Officers assess the evidence markers at the very edge of the Point Frederick peninsula, located at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) at CFB Kingston, where a vehicle entered the water in the early morning hours of Friday, Apr. 29, 2022, resulting in four fatalities. (Kingstonist) Photo by Logan Cadue.
MADD is MAD for a Reason
Does this scenario sound familiar? Four young military men in a car driving around just as the bars are closing, exams have finished and soon they will all be graduating. Then somehow the vehicle goes out of control and flips into the water, all four pronounced dead at the scene.
Officially, the authorities are not going to ‘speculate’ about the cause of the accident but I guarantee the first action at the autopsy will be a Tox screen for alcohol/drugs to determine the driver’s level of impairment.
Meanwhile, everyone is being polite for the sake of the families. The men are being described as ‘on the cusp of graduation, amazing young adults, heroes‘. Everyone through the Royal Military College leadership, CDS, Premier, MND, to the PM are making the polite remarks while eulogizing their deaths. It’s the well-mannered Canadian way.
It’s wrong.
Kingston Fire and Rescue and Frontenac Paramedic Services on scene following the incident at Point Frederick at RMC. (Kingstonist) Photo by Lucas Mulder.
From MADD Canada’s Statement of Beliefs, ‘Impaired driving crashes are not accidents, but rather the direct result of an individual’s conscious decision to drive after drinking or using drugs.‘
Cars do not flip upside down late at night in a low speed zone all on their own. These men do not deserve lionizing, they deserve to be held up as a cautionary tale.
Here is what the taglines should be saying, ‘The driver irresponsibly operated a motor vehicle in a reckless manner which directly caused the deaths of the vehicle’s four occupants. The passengers themselves did not have the fortitude to demand the driver cease his careless behaviour.’
Having spent plenty of years around irresponsible drunks in the CAF, I can vouch that alcoholism causes many issues. To give the CAF credit, they are attempting to tame the rampant drinking and are making some headway with the newer recruits. But there is still a long ways to go to completely rein in irresponsible drinking.
One way to stop more tragedies like this past incident is to stop calling them ‘accidents‘. These are violent crimes which frequently lead to death. Society does not put up with drunks walking around waving a loaded gun. There are no polite noises when someone gets shot, there is condemnation, and rightly so.
Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.
Here is some Public Relations advice for the Freedom Convoy organizers to help sort out their messaging. To be successful, you don’t have to be fancy or polished. In fact, you’re a grassroots, organic movement, being fancy wouldn’t fit your character. Above all, you need to be honest.
First, find some ex-military or media trained people in your outfit. Even if they’ve only worked on a school paper, it’s better than nothing. The military people are for organizing stuff. That’s what we’re trained for and they’re good at working under pressure with tight deadlines. Also, they know what SMEAC and OPORDs stand for.
Ok, your Situation is the Government has pissed you and a large bunch of your friends off.
Your Mission statement has to be short and sweet. For example, your goal is to take your message to Ottawa and deliver it to the Government. Take some time to think this over because this is what you want the media to latch onto. Right now they’re saying you’re an anti-vaccine convoy. If you want that impression changed, you’ve got to change it by multiple repetition. It’s got to be something simple so the public can understand it.
Execution, here’s the meat and potatoes. The media cannot be allowed to work in a vacuum or they will get 100% of your message wrong. DO NOT turn media away. DO NOT say NO COMMENT. DO NOT be rude to media. Plus nothing is ever ‘off the record’. Number one rule: BE 100% HONEST! If you don’t know the answer, say so. Take note and get back to the questioner. If the answer is going to make you look bad, OWN IT! For example, Tamara Lich is associated with the Maverick Party, ie. portrayed as Right Wing Kooks. Well, Preston Manning did this whole Reform thing and last I looked there are 32 Bloc MPs elected to Ottawa.
Okay, here’s my suggestions on getting your message out. First, find someone to be the ‘Face’ of the Convoy. They need to be personable, confident, knowledgable, & comfortable being in the spotlight. At least once a day there needs to be a set media access scrum (15-30 mins max), more depending on how fast events are moving. Standard news conference, make an opening statement detailing your mission, updates on the situation, facts and figures, pertinent details, 5 to 10 minutes tops. Open the floor to questions, one question and one follow-up. Don’t play favourites but the goal is to develop a professional rapport with the media. Be punctual, be professional, be informative.
The Convoy has image issues, you’re full of ‘racists, violent people, white supremacists, etc.’ Consider a ‘Trucker’ of the day. Showcase the ordinary people making up the group.
If you have the time, make up Backgrounders, Talking Points, general info that can be given to the Media and to your spokespeople. It helps keep everyone on the same page and reporters generally take that stuff verbatim so your message doesn’t skew.
Another avenue to get the word out is the authorities like the police and government representatives. Again, you have to be better than them and proactive. People in Ottawa are not going to be happy with you tying up their streets. Work with the Police to minimize traffic issues, pissing off ordinary people isn’t going to help you. Work with government types and invite their reps to talk/attend whether at rallies, in private, at their offices, etc. Set times and again get the media to these things and/or informed.
Admin/Logistics: gather a team, this needs to be farmed out or stuff will fall through the cracks. Make one person the Point of Contact (POC) for media enquiries/requests, someone can gather/disseminate general info, sort out a scheduler, figure out who’s in charge of all of this.
Command & Signal: get the word out to your people what the media policy is. Who’s the person a reporter can be directed to for greater detail? What’s the phone numbers, email addresses? What’s your Talking points you want to focus on. For example, B.J. Dichter had a good interview with Tucker Carlson but at the end he veered off on some tangent about cell phone info at the Border. NOT HELPFUL when you come off as conspiracy types. The Convoy members also need to know who they can direct reporters to when the questions get too detailed. Good reporters will ask questions from anyone, there’s nothing wrong with that, they’re just looking for a story. DO NOT YELL AT THEM! Whoever pissed off that one news crew got the negative attention of some heavy hitters. Not smart! Here’s a good rule of thumb, the media is not the enemy until they are the enemy. If a particular reporter screws you over, give them a chance to explain themselves but if it was malicious, then put them on the outs. As for people randomly talking to reporters, tell them to stay in their own ‘lane’. Talk about themselves, their personal reasons for being there, what they hope will come of this but they should stay away from conjecture or being baited.
None of this is particularly difficult. Be honest, own the mistakes made, show you’re willing to make corrections, be somewhat flexible, and be confident. Many Canadians are looking at your Convoy as something that will unite the country. But there’s some powerful enemies who want your movement to fail. Just Google some names of the organizers and see what pops up. Try to stay out of the ditch and on the high road.
Feel free to contact me for further pointers or questions.
It would be meaningless for me to do a deep dive into the psychology and meaning behind the words of one of history’s great monsters as this man’s actions have been dissected by luminaries time and again. This article is merely the general impressions I came away with after ploughing my way through this seemingly endless tome.
