Infanteer

Overview

As a member of the military, Infantry Soldiers are the Army’s primary combat fighters and are responsible for closing with and destroying the enemy. They are the core members of the Combat Arms team, which includes Artillery and Armour Soldiers.

Infantry Soldiers are capable of operating anywhere in the world in any environment – Arctic tundra, mountains, jungle or desert – and in any combination of arms, including airmobile and amphibious operations. The primary duties of Infantry Soldiers are to:

• Expertly operate and maintain a wide range of weapons, including rifle, hand-grenades, light, medium and heavy machine-guns, and anti-tank weapons
• Use sophisticated equipment for field communications, navigation and night-vision surveillance
• Inspect and maintain weapon systems, vehicles, survival gear and personal defensive equipment
• Participate in airborne operations
• Operate with support elements such as fighter aircraft, tactical and artillery
• Engage in unarmed combat
• Employ camouflage and concealment, patrol, assault, defence, and escape-and-evasion tactics.
  
  
  

Work environment


Infantry Soldiers normally work outdoors. Both in training and on operations they live and work in conditions that would resemble those in the field. Infantry Soldiers will be posted to a battalion in Canada, but there are employment opportunities across Canada and on deployed operations around the world.

If you chose a career in the Regular Force, upon completion of all required training, you will be assigned to your first base. While there is some flexibility with regards to postings (relocations), accommodations can’t always be made, and therefore, you can likely expect to move at some point in your career. However, if you decide to join the Primary Reserve Force, you will do so through a specific Reserve unit. Outside of training, your chosen Reserve unit will be your workplace on a part time basis, and you will not be obligated to relocate to a different base. As part of the Primary Reserve Force, you typically work one night per week and some weekends as a minimum with possibilities of full-time employment.

Entry plans

• Direct Entry Options
  
  

No previous work experience or career related skills are required. CAF recruiters can help you decide if your personal interests and attributes match the criteria for this occupation.

The minimum required education to apply for this occupation is the completion of the provincial requirements for Grade 10 or Secondary 4 in Quebec.

Foreign education may be accepted.

Training

The first stage of training is the Basic Military Qualification course, or Basic Training, held at the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec. This training provides the basic core skills and knowledge common to all trades. A goal of this course is to ensure that all recruits maintain the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) physical fitness standard; as a result, the training is physically demanding.

Infantry Soldiers attend one of three Military Training Centres: The Royal Canadian Regiment in Meaford, Ontario; Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry in Wainwright, Alberta; and the Royal 22 e Régiment in Valcartier, Quebec. The training takes 17 weeks and includes the following topics:

• Use and care of personal and section-level weapons, including rifles, machine guns and anti-tank weapons
• Field-craft, including personal hygiene and meal preparation, camouflage, sentry duties, signalling, selecting firing positions, tactical movements and lines of advance
• Construction of field defences, such as trenches and roadblocks, and laying and marking of minefields
• Navigation by day and by night
• Patrolling operations
• Infantry section and platoon tactics, including offensive, defensive and transitional operations
  
  

Infantry Soldiers may be offered the opportunity to develop specialized skills through formal courses and on-the-job training, including:

• Basic Parachutist
• Parachute Jumpmaster
• Para Instructor
• Mountain Warfare
• Instructional Techniques
• First Aid Instructor
• Rappelmaster
• Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence Instructor
• Urban Operations
• Close Quarter Combat Instructor
  
  

As they progress in their career, Infantry Soldiers who demonstrate the required ability and potential will be offered advanced training. Available courses include:

• Instructional Techniques
• Primary Army Leadership
• Infantry Section Commander
• Infantry Platoon Second in Command
• Infantry Company Sergeant-Major
• Communicator
• Re