Final Parade
The time that this message is posted and the time it was written are not the same due to the fact that I did not have an internet connection at the time of this event (so I wrote it down on my laptop).It’s finally over. After five weeks of stress, it’s all over. After the parade at 1:45 pm (13:45) I was done my basic officer’s training course. The motivational speeches and tips of advice that people threw at me were quite useful. I especially liked it when the master corporal shook my hand and said “Meet you on the flight line.” That was a nice touch. Our DSM (drill sergeant major) also gave his tidbit of advice. Though I cannot imitate the story to its power or mood at the time, here is the synopsis:
He was as sergeant in his unit and was in charge of a new group of men called pioneers. He was hard on them and gave them hell. At one point during this posting there was a little misunderstanding, and he was pinned down by the MP’s (military police). But as they were about to slap on some handcuffs, his men came out and beat the MP’s to a pulp. He told his men to back off and to tell the adjutant what happened. What he realized was that his men were loyal to him and that even when he told them to stop, they listened.
Another story was when the DSM was a warrant with a new platoon commander. One of the privates in his care was found utterly wasted (drunk). He sentenced him to do mess hall duties for five days. When the platoon commander caught wind of this, he told him to lay a charge on the private. He defended the private and told the platoon commander that it was he who was in charge of discipline. But the platoon commander was insistent on pressing charges. The warrant then took the platoon commander’s pencil, bit off the eraser, spit the end across the room and said “Here, you don’t need the other end since you’ve never made a mistake.” The platoon commander looked at him and forgot about the whole idea of charges. That platoon commander is now a general, who took that lesson to heart.
The last story the DSM told us was another one of loyalty and integrity. At the time he was the sergeant of his section in a battle school. He was under the responsibility of one of the most notorious DSM’s at t he time. Every morning they had a parade and it was school policy to not drink during the working week when you would be facing your troops (so they cannot smell the alcohol on your breath and to be professional). One weekday, a buddy of his had just finished some Yukon challenge thing and invited him over for some few beers. A few beers turned into a lot of beers and he ended up getting wasted. He woke up at 9:20 and he was supposed to be at work at 7:15 on the parade square. When he went to work later on, the DSM asked him “Why where you late?” and he replied “Well I slept in sergeant”. The DSM said “Well ok” and carried on. Later on in the day the DSM called him into his office and asked him “Well, tell me the reason why you were late”. He replied “Honestly, a buddy of mine came down and I was hammered. I slept in because of my hangover.” The DSM said “Ok, carry on.” This confused him, since the DSM was one of the most aggressive people with discipline. But just as he was about to step out of the door the DSM yelled “GET BACK IN HERE!” The DSM then relayed his side of the story. “Normally in these circumstances I would charge you. You should really check with your troops what happened when you weren’t here. When you didn’t show up to work this morning, they said that you were at a dental appointment. I of course called the dental office and you were not there. When I asked you personally what happened, you admitted your faults and told me the truth. This shows me two things. One, you have earned the respect for your troops, that they would even cover up your mistakes. Two, you had the honesty to tell me what happened. Both are qualities that I value. Don’t let something like this happen again.” Shocked, he got up and walked away without a disciplinary action laid against him.
As I said, the guy was a little bit crazy but his stories were cool and funny.
As for the parade. We, as a division of officer-cadets, practiced for three days on this parade. When we practiced for the parade, we wore combats and practiced for about two hours. On the actual parade, we all wore our full dress tunics and had bayonets on our rifles. It was boiling in that building and I was certain that somebody was going to keel over (The DSM said “You better
not faint, if you faint you make sure that you impale yourself on the way down” lol). No one did, thankfully. It was hot and I was sweating through my thick wool tunic. After a few march passes, a quick inspection, padre’s prayers and some speeches, we were out of there. Man, I couldn’t have been happier all summer. It’s nice to take the load off of your chest after so long. Now I have four days of leave. I might go to Montreal (Madonna and the Grand Prix are in town, so the city will be packed) or Ottawa (Meet the family I have there). It’s nice to have the options.
Once the parade was over I quickly packed up my things. I was a bit disappointed that I ended up with another box to carry with me. Believe me, when you move around a lot, every extra piece of clothes or equipment becomes a slight hassle (I really find fragile, breakable items extremely annoying). I finally moved all my things to my new quarters and said goodbye
to my room for the last five weeks of my life. I also got a shirt from the course that suited the occasion. It’s meant to look like a prison shirt and it says “We got out!” on the back.
Goodbye old roomSleepy and happy,
Michael
The 4 Days of Leave
Well, the date of the time of writing is
Thursday Evening
The graduation parade was over with. I went to the reception after and talked to my friends that were leaving for the rest of the summer (talk about relaxation, these guys get 64 days of leave!), a few members of my staff, and my previous platoon commander who was extremely energetic. Capt. Lake is an amazing person. She can run faster and longer then I can, is an RMC graduate, and just came back from
Hello new room
I entered my new room and found that it was exactly the same, only everything was mirrored (reversed). I decided to stay the night and unpack all my stuff in the beginning instead of coming back after four days and have all this stuff to sort out later. Plus, I would save money on a hotel/motel/hostel (depending on where I am) staying at the base and getting cheap meals. Once everything was set-up I prepared myself for the week.
Friday
I woke up early Friday, took a shower, got changed and headed out of my room. I went to the main entrance and met up with some guys from RMC. 
I asked for some directions to the mall (which is where the bus terminal is) and they pointed me to the right direction. I didn’t actually believe them when they said it was a forty-five minute walk. Whatever. After passing a few landmarks along the way, I found the terminal and hopped on a bus to
By the way, if you haven’t already noticed I’m going to have a lot of pictures in my blog due to the fact that I have a new camera at my disposal. Just so you know.
I arrived at the
I went everywhere, taking pictures of anything interesting. I walked into Indigo Bookstores (I have to go into a bookstore at least once in any trip) and I listened to some Australian performer. I ended up walking into the “Festival Mode & Design” and watched my first live model show. It was an interesting experience, but I didn’t take any pictures. I saw monuments, cathedrals, landmarks and anything else that caught my eye. A woman was actually playing her cello on the street for the fact of having an audience, not for money.