As endless tasks go, it was tough making it through this book but I pushed myself sometimes only a page or two at a sitting because I felt it is important to try to understand the origins of how these monsters come into being.
Hitler’s writing style does not lend itself to easy reading. Perhaps he forbade his comrades from doing a proper edit or there was not anyone brave enough to volunteer but it certainly could have used better structure. It seemed as if he thought of a subject, labeled bags with the chapter headings, and then randomly tossed in vaguely relevant thoughts until the bag was full. He would start with some premise to begin the chapter, write pages and pages of endless paragraphs which would somewhat torturously lead to a conclusion, then do a sort of summation to close. These two volumes are not for your casual reader.
Things Hitler did not Like
Jews
Hitler really got into his hatred for the ‘International’ Jew in the 2nd Volume. His main complaints related to the banking and media sectors who were going to ultimately ruin the Fatherland. The Jews had played a large hand in the ‘Revolution’ or the final days of WW1 where Germany surrendered. In addition, he abhorred the idea that Jewish blood would dilute the Aryan bloodlines.
Few things here, Jews don’t really intermarry outside of their faith and Hitler even mentions this in the book. So I am not sure where the widespread ‘contamination’ would come from unless he was refering verboten Jewish ‘ideas’. Jews did participate to a high degree in the banking and print sectors worldwide. As for general anti-Semitism, well, Hitler really was not the first to spew this type of hatred. He was of course, the first to try a Final Solution, but that did not come out in this 1925 writing.
Marxism
Hitler wrote extensively about his dislike for Marxism. The German Marxist political forces were the National Socialist Party’s main opponents. According to Hitler, they helped bring Germany to their knees at the end of the War. Russia could not be trusted because the Marxists had taken over. Plus there were the Jewish Marxist overtones.
Shirkers
Hitler felt that the best of Germany had gone to and had been sacrificed at the Front after four years of titanic struggle. The shirkers and cowards who remained behind eventually sold out the Fatherland when the government was taken over and the War was brought to an end.
When duties within the Party were divvied up, Hitler distained the Committee where he felt the shirker could hide from accountability. He would assign individuals tasks and they would hold sole responsibility for the success or failure.
Negroids
Hitler was not convinced that Germany’s strength was going to come from their colonies implying their Negro inhabitants were an issue. He looked towards France who allowed Negros to pour into the country from their colonies as a warning to Germany. Again, it was an issue of bloodlines being diluted.
France
The War was really a gigantic struggle between France and Germany fought mostly on French soil. France, understandably, took a hard line with the terms to end the conflict. Then later, French forces moved into the rich coal area of the German Ruhr. Hitler was not the only ex-soldier to be disgruntled with this backhanded treatment.
Things Hitler did Like
Himself: Hitler definitely had an outsized ego. He was the only one who knew the way forward. He pushed aside the leadership of the group he joined to lead them himself. He bragged about being the one to design the new flag. His speeches would last for hours.
Propaganda: To Hitler, this was the most important part of a movement in order to get it going and to bring in the followers.
Large Spectacles: Go big or go home would have been his motto. He understood the psychology of getting a mass of humanity together and how much more it would sway them during his speeches.
The Fatherland: Hitler’s goal was to centralize certain important concepts in order to cement proper respect for the German way of life. He was a hardline traditionalist in many respects. He definitely wanted the fair haired German women to breed with only fair haired German men to keep the Aryan blood pure.
Athletics: Hitler felt that an active German people who were fit would be a good base to draw from in case of a need to raise a military.
Some Miscellaneous Points
Hitler and his National Socialist Party were a product of their time. Their controversial and ultimately hugely successful propaganda newsletter was one of 1000’s being printed. Their political group started with a few men, no money, and would have been swept away like flotsam like so many others except for Hitler’s sheer force of will.
Hitler must have been one helluva good speaker. There would not have been much for entertainment except to go to a hall to listen to one guy or another up on his soapbox blathering away. Usually fights would break out. Drinks and a show would keep bored men entertained.
Hitler posited that Britain could have been an ally. His thoughts were that the Empire did not want just one strong European power like France. If there were at least two strong powers, then they would cancel each other out to Britain’s benefit.
Hitler’s goal for German expansion was not through colonies but through growing the German homeland, specifically to the East through Poland. He foresaw a population growth to 250 million Germans.
Hitler liked intimidation. He wrote a whole chapter on his Storm Troops. At first, they were the bodyguard necessary when rival groups wanted to break up one of their public hall meetings. They were the most fanatical of the Party’s members and used ferociousness to fend off attack.
Conclusion
Was there a point where Adolf Hitler could have stopped advancing his military and become a World leader instead of one of the most reviled villains of history? He marched into former German areas to reunite the Fatherland with nary a shot fired. Even Poland was a small bump which he deftly divided in half with the Soviets. Sure, that brought the ‘Big Boys’ into the arena but there seemed to be no stomach from the West to make the first move. In fact, could have Hitler extended an olive branch to Britain after the conquest of France? Would a strong Germany not have been a good bulwark between Red Russia and Britain? Push come to shove, if Russia had been more of a threat would the World have really cared that all the Jews were being rounded up?
In the end, Hitler’s megalomania which got him to his pinnacle of power was what ultimately defeated him. As for his book, it was not his skills in penmanship which gained him his fame.
Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.
Politicians & Generals Should be Jailed for Treason
“We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying, but they are still lying.”
Attributed to Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
Thankfully, the West still has Freedom of Information (FOI) laws. If someone has the patience and deep enough pockets, despite deliberate government functionary obfuscation, documents are to be disclosed. The Washington Post backed reporter Craig Whitlock’s quest for the truth regarding the Afghanistan War and spent their own treasure and time suing the US government to turn over war documents. The following is a brief synopsis of the book’s contents.
Part 1 (2001-2002): Who am I supposed to shoot?
After Al-Qaeda spectacularly attacked America and traumatized the Nation, President George W. Bush invoked NATO articles and launched his ‘War on Terror’. Al-Qaeda was routed in their stronghold of Afghanistan forthwith and Osama bin Laden barely escaped across the border into Pakistan. At this point, the NATO forces could have high-fived and gone home.
Nope!
The Americans were all dressed up and ready for a party, so they looked around for a reason to stay. Well, the Taliban had harboured Al-Qaeda, were ‘mean’ to women, and most of the country was illiterate. Besides, if they could build a ‘Western’ style Nation in Afghanistan, they could keep an eye on the pesky Russians. Hooray, we’re here to stay! Everyone loves the States, they all want to be just like us, shoot all the Taliban if you can figure out who they are, what could go wrong?
Part 2 (2003-2005): Peek-A-Boo, where did you go?
Not content with one major war, President Bush went after his father’s bête noire in Iraq chasing after fictitious ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’. Immediately, the action in Afghanistan became an afterthought.
