little green tags that say 'Cadet' on them. This makes us stand out as new people and in most places that is a bad thing, but not here. Here people welcome you to Depot and correct you if you are doing something that would get anybody else in trouble (example: walking with your hands in your pockets).
So then I got to my dorm where I met the other guys I will be with for the next 22 weeks. Some of the guys from Alberta had arrived the day before and were just sitting around waiting to see who else would show up. There are 19 guys and 9 girls in our troop, mostly from out west but we do have some from the Maritimes, Ontario and Quebec. We share our dorm with 2 other troops (23,29) and again in some places that would make it uncomfortable but not here. Here they help us make our bed tell us what to look out for and so on.
That night I got very little sleep, which is what I expected. That made for an early morning when at 5:20 some of the senior troops started to get up and go shower. Then it was off to breakfast and off to our first class. We met our facilitators and got some of the rules of Depot laid out for us. We also met one of the drill Corporals, now that was a lot of yelling!! We must of been told about 10 times to "GO HOME!"
This week was a lot of orientation. All our classes were in the APS (Applied Police Sciences) building and were mostly introductions with the staff, the commanding officer and the Sergeant Major. It was an overwhelming week to be sure.
One of the first things I learned is that if you are a light sleeper like me, bring earplugs. If you don't you will not sleep! And when you are getting 6 hours on a good night, you need every second you can get, you will need it.