hello theory, meet reality.

Attended CTC pre-course briefing yesterday. It was a short and interesting (the two terms are often symbiotic, I realise) affair. What caught my attention was the professed aim of the course: graduates are to 'know and understand the principles, but ability to question (sic)'.

I couldn't help but compare this statement with my army experience thus far. BMT was: 'don't need to understand anything, and don't you dare to ask questions'. OCS: 'Better know and understand, or else learn to throw smoke. Ability to question should go hand in hand with ability to take repercussions'. Unit: 'Say you know and understand, even if you don't. Ask questions, but use the correct phrases*'.

(* The person giving the briefing provided an excellent anecdote about this. He mentioned an occasion when it was raining during an NDP rehearsal. An officer went up to the colonel in charge and asked,'Sir, can we cancel the rehearsal today?' He promptly got chewed out. The right question to ask, laughed our narrator, should have been: 'Sir, can we postpone the rehearsal?' Never suggest giving up. On anything.)

The army often unwittingly provides some rich situations. Maybe it's all that testosterone sloshing around. I could probably fill a whole year's worth of dilbert comic strips with army experiences. All it'd need is a change of clothing.