The Afghanistan conflict seemed to be running smooth enough at that point. The major players, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban seemed to be on the ropes despite that pesky bin Laden still being at large. Afghan women were liberated and the process of educating kids could start. An emphasis was placed on training the Afghans to take over their own security with a comprehensive training program to create their own National Army and police force.
The fly in the ointment was the constant hit and run attacks originating on the southern border with Pakistan. It was obvious that enemy combatants were hiding and launching strikes from across the border. But like Vietnam, NATO forces refrained from pursuit lest they raised the ire of this nuclear armed country. Pressure was put on Pakistan to sort this out themselves but they just played both sides.
Part 3 (2006-2008): We’re back!
Five years into the War, it became apparent that it was not going to wrap up neatly. The Taliban just would not lay down and disappear. A quote from one of their leaders, “You have all the clocks but we have all the time.” meant they were content with waiting it out until the Americans tired of the conflict and went home.
President Bush was disappointed with Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense and swapped him out for a former CIA Director, Robert Gates. The conflict was described as ‘on automatic cruise control, without a roadmap or a destination.’
In addition, it was coming to the attention of the World through Human Rights groups that America had taken up with war criminals who were now ensconced as Afghan government leaders. The ‘puppet’ government was a cabal of warlords protecting their fiefdoms. Many of these mini empires ran off the lucrative opium industry which was a cash crop for the country. In the ultimate irony, the Taliban had outlawed the poppy in 2000 as against the will of Islam. Then with the arrival of the NATO forces, the poppy flourished under the corrupt Afghan government and the inept military strategies to eradicate it.
Part 4 (2009-2010): Enter Obama.
It was the new kid on the block’s turn at the tiller. President Obama put a new General in charge of the War, committed thousands of more troops to the fighting, and opened the funding gates to rebuild the country.
Instead of a decisive turn of fortune, Obama had to deal with Hamid Karzai running a corrupt election to get re-elected, Afghan’s largest private bank liquefied due to fraud, and anti-corruption efforts amounted to nothing. Ordinary Afghans were losing faith in anything connected to the Allies and the Taliban were waiting in the wings.
Part 5 (2011-2016): Got the dirty bastard, time to go home right?
In 2011, American forces in a clandestine mission into Pakistan finally took out America’s Public Enemy No. 1 thus symbolically removing the reason for invading Afghanistan. But America was going to stay because they were ‘winning’.
The Americans had a loose understanding on what ‘winning’ was supposed to look like. After years of training, the indigenous Afghan security forces were a joke. In fact, infiltrators were posing as Allies and there were numerous occasions where they would turn on their benefactors. The military was full on using weasel words to spin the ‘winning’ narrative but the Taliban were making more incursions and American soldiers were dying.
When asked point blank what would end the stalemate, the Generals trotted out the old chestnut of ‘more troops and more guns’.
Part 6 (2017-2021): Elvis has left the building.
Although President Trump had campaigned on getting the troops home and the States out of foreign Nation building, he ended up keeping the status quo. Massive corruption stymied any attempts to reform the country, it was still a money pit for massive amounts of American dollars, and tepid attempts to talk to the Taliban leaders led to nowhere. When Trump left office, nothing had really changed.
President Biden finally decided to pull the plug on twenty years of blood and treasure spent on a land described as ‘where Empires go to die’. The last American troops pulled out at the end of August, 2021.
The book does not go into the fantastic speed with which the Taliban retook the country but it was obvious that the staggering sums of treasure spent on the local military and police were spent in vain. For a more complete accounting of costs of the Afghanistan war in blood and treasure, I refer you to the Brown University Watson Institute figures.
Craig Whitlock’s reporting makes for fascinating reading but this chronicle is not just about a confusing conflict which took place in a faraway, foreign land. It goes to the very heart of the rot gripping the West. For twenty years, the political and military establishment misled, varnished, and mangled the truth over what was really going on in Afghanistan. They outright lied. It is a classic case of the elite believing the ends justify the means. If they are not held accountable, then what is to stop them from adopting this pattern of behaviour as OPS Normal for all forms of governing?
Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.
Shortly before the 25th, the West Coast Pilots Assn conducted ‘Operation Elf’ to cutoff BC communities to spread some Christmas cheer
Why have BC Communities been Abandoned?
A positive thing about social media is that stories which used to be the exclusive domain of large media outlets can be told by the ordinary citizen on the ground. Real time images and video can be instantaneously shared worldwide where otherwise the suffering would be done in silence.
Starting on November 15, devastating mudslides started to cut BC off from the rest of Canada. On November 17, after a formal request from the Province, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) stood up Operation LENTUS 21-06 in order to augment the Province’s flood relief efforts. They did an admirable job but now they are leaving, in particular, the RCAF announced on December 10 that they were done.
But the job is not done!
Members of the Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadian) Regiment based in Edmonton, Alberta, fill sandbags in support of Operation Lentus to help the local community in Princeton, B.C. on Nov. 25. Photo by MCpl Nicolas Alonso, Canadian Forces Combat Camera, Canadian Armed Forces photo
On November 17, a friend and former military flight instructor of mine, Sigmund Bering Sort, posted that he and his Cessna 172 was available for no-cost flood relief flights. Since then, he has been chronicling his and other pilots efforts to provide lifelines to cut-off BC communities.
Hope Regional Airport
Happy to be headed home
Loaded with essential cargo
Original efforts were to fly stranded motorists out of the cut-off areas. Photos – Sigmund Bering Sort at Hope Regional Airport (CYHE)
It did not take long for Sigmund to be taken up on his offer. An Operations Specialist at Hope Regional Airport (CYHE) was already putting out calls for volunteer pilots to ‘fly the needy‘ out. First efforts were these mercy flights but it was already recognized that essential cargo flights were needed. Offers of donations and fuel for cash were starting to already trickle in.
Sigmund doing a selfie
Local outfits coordinating relief
In coordination with the local food bank, cargo flights were bein made to Merritt. Photos – Sigmund Bering Sort
By December 2, the focus had shifted to cargo flights and Sigmund was making flights from Langley to Merritt. At this point, he had joined with the West Coast Pilots Association, headed by Shaun Heaps, who was coordinating a larger effort through their facilities at Langley Airport. Special mention was made of the local Sikh community stepping up during a CBC Morning Live Interview. Also in the interview, Shaun mentioned they had 40 fixed wing aircraft and 4 helicopters flying in relief efforts from Boston Bar to Merritt. A key point of the interview was he had reached out to the BC government with no response.
Another key challenge for the pilot volunteers was money for fuel to keep the operation in the air. In Sigmund’s words, “We are volunteers who are allowed to get a bit of fuel assistance with some restaurants donating some hot meals to the volunteers to keep us going – ground crew and air crew alike. My costs are mine to bear and I am not paid. I donate my time and the costs of running my aeroplane.” During the interview, Shaun stated that one day’s worth of fuel for the fleet cost $20,000.
