BY ANDRU MCCRACKEN

17 year-old Rainer Mulyk is in the army now. He is in training at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, New Brunswick, and he is loving it. He is training to be an armoured crewman.

For his parents and other adults who know him, Rainer seems to have found himself, and grown more confident. He is one of the youngest recruits at the camp, and most of his colleagues are about 25 years old. Here’s an interview with Rainer when he came home for a brief visit.

Is it like the movies?

It’s not at all. It seems more violent in the movies. It’s not violent at all.

Some days we wake up at 4:30 a.m. and we go for a 6 km run. We have a couple of classes about military drills and history, things we have to do in the field. We do some physical training in the afternoon. That could be sports, running, or weight training.

What is inspection?

You have to lay out all of your kit on your bed. You’ll have to make your bed, iron your bed, everything has to be 12 by 12 inches. Your underwear has to be out, folded 6 by 6. Top of the bed has to be folded 12 by 12. Sheets have to be folded down 12 and ironed.

Once you get used to it, you do it everyday. Now we do it days when we don’t even have to. It just looks so much better when you have standards like that. Once you get a standard, you keep it.

What are you training for?

I’ll be working on the Coyote. It’s an armoured reconnaissance vehicle. My trade is armoured crewman, so I either work with the Coyote or the Leopard 1 or 2 tank.

I want to work on the tanks.

How did it feel going from teenage freedom to an army recruit?

It was a pretty big shock the first couple of weeks coming into something that is so strict and regulated. But you get used to it. Once you get on course, it is simple. Everything makes so much sense to do it like that.

Did you ever come close to quitting?

I think everyone has had days like that where it is just like, “Nah, this isn’t working out.”

I pushed through it. You got to sleep and wake up the next morning, you’re like, “Nah, keep pushing it.”

What’s the hardest thing about the military training?

Being away from home. That was the biggest thing for everyone.

When will you go to war?

I’m not sure when I could be deployed. My next set of training will be 12 weeks. Then I’ll move on to my posting, which could be Edmonton or Petawawa. It will probably be a year after that.

What is the best part?

The physical fitness is my favourite part. We’re always working out, doing something. It’s hard to keep up that physical aspect out here as a civilian. There, you don’t have a choice, so it is kind of good. You don’t have to regulate it yourself.

Do you recommend joining the forces?

It’s not for everyone. I’ve already got a few friends here who want to join. I’m getting them information on it. If they want to go for it, do it.

I wanted to do it since before I got into high school.

The army is not all about front line combat. You need supply techs, auto techs, the cooks, you need everyone to work together.

I feel like a recruiter going out and talking to people, “Hey, what are you doing after high school?”

The biggest thing is coming back and seeing my friends are doing the exact same thing that they were doing when I left.

Do you think you made the right choice?

Yeah, I do. The level of training we have is top notch. If you are trained properly, nothing can go wrong if everyone works together.