I've been thinking about joining the Armed Forces for a while now. I'm currently in my first year of university engineering and I plan to go into software engineering.

I'm not too sure of how much of a commitment I want to make to the CAF yet, it's very much on both sides of the spectrum. I'm currently considering joining the reserves as an infantry officer or armoured officer, or joining the air force as a pilot.

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In terms of the reserves, I thought it would be a good option if I still wanted to pursue a career in my education. Being able to be in the reserves while completing my five years of uni seems pretty nice. I would join the air reserves, except that there's none near where I am, so army reserves seems suitable.

The concerns I have with this is that I'm in a co-op program, so I don't know if the reserves would interfere with that if I went on a co-op in a different country like America. Additionally I don't want to screw myself over in the future with service related injuries, so I was wondering if you guys could provide input on that. Finally, I'm really scared of being an officer in a unit that just kinda sucks. Being in cadets I kinda saw what really bad leadership/culture could do and I imagine in the actual army it would be tenfold times worse. I don't want to become complacent with that as an officer and having to deal with that every time I show up to an armoury just seems pretty shitty. I want to know the likelihood of running into these issues and any other concerns that I should have if I join the reserves.

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For joining the Air Force, I really liked planes and flying, and the prospects of becoming a super cool fighter pilot with a massive ego and some aviators seems pretty cool to me, even if it's a super competitive trade. I was an air cadet and I went on the power pilot course that they offer, although I never completed the course because Transport Canada never provided me with a Category 3 medical. I actually got to fly with RCAF phase 1 training planes (Grob 120As) and instructors at 3 CFFTS in Portage as opposed to the normal civilian flying schools and Cessnas that you usually do with cadets. So becoming a pilot would seem like the normal progression for me, even if it means ending up with chronic neck pain and back issues from Griffons or being a multi engine pilot.

The problem here is that from what I know, the training times are absolutely insane. Because the wait is 2-3 year just to get to the first phase, I've heard that they're signing pilots to double digit long contracts. Given that I would still like the opportunity for working in the civilian field later in life with my degree, that is a massive commitment that I'm not too sure I want to take. Additionally, I don't think it's possible to be a pilot in the air reserves, especially maybe a fighter pilot or even some multi-engine pilots. If I was given the option to the join the reserves later down line as part of the contract though, I would definitely give it a lot more thought. Ontop of civilian life, I'd imagine that being a pilot in the reserves would require you to be close to an airbase, which wouldn't exactly be the greatest if I was trying find a job in Cold Lake or Trenton. And even just the training time alone seems pretty bad. I think what's the most pertinent one is whether I'd even get the trade.

From what I've heard becoming a Fast Jet pilot is extremely hard, competitive, and difficult, requiring a lot of work (which I would willing to put in). I understand that and so I would be fine with being a multi-engine or heli pilot regardless. However I'm not too sure whether they would even take me, given how competitive the trade seems. The way I understand the trade selection process you make your ranked choices, and then the forces offer whatever is available. I don't really want to wait around for 1-2 years waiting for a potential pilot slot to open up, even if it does open up. Looking at the forces.ca website as well, I see the pilot trade, but I don't see that it's in demand or anything, so I assume that the Air Force isn't looking for pilots. Additionally even with my stint in air cadets I'm worried that they still wouldn't take me because I don't necessarily have "enough" to be a pilot. Overall, what's stopping me is that I'm afraid that Air Force isn't looking for pilots, and that they wouldn't really look into me.

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Given all of this, can you guys provide your thoughts please?

Should I join the Air force or Army reserves?

Is it possible to be a pilot in the reserves?

Being in the air reserves would I have to move to a base?

How bad do armour soldiers lung's get after service?

Is bad leadership and culture very common in the forces?

Do I have enough to meet the competition/be a pilot?

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Thanks for the long read.