Sigmund has continued to post news, images, and video of the enormous relief effort. Kudos has been given out to all who have been involved such as the BC General Aviation Assn, the Jewish community, the Sikh community, the Russian community, the West Coast Pilots Assn, the numerous airport facilities, etc. He stated, “The humanity in this mammoth effort is deeply moving affecting people in a very profound and humbling way. Some communities we’re flying into have received no other help. Wow! No other help?! Groceries are cut-off from oh so many people now in dire need. The grateful faces that light up when we taxi our aircraft in to unload the essential cargo literally brightens the day, and as we unload we get to hear and witness folks share their respective community plight and hunger for help, any help.“
By December 5, weeks into the relief effort, Government and the CAF had not even contacted the communities Sigmund was flying into. In a Global News article, by December 2, the pilots were helping 30 to 35 cut-off communities, many First Nations. The last correspondence I had with Sigmund on December 16 was they were increasing work to 12 to 15 hour days in preparation for Christmas. He does not have kind words for government efforts who are MIA.
The highways are severed in many, many places cutting off communities from their supply chain that’s also needed to recover from the physical damage, cut off from their jobs and similar. Some communities have been running out of basic groceries, prescriptions and similar. The volunteers that meet the arriving aircraft tell us that we are the ONLY help they’ve had. There is a political disconnect as well as a physical infrastructure disconnect for these communities. The “Emergency Disaster” playbook is in serious need of a rewrite and/or additional chapters added. This is not hard to address with immediacy of action… after all, that’s exactly what we’re doing. Governments are encouraged to step up and take over the delivery of the essential cargo today, and if they need some idea of how to assist in real time… we can do that too! Just sayin’.
Sigmund Bering Sort – Volunteer BC Flood relief pilot, December 5
December 10, RCAF Operations tweeted out the standing down of operations out of Abbotsford Airport. It was ironic Global News called the West Coast Pilots Assn of 40 aircraft and 4 helicopters a ‘tiny air force’.
As for the military’s efforts, my ire is not towards the personnel on the ground but with their spineless officers in command. Yes, they can hide behind regulations stating the Province needs to formally request CAF assistance. That is a coward’s way out. Senior officers are well aware needs still need to be met for Canadians who are struggling. Nothing is stopping them from speaking out that wrongs are being committed other than career implications. But it seems no one with big broad stripes on their sleeves has the balls to stand up for their fellow Canadians.
Thankfully, ordinary Canadians like Sigmund and the army and air force of volunteers with him are answering the call. Tells you who you can count on when the chips are down.
Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.
Gen. Wayne Eyre — shown here addressing a repatriation ceremony at the Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea in 2018 — was named chief of defence staff last month. He replaced Art McDonald, who stepped aside following claims of sexual misconduct. (Jung Yeon-je/Associated Press)
MND & CDS Set to Apologize to Sexual Misconduct Victims
”Each human being shall have all of these in him, and they will constitute his nature. In some, there will be high and fine characteristics which will submerge the evil ones, and those will be called good men; in others the evil characteristics will have dominion, and those will be called bad men.”
Mark Twain
This entry was prompted by a response of a Military Mom who will not be accepting the upcoming apology from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) regarding cases of sexual harassment and misconduct. The following is to hopefully put the unique nature of serving in the CAF into context. It is not to excuse abhorrent behavior, it is more of a ‘It is what it is’ treatise.
Newly enlisted Canadians have their first contact with the real CAF when they pass through ‘The Green Door’ for the start of Basic Training. It is the beginning of an experience which cannot accurately be described to the ‘civvies’. They enter a world totally foreign to their previous life unless they have been coached through time in Cadets or by family military members.
To be honest, it’s not all honour and integrity. Quite a bit of the military experience is ugly and will bring out the worst of a human being due to the very nature of the beast. For this article, the focus will be on the taboo subject of sex in the military.
Think for half a second, what is going to happen when you throw a group of fit young men and women together? There are any number of reality TV shows broadcast that take all the mystery out of that question. So in that group mentioned, many are far away from home for the first time; they are under peculiar, incredible stress; they are living, breathing, working, partying with each other in a unit which is in many ways tighter than their family bonds. Toss in liberal amounts of alcohol during infrequent down times and what exactly do you think is going to happen?!?
They’re going to fuck like sex crazed bunnies!
The CAF has a very high men to women ratio, more so in the Army/Navy versus the Air Force. When there is a ten or twenty to one ratio even the wallflowers get second looks. An amazing transformation occurs when women are out of Combats and ready for a night out. It is quite natural that military women get hit on a lot by military men. It is literally a numbers game and incidentally the vast majority of them end up married to those military men.
But there are plenty of guys (and gals) just looking for a good time. Again, how many websites like Tinder, Grindr, Lov, etc. are dedicated to casual, no-strings sex? The military has their own terms for casual hookups such as, your ‘deployment wife’, your ‘ship wife’, ‘Pig in the Port’, etc. Military life puts particular stressors on people and they relieve themselves just like everyone else does.
Men get ‘handsy’ but it gets excused because it just happens in the Mess when they are tipsy. Women get slutty and start playing the boys off against each other because they like the fuss they create. Men make sexual moves on women and/or men because they thought they had ‘the sign’. The members of military units are literally cheek by jowl at times for months on end. The human psyche has to unburden itself and at times in a very ugly sexual fashion.
The Medical Infirmary (MIR) at CFB Kingston used to have a genital warts Parade each Wednesday. Most young men or women at that point were probably having ‘Buyer’s Remorse’ regarding their hookups. As for those sexual liaisons, many of them could probably be termed sexual assault due to the fact that the women were probably blitzed out due to alcohol. If a girl is almost passed out, it would be difficult to state that she was a 100% willing participant. The smart ones employ a stalwart Wing Man to protect them when they black out. The guy was probably just as drunk but of course that is no excuse. To be honest, what percentage of sexual episodes society wide do not have some element of substance enhancers to help lubricate the situation?
So what’s the solution for the CAF for them to curb what seems to be rampant sexual harassment? Even at the highest levels it is a problem as evidenced by the numerous, high profile cases of the most senior officers being guilty of sexual offences. These offences of a sexual nature seem endemic to the military despite many years of concerted effort to wipe it out.
When women first came into the CAF, this was one of the reasons people wanted to keep them out. But that ship has sailed and women are here to stay. The Russians used women in combat due to manpower shortages but they were segregated to their own all female units. That would be impractical for the CAF. The only viable solution is to recognize that members of the CAF are recruited from Canadian society at large and that they are human beings who come encumbered with all that entails.
Human nature is human nature despite Operation Honour, despite official apologies, despite the howling of the aggrieved. The CAF does take offences of a sexual nature very seriously and there is zero tolerance for the true predators. They are punished severely as they should be.
