Wow, It's been a a long time...

...since I have posted anything on this page. Honestly, I have had little sleep and little free time since the school year started up again. Civil Engineering here at RMC is keeping me busy. Staying on top of things is difficult enough, though I am doing well in most of my classes. I guess I'll update you on what has happen since I last posted.

May 27: School and RMC 06-07 ended. Yay.

May 28: Common Army Phase (CAP) started

I'm in the air force, but my trade (Airfield Engineering) requires that I take this course in order to advance to my third phase of training. CAP was tough and extremely tiring, but I had a great section to work with and an excellent sergeant named Strohm.

I learned how to handle pistols, the light machine gun, grenades, and my personal rifle. It was quite the experience. Alongside the weapons training there was a bit on the theories of war and other related topics. I learned how to conduct a section attack with a section of people. I was also taught how to plan for and execute a reconnaissance mission. Our platoon ended up marching everywhere and we eventually set up a defensive position on the side of a hill. Man, digging a 4-5 foot trench through rock is not fun. Not sleeping for 5 days also isn't fun (though it's neat to see people hallucinate or go a little crazy). After the defensive operation we had a live fire exercise with the whole 300+ man company. That was an experience I won't forget anytime soon.

Besides the field time, I organized a live fire range for a platoon of people, navigated using the map+compass and GPS, and learned proper radio procedure. I aced the written tests and I eventually graduated the course on 10 August 2007. For 10 weeks I worked hard with my peers to finish the training and finally go home after a year.

August 11: Back home in Winnipeg!

I was sick for half of my two weeks back home. That was a bummer. I did meet up with my old friends from high school. I look back and I realized how much my circle of friends back home had traveled. Many moved out of the city, some came from all the way from Nova Scotia, and some just got back from Europe! Man I kinda wish I could travel, I just have to learn to save my money (I'm working on it...). My sister is almost done being pregnant too! I'm going to be an uncle. I wonder what good uncles do? My other sister just came back from South Korea where she was teaching English. I would love to go to Korea. Anyways, I laughed, I drank, I had fun. Good times in Winnipeg.

August 27: Back @ University

I was excited to come back to school. I started my third year and had already gotten my 20ish books for my classes (most I never use). I was also appointed to my current position as section commander, which places six other officer candidates under my command. It's a fun job, but the paperwork on top of school is kind of annoying. It's been a neat experience so far and I am getting to know my section well. Thankfully I haven't had to use my powers of punishment yet (an hopefully I never will). School is school, but I'm excited that I am finally doing Civil Engineering work (after two years...).

October 6: Road Trip Down to Annapolis. United States Naval Academy (USNA)

For (Canadian) thanksgiving my friend Andrew and I went down to Annapolis to see our old friend Dave. Dave is currently on exchange with the US Navy taking a semester of school down in Maryland. The time on the road was pretty hilarious (cops, Greek people and other interesting things). The academy was nice, but the society and way of living isn't my cup of tea. I'm not here to criticize the USNA's way of doing things, but I'm glad I'm here and not there.
Andrew, Dave, the other Canadian exchange student and I went up to Washington for two days to check out the city. We saw the Canadian embassy, Arlington Cemetery, the White House, the big white obelisk thing, and a couple of Smithsonian museums. We had a good time. Once we were done exploring, Andrew and I dropped off the two exchange students and we headed back up to Canada.

October 13: Today

The hellish school week is finally over. That trip to Annapolis destroyed any hopes of getting sleep this week. I finally finished all my assignments and tests yesterday. Midterms are in the next two weeks. I plan to be hunkering down in my room and studying for the weekend (that will never actually happen though). I divide my time by when I eat my meals. Lunch is in two hours, so I should be done this soon. I'll update this post again sometime. My camera is broken, so I'll see if I can get another one soon.

Cheers,

-Michael U.

PS: I'm shortening the title of this page to "Leaving the Peg'." It's less of a mouthful then "LEAVING THE PEG: a university student at RMC."

UPDATE 12 April 2008: As of 01 January 2008, the term Airfield Engineering is now being replaced by the term Construction Engineering to better reflect the basis of the occupation.