People are attracted to each other and that attraction can lead to acts of a sexual nature. Put a group of them under incredible stress, throw in some un-inhibitors, usually in the form of copious amounts of alcohol and bad stuff can happen. To remedy this, the leaders of the CAF need to recognize when situations are likely to get out of hand and then take positive action. As an example, woman Petty Officers would turn back a Junior Rank at the Brow before stepping ashore due to their choice of attire. Or, as the trend has become, military social events are not all about getting black-out drunk anymore.
Unfortunately, despite best efforts, bad decisions will be made and the Base Padre will continue to have visits from teary eyed Privates.
Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.
When you point the finger, more fingers point back at you
The Sexual Smear is Mightier than the Sword
So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
John 8:7
***Feb 05 Update – Global News is now reporting that The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS) has opened an investigation into possible improper behaviour on the part of the former CDS. There was also an important change to the narrative regarding the mystery military woman where the relationship between the two is now described as ‘intimate’. No extra information is provided that would lead us to believe the two were having sexual relations, neither person has claimed they were hooking up. Maybe Global could quit with the yellow journalism and the smearing campaign until some actual information from the investigation is made public.***
To briefly summarize the Global News article, the former Chief of Defence Staff has been accused of sending a 2012 email (three years before he became the CDS) to a female Corporal that contained the suggestion of ‘the prospect of going to a clothing optional vacation destination with her.‘ No context was provided regarding their full exchanges and the Corporal never filed an official complaint but a comment was sent to the CAF Ombudsman. The other incident was reported to Global News via a third party. Sometime in 2019, it appears that Gen Vance had been ‘sexting’ with a female subordinate whom he had previously dated back in 2001. They also seem to have privately met at least three times outside of work over the last couple of years. Gen Vance says nothing sexual happened. Global News contacted the mystery military woman who confirms these facts and wishes to remain anonymous.
Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance speaks during a news conference on the findings of the Statistics Canada Survey on Sexual Misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces in Ottawa on Nov. 28, 2016. – Chris Wattie / Reuters
The irony has not been lost on people that one of the first major actions of Gen Vance upon becoming CDS was to launch Operation HONOUR which was the CAF’s response to a damning April 2015 Deschamps Report alleging ‘endemic sexual misconduct throughout virtually all levels of the Canadian Forces.’
By the way, there is no regulation which says you cannot have consensual sex with anyone else in the CAF. There are time and place orders such as while on deployment, you should not be in each other’s direct chain of command, no professional reprisals or rewards should result from the relationship, and in the Navy you were supposed to ‘declare’ your relationship to your Chain of Command (COC). Back in the 80’s, an officer was not supposed to be hooking up with Non Commissioned Members (NCMs). Thankfully, that stupid order was rescinded.
There is a lot to unpack here, so I will start with a few of my thoughts in no particular order:
People are disappointed that Gen Vance appears to be ‘cheating’ on his wife, Kerry Vance, despite the lack of evidence of actual sexual relations. To that I say, so what? If the guy is cheating/thinking about cheating on his wife it is literally no business of yours or anyone else’s. Of course, there are work considerations to be mindful of which if that is taken care of then there is no argument other than morals. The relationship between a husband and his wife is theirs to deal with. Maybe the wife is a total bitch. Maybe they have an open marriage. You live your life and they can live theirs.
As an aside, the hiding of information like this was used by the military to turf homosexuals and lesbians back during the Cold War. The reasoning was a Soviet agent could compromise a service member and blackmail them. So if the CAF found out about your non-heterosexual orientation they would rescind your security clearance and boot you out.
People point to the unbalanced power structure between Gen Vance and the unnamed female subordinate saying it perpetuates the culture of military sexual misconduct. Up in the rarified air of the top ranks, you are literally only going to have lower ranks to fraternize with. In Gen Vance’s case, everyone is subordinate to the CDS. What is the solution, make every high ranking member take a vow of eternal celibacy? Maybe the CAF could hire escorts when the boys/girls feel urges so they don’t have to resort to other military members. Is there a possibility of abuse, well duh, that’s all of human history and don’t tell me it’ll be any different if it was a woman instead of a man with the upper hand. People form relationships with those they spend the most time with ie. the people at work because they share similar interests, understand what each other are going through, proximity, etc.
This goes back to the old argument of not allowing women to be part of the military. Everyone knew there was going to be ‘playing’ around when the girls and boys were away together on deployment or exercise. Heck, I had a ship ‘wife’ for a time while I was at sea. We didn’t tell our Chain of Command because we were mature enough not to let it interfere with our work and frankly, it was no one else’s business.
Humans are humans. Put men and women together, add stress, add some alcohol, they have sex. To deny that is to deny human nature. To deny this does not happen frequently in the military is straight ignorance.
For the true victims of sexual harassment and misconduct, yes, that is intolerable and justice should be swift and harsh. This type of misconduct has happened in the past and will happen in the future. For example, down in the Chiefs and POs Mess on the ships, the women had to put up with a lot of grabby hands. ‘Oh, Jim just gets a little too touchy, feely when he’s been drinking‘. Thankfully, the dinosaurs are dying out and the worst of the abuse seems to be passing. But when you have humans working together, there will be all forms of mistreatment that will never be totally eliminated especially so in a military environment merely due to the nature of the work.
Oh, the damning email with the inappropriate sexual remark, well that’s straight out sexual assault! As for inappropriate emails, dig deep enough and everyone has done or said something risqué at some point. If you haven’t, what’s wrong with you? You know who is the worst for black humour and sexual joking? Female nurses. Hang out with them but not if you’re a shrinking violet and have tender ears. I do not see interminable witch hunts admonishing the nursing profession for their inappropriate sexual innuendos.
When the Op HONOUR edicts, power points, and Town Halls started rolling out many of the victims were things like the removal of girlie calendars in the workshops, the curtailing of off-colour jokes, and even the painting over of decades old artwork on ship bulkheads. Sure, it was good to clean up the pig sty atmosphere of too many men gathered together. In some of the larger messes onboard ship, the rumour was porn was playing on the TV 24/7. But when you sweep through with a dragnet of ‘sexual’ correctness, you destroy esprit de corps and everything becomes sterile.
The self righteous had better be careful playing this card too often. Women fought for decades for inclusion and equality in the CAF. But when they get treated like one of the ‘guys’ who knows what stray email or remark will pop up years later to be used as a bludgeon. If it was a problem, deal with it at the time, not multi-years later as a smear tactic. It does not help the image of women in the CAF. What man will ever trust to be alone with a woman for fear of some later accusation?
It is sad when people are so quick to judge and smear others with these moralistic witch hunts. They remind me of the reports of the never-ending Stalin era denunciations where everyone was looking over their shoulder and they lived in fear of the midnight knock on the door. No one is safe when such minor indiscretions can be trotted out to destroy someone’s career and reputation.
Frankly, I do not feel a military member should be so dehumanized as to be absolutely squeaky clean. They will be totally devoid of mercy, understanding, and general humanity. Believe me, I came across a few high ranking RCN pricks who perfectly fit this description and you do not want to be serving under them.
At the end the day, who is going to be hurt or helped by this third party’s vendetta? I am sure Kerry Vance is thrilled to have all this out in the public square with all the associated tongue wagging. The mystery military woman will be dragged into this and face unwanted humiliation and attention. The Corporal never made a formal complaint regarding a off-hand email remark from nearly a decade ago, so what justice will be served here? Military women, in general, lose because this just reinforces the general notion of women’s vindictiveness over minor actions. Last but not least, a decorated, honourable soldier gets to have his name raked through the mud after finishing four decades of faithful service to Canada.
Who gets to profit from these sorry revelations? The disgruntled third party gets to say ‘Ah-ha, got the bastard!‘ The tabloids who pose as our mainstream media get to run salacious stories and garner more clickbait hits. The sanctimonious get to cluck, shake their heads, and wag their fingers.
In my humble opinion, it is disgusting, improper, and unprofessional of Global News to have reported this story in the first place. Gen Vance is no longer the CDS and is retiring soon. Nothing criminal or even untoward happened. This is yellow journalism that used to be reserved for rags like the National Enquirer. This was a hit job, plain, and simple. Do some actual reporting Global and dig up the real reasons and motivations behind these revelations. While you are at it, maybe you could report on Justin and Sophie’s rocky relationship which seems to be the Hill’s worst kept secret but verboten territory.
Gen Vance’s former military enemies from Afghanistan must be laughing their heads off to hear he has been taken down because of a woman. The sexual smear is indeed mightier than the sword.
Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.
HMCS Athabaskan G07 in Spitzbergen, Norway while on the Murmansk Run
The Murmansk Medal
(Jubilee Medal “Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945”)
(Russian Convoy Medal 1941-1945 40th Anniversary Medal)
Юбилейная медаль «Сорок лет Победы в Великой Отечественной войне 1941—1945 гг.»
Presented to William D. Trickett from USSR Ambassador to Canada Aleksei Alekseievich Rodionov on October 1, 1988. Along with all of the rest of Uncle Willie’s wartime memorabilia, his medals were probably sold off. A long term project of mine will be to track them down.
The Jubilee Medal “Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945” (Russian: Юбилейная медаль «Сорок лет Победы в Великой Отечественной войне 1941—1945 гг.») was a state commemorative medal of the Soviet Union established on April 12, 1985 by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR[1] to denote the fortieth anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. The Jubilee Medal “Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945” was awarded to: all military and civilian personnel of the Armed Forces of the USSR who took part in the Great Patriotic War of 1941 – 1945, to partisans of the Great Patriotic War, to the personnel of the Armed Forces of the USSR, as well as any other persons who were awarded the Medal “For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945” or the Medal “For the Victory over Japan”; to home front workers, who were awarded for their dedicated work during the Great Patriotic War Orders of the USSR, the Medal “For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945”
In June 1941 Russia and Britain found themselves in alliance against Germany. As a result Britain agreed to supply the Soviet Union with material and goods via convoys through the Arctic Seas. The destinations were the northern ports of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. To reach them, the convoys had to travel dangerously near the German occupied Norwegian coastline.
After the war there were many commemorative medals issued by various governments, of these, only one was approved for wear with real medals, The Queen did approve the Russian “40th Anniversary of Victory in the Second World War” gong, and it so appears in the Canada Gazette. Known locally as the Murmansk medal because a number of RCN sailors on that convoy were eligible to receive one.
Medal Presentation card found in Uncle Willie’s Wartime Log
(Narrative courtesy of Veterans Affairs Canada and the son of Jim L’Esperance who was a fellow sailor and POW with Uncle Willie. Leading Seaman L’Esperance also received this medal in 1988.)
Canada’s merchant navy was vital to the Allied cause during the Second World War. Its ships transported desperately needed equipment, fuel, goods and personnel to Europe and around the world. The very outcome of the war depended on the successful transport of troops and cargo by the sea. Although there were no safe havens for the merchant seaman, the greatest number of ships and men were lost on the North Atlantic routes and the notorious Murmansk Run.
In June of 1941, the German military launched an offensive against the Soviet Union. Political differences aside, it was determined by the Western allies that any nation warring with Germany should be considered an ally. As a result, agreements were reached to send much needed military equipment and lend-lease supplies to the Soviet Union in order to assist in their fight against the Germans. The Soviet Navy lacked the capacity to transport the massive amount of supplies, such as military equipment, vehicles and other raw materials, so much of the transport and convoy escort work was handled by the British, Canadians and Americans. The fastest (but most dangerous) supply route was through the Barents Sea in the Arctic Ocean to the Northern port city of Murmansk. This Arctic supply route became known as ‘The Murmansk Run’. Due to the great military and political significance of these shipments, the Germans fought hard to destroy them, and as a result, more than twenty percent of convoy cargo was lost on The Murmansk Run compared with only a six percent loss of cargo shipped to the Soviets through the Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf.
Convoys sailing along the northern tip of Norway and through the Barents Sea were exposed to one of the largest concentrations of German U-boats, surface raiders and aircraft anywhere in the world. Attacks by more than a dozen submarines and literally hundreds of planes at one time were common. Due to the high concentration of Germans patrolling the region, and the fear of being attacked by prowling German U-boats, strict orders were given that forbade any merchant ship from stopping for even a moment.
The consequences of these orders only reinforced the danger of the missions as individuals who fell overboard had to be ignored, and ships could not stop to help comrades in distress.
In addition to the German resistance, the voyage was made even more treacherous as Mother Nature routinely unleashed her fury across the cold Arctic Ocean. Many of the convoys sailed The Murmansk Run in the winter due to the almost constant darkness which helped to conceal the ships. This advantage proved to be only slight as other problems, such as greater amounts of polar ice, led to difficult navigation and forced the convoy route to move closer to German occupied Norway. The temperature was often far below zero and freezing winds from the North could easily reach hurricane force causing the waves to swell to heights in excess of seventy feet. At such temperatures, sea spray froze immediately to any exposed area of the ship, and created a heavy covering of tonnes of topside ice which could cause a ship to capsize if not cleared away. Binoculars, guns and torpedoes froze, and the decks were covered with a smooth coat of ice which made walking nearly impossible.
The supply shipments began in late Summer of 1941 and merchant mariners from Canada served on Canadian, British and American ships (as well as ships of other nationalities) to support the supply convoys to the Soviets. From 1941 to 1945, forty-one convoys sailed to Murmansk and Archangel carrying an estimated $18 billion in cargo from the United States, Great Britain and Canada. Among the millions of tons of supplies were an estimated 12,206 aircraft, 12,755 tanks, 51,503 jeeps, 1,181 locomotives, 11,155 flatcars, 135,638 rifles and machine guns, 473 million shells, 2.67 million tons of fuel and 15 million pairs of boots.
The Royal Canadian Navy became involved in convoy escorts in October 1943, and from that time until the end of the war Canadian warships participated in about three-quarters of the missions. Canadian ships involved in supporting the convoys included the destroyers Haida, Huron, Iroquois, Athabaskan, Sioux and Algonquin, and approximately nine frigates from Escort Groups 6 and 9. None of the Canadian ships were lost while escorting convoys on The Murmansk Run.
Canadian Navy personnel had little contact with the Russian people. Layovers in the Murmansk area were brief, and few officers and men were allowed ashore. However, it is interesting to note that the first Canada-Soviet hockey game was held during a stopover in 1945 when sailors from the destroyer HMCS Algonquin played an exhibition hockey game against Soviet personnel. It is believed that the Soviets won the game 3-2.
Despite the dangers and hardships faced by the convoys sailing The Murmansk Run, the Allies were unanimous in their desire to keep the Soviet Union in the fight. It was feared that if the Soviets were conquered, as the Russians had been in 1917, the Germans would focus the majority of their forces in the West.
Because of the strategic importance of these supply lines, fierce German resistance, and extreme weather conditions, the merchant mariners and Navy sailors that sailed their vessels on The Murmansk Run are considered some of the bravest veterans in history.
Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.
The Mystery of AB William Dearl Trickett, Stoker (1st Class)
Able Seaman William Dearl Trickett, RCNVR
Little did I know when I visited the local Legion in my home village of Kelwood, MB, that I would end up on a quest to uncover some military family history that would have soon passed into oblivion.
While sipping on my Club beer (it’s still horrible stuff), I was perusing the military memorabilia on the walls when to my great surprise, I saw the crest of my old Athabe (HMCS Athabaskan DDG 282) up on the wall with the date of the original HMCS Athabaskan G07’s sinking on it. A relative happened to be there who said it was from my old Great Uncle Willie. Unbeknownst to me, Able Seaman (AB) William Dearl Trickett, RCNVR, Stoker (1st Class), V38773 had served onboard HMCS Athabaskan G07! Due to the obvious Navy ties, I started my first inquiries with my parents. Mom said, oh yes, he was a Japanese POW and complained that his stomach was never the same after being interned. Well, they were about half a world off and the wrong Axis power, so I started hunting for actual documentation. He was onboard G07 when she went out for her final patrol April 28, 1944 and fortunately he didn’t perish with the other 128 men of his ship that night. Unfortunately, he ended up being part of the 83 men captured by the Germans and he spent the rest of the war in a POW camp, Marlag und Milag Nord. Of course, like most WWII vets, Willie never spoke of his experiences and might have easily taken them to the grave.
Of course, complicating matters as I continued to dig, his surviving son out in Victoria had financial issues and is estranged from the family. He must have liquidated his father’s possessions because I turned up an old Ebay ad for his Wartime Log (POW No. 1295 of Marlag und Milag Nord, Germany) and an original photo of G07. Command Post, a military memorabilia shop in Victoria, had sold the items on Dec 08, 2011 for $1165 and $24.49. Enquiries with the shop were a dead end. I started to track down organizations, outfits, and forums who would have some idea of who might have been interested in such items. My intention was to ask the present owner if they would be willing to part with the items especially the logbook. The log is an invaluable part of both my family and RCN history that IMHO shouldn’t be hidden away by some private collector.
I have slowly chipped away the layers of mystery surrounding the wartime record of my Uncle. It was a little difficult as the family had never received a Death Notice or Obituary on either he or my blood aunt who had resided in Saanich, BC. All I could find was a mention of the date of his passing in the Legion’s Last Post archives. I have the BC Genealogical Society helping me track down his final whereabouts plus I’ve sent a request to Ottawa for his Service Records. If any of you know Dr. André Levesque, he was kindly helping me also.
Kelwood Legion #50
My ultimate intention with all of this sleuthing is to put together a proper narrative and memorial for presentation to Willie’s home Legion back in Kelwood especially in light of the upcoming 75th anniversary of the sinking next year. Every Remembrance Day people say the words ‘We will remember’ but they ring hollow if stories like my Uncles are lost. I’m glad I was part of the Athabaskan 282 Remembrance ceremonies for G07 when we were near the site of the wreck in 2015. I find it amazing that two related prairie boys from the same little hamlet ended up in the same spot with the same namesake ships.
So the hunt for the Wartime Log ended up being successful. An American collector had bought the Log from the Victoria shop and saw my Ebay ad and thankfully contacted me. He had sold it to another collector in Burbank, California and long story short, the fellow there sold the Log back to me for his purchase cost.
Now that I have the Log, I will be making scans of the material it contains available here on my blogs and on the For Posterity’s Sake webpage. Below is the start of the Log which I will post in its entirety with a description of each page.
For Christmas 1944, the YMCA gave every Canadian POW a Wartime Log
Signed by AB/ST R.A. Westaway, RCNVR Toronto, CAN, MARLAG(M) Germany March 4, 1945. AB Westaway would have been a friend doing a similiar job as Uncle Willie.
“Best Wishes Phil 1945” Possibly AB Russel E. Phillips, V926 of Ocean Falls, BC
The Edgar who did this was possibly Signalman William E. Connolly of Hamilton, Ont who was a fellow POW roommate.
‘G.W.W. Marlag M 1945’ This would have been fellow POW roommate Gerry Webster of Saskatoon, Sask. The men ‘Repatriated from Orleans’ were not members of G07 but were perhaps previously held in Orleans, France.
Kongelige Norke Marine – Royal Norwegian Navy. This is possibly a list of RNN sailors who perished during action or were Norwegian POWs at the same camp as Uncle Willie.
Var ere og var makt har hvite seil oss bragt – Be honest(?) and be power has white sail us brought. Alt for Norge – Everything for Norway. This would have been a Norwegian sailor POW. The signature appears to be ‘By Frobue(?)-Olsen POW 829.
Another entry from fellow POW barrack mate W.E. Connolly of Hamilton, Ont
Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.
It has been a familiar lament of soldiers throughout time that once the war is finished then society would rather forget about them. In many cases, they come home ill or injured, broken in body or spirit and the adjustment to a ‘normal’ civvy life outside of their military family is challenging.
In Canada, as of late, there have been a few feeble attempts in regards to lessening the pain incurred by a releasing member. The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has tried to mitigate the shock of the transition process with their Second Career Assistance Network (SCAN) program. During your duty hours, a service member can attend seminars and receive counselling on resume writing, interviewing, and where to search for jobs. The website du jour that gets pushed is LinkedIn, which in it’s time was probably more professional but has turned into just a more civil cousin of Facebook. The CAF’s efforts are better than nothing but is little more than kind of pointing you in the right direction. Remember, military personnel get moved so often that those personnel contacts that are so important when looking for work are typically absent. So in many cases, the member has to keep scanning electronic job boards ad nausea and fire off applications in the blind. All the legwork after release is upon the member who is dumped out with a few meagre tools in their job hunting toolbox.
Once a member has been released, they come under the auspices of Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC). At least VAC is listed as an agency to visit upon release so personnel can actually learn something about them and what they can offer for transition services. If you are undergoing a medical release with a pension attached, they’ll help administer getting the monies to you plus other services. If you’re somewhat able bodied, VAC is not much use to you. About all they can provide is up to a lifetime $1000 credit towards career service expenses such as professional resume writing or counselling. It will take some red tape and three to six months to be reimbursed but a few dollars to help with a polished resume is better than nothing. But unless you are really broken, you will not be talking to VAC again until you are looking at being put in a home.
The Government of Canada (GOC) tries to play a part in easing the process of military transition. They allow former military members to compete for internal advertised positions for up to two years after release. It is mostly a waste of time as there is already a handpicked nominee in mind when these advertisements go out. Either that or the process is so geared towards a specific person with a specific set of skills, that a service member doesn’t have a chance unless there is someone coaching them on what HR is looking for. The external GOC positions are also available and most say ‘Eligible veterans and CAF members may apply‘ but all that might get you is the fact that they will at least look at your resume. The entire process to be hired for a GOC job usually takes between 12 to 18 months. Again the positions are looking for specific civilian skill sets that most members would not have and many positions are just for an anticipatory hiring pool where no one may ever be hired. Plus, the HR process is out of touch between linking prospective job seekers with jobs they would be suited to. During the tests and interviews, there is no mention or askance of any skills that would actually be beneficial to the job in question. To illustrate this in an example, HMC Dockyard Halifax needs Sail loft/ Marine Survival Technician Apprentices to work at the Boat Shed. This job is tailor made for ex-RCN bosuns as that was their job onboard ship. But the written test administered was geared towards an officer worker as was the standardized interview. There was not even a question about, ‘Are you good working with your hands?’ The only useful thing about the GOC hiring process is it keeps a bunch of HR people on long term employment as it is next to useless for veterans.
Outside of GOC services there are a few organizations which try to help struggling veterans in transition. Canada Company, a non-profit started in 2006, has been linking up veterans and their spouses with industry through their Military Employment Transition program. Their site proclaims that they have had 2100 hires (in separate emails, they say 3000) since inception. Considering in the close to 12 years they have been around, about 60,000 Regular Force and 25,000 Reserve Force personnel have left the service, that was a re-hire rate of about 3.5%. Not a great track record but again better than nothing. The GOC must have gotten tired of their success rate or wanted to hire more civil servants because Canada Company is being shut down in favour of a contracted service, Agilec. This new GOC contract will just end up being a means to keep the HR company employed while being able to point to something to say, ‘Hey look! We’re taking care of those Vets!’ At least the old outfit was private and non-profit costing the taxpayer nothing. It also attempted to bridge the gap between military skill sets and the standardized civilian skills HR departments look for when they are screening applicants.
This is a huge challenge for ex-military members. There is no section on the computerized job application forms where you can translate all of the innumerable skills and courses that you have picked up over a military career. For example, how do you convey the concept of being in charge of the security of a ship and her company in foreign port where not only you are authorized to use deadly force but are able to order others to do so at your direction. Civilians are unable to comprehend the enormous amounts of responsibility placed upon even the most junior of members. Hence, the gravitas associated with military service will typically be glossed over or ignored.
A few Canadian companies proclaim to be ‘Veteran’ friendly and actually ask for self-identification during the initial application process. Typically, it is just a few ex-military folks who made it out in the civvy world and are trying to pay it back to their former comrades. The Old Boys and Girls club does try to look out for one another where and when they can. Networking will always be the best avenue to find the good jobs.
There are also a few contracted agencies or school programs here and there that will attempt to help a veteran with skills upgrades or to link them with prospective employers. Helmets to Hardhats will offer heavy equipment or construction courses at a discount and will help veterans hook up with employers. Prospect Human Services attempts to link up veterans with those elusive employers. But the problem with all these outfits that want to be helpful is the poor translation of former military abilities and skills to something a civilian employer can understand. In fact, the Prospect recruiters want you to dumb down your military career as it is too intimidating and your resume will be tossed. It seems redundant and demoralizing to go back to school for courses or to start at an entry level position to ‘fit’ civilian job specifications when the member already has years of similar experience.
This is why it is so difficult to find meaningful employment for a member who was in uniform for the mid to long term. The job hunting process is degrading enough especially to someone who had proudly served their country. Being in uniform means sacrifice, time away from family, multiple moves, and sometimes a cost to your body and mind. Finding a job after release is hard enough but to be told that all that military effort and training was for naught, well that is disappointing to say the least.
It is encouraging that there are plenty of good intentions on the part of the government and other Canadians. They just fall short when it comes to concrete results. Veterans are prone to higher incidences of mental and physical issues by default. They do not want handouts but they would like a hand up. Their unique sacrifices in the service of their country demand better results than the current status quo. This is why veterans are taking the GOC to Supreme Court over things like disability pensions and sexual misconduct and gender discrimination. It is why a group of veterans are camping on Parliament hill to raise awareness of the lack of progress in PTSD treatment programs. Veterans get a little irked when PM Trudeau comes out with gems like ‘You’re asking for more than the government can give.’ especially when he seems more concerned with re-integrating returning ISIS fighters. The Liberals have already argued in court that Canada has no ‘duty of care‘ to its veterans. If the PM doesn’t get it about veteran’s issues than how will the average Canadian understand what they are up against? A couple minutes of remembrance in November does not make up for the rest of the year that a veteran is suffering.
In the end, it only seems like it will be veterans looking after other veterans whether they meet at the Legion, the Clubhouse, or through other veteran run organizations. The military becomes your family and family is who you can really count on.
Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.
The Jubilee Medal “Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945” was awarded to: all military and civilian personnel of the Armed Forces of the USSR who took part in the Great Patriotic War of 1941 – 1945, to partisans of the Great Patriotic War, to the personnel of the Armed Forces of the USSR, as well as any other persons who were awarded the Medal “For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945” or the Medal “For the Victory over Japan”; to home front workers, who were awarded for their dedicated work during the Great Patriotic War Orders of the USSR, the Medal “For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945”
The Disconnect between Society and Our Veterans
A few Canadian companies proclaim to be ‘Veteran’ friendly and actually ask for self-identification during the initial application process. Typically, it is just a few ex-military folks who made it out in the civvy world and are trying to pay it back to their former comrades. The Old Boys and Girls club does try to look out for one another where and when they can. Networking will always be the best avenue to find the good jobs.