# "What Manner of Man " by Sgt. Darnell Bass and James Ogle



## Hockeycaper

Just wondering if anyone has read this book yet? I just finished, it promissed alot but really only had  a couple of great stories but I don't think it will be a best seller.


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## armyvern

Not this girl; although I'm an avid reader, I, for one, refuse to spend a dime to line his pockets with.


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## HItorMiss

So the Brinks truck robber wrote a book?

Yeah sounds like something to waste my hard earne cash on....  :


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## vonGarvin

Well, the brinks job failed, so they are resorting to mass milking?


Oh well.


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## 1feral1

I knew Bass as a skinny RRR Army Cadet in Regina. He even got his basic para as a Cadet! 

Shyte, I never would have thought he would go off the deep end with an AK in a shopping centre, having it out with a couple of guards with six-shooters.

Lucky no one was killed.

Insanity!

If I had a copy of this book, I'd read it.


Regards,

Wes


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## armyvern

Wesley  Down Under said:
			
		

> If I had a copy of this book, I'd read it.
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Wes



Here you go ...

http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/62656/post-571145.html#msg571145

And for those who are interested in more info on Darnell Bass:

http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/2255/post-25094.html#msg25094


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## Disenchantedsailor

I might just read to find out what drives a career soldier to turn an automatic weapon against the very citizens he is sworn to protect and then have the balls (pardon the profanity) to blame it on the loss of a regiment, I have many friends who were mbrs of that regt who did not shoot up Northwest Calgary.


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## the 48th regulator

Link to Publisher's site

Shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act.

WHAT MANNER OF MAN: Darnell Bass and the Canadian Airborne Regiment 

Sergeant Darnell Bass was in a Calgary bank waiting to ambush a Brink' s crew for the money they carried. He wondered at the fact that he had brought himself to this. He was a soldier. Nothing else existed for him. What Manner of Man was he?


  
by James Ogle and
Darnell Bass
ISBN#1-897113-39-0
ISBN#9781897113394







On March 5th 1995, the Liberal Government disbanded the Canadian Airborne Regiment. For the first and only time in Canada's proud military history, a unit was dissolved in disgrace, amid media stories of "Rebel Soldiers" and lurid speculation about elite partroopers with a penchant for white supremacy, all of which exploded when the story broke of the murder of a young Somali at the hands of a Canadian paratrooper.
What Manner of Man is the story of the death of that regiment, as told through the eyes of one of its most highly trained; and doubtless most infamous, members, Darnell Bass.
This is the account of the creation of a combat soldier, and of his regiment, a brotherhood of the finest men Canada could produce, a fighting force of honourable men whose chosen way of life placed them at odds with their political leaders.
The journey of Darnell Bass goes beyond the Canadian Airborne Regiment to Canada's secret anti-terrorist unit, Joint Task Force Two, and on to the nation's prison system after a midnight ambush of an armoured car in Calgary, the final downfall of an Airborne Soldier. 



About the Authors

James Ogle served in 1RCR from 1987 until 1990.
He has worked in the armoured car industry, and is presently a Correctional Officer at the Toronto (Don) Jail, where he has worked since 1994.

Darnell Bass served in 1 RCR from 1986 to 1988.
He was a member of the Canadian Airborne regiment from 1988 until it disbanded in 1995.
He is presently a locksmith, living and working in Calgary.

Information for those interested....

dileas

tess


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## Gunner98

Save your money.  Visit a library.  It is unlikely you will want to read it more than once if you actually get through its self-loathing the first time.  Convicted robber turns to locksmithing - rehabilitation at its best.


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## PMedMoe

ArmyVern said:
			
		

> Not this girl; although I'm an avid reader, I, for one, refuse to spend a dime to line his pockets with.



Me either.  I remember them going around in Pet collecting for the Darnell Bass legal fund.  I just about pi**ed myself laughing at them.


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## 3rd Herd

Actually,
I bought a copy and have read through it twice. For one it has some of the best narratives on going through basic, and on some of the various courses. Of course you can always read what Scott Taylor has to say...............As for the bank robbery deal well he is not the first nor will he be the last. I also think there was some ghost help with the book but that was mostly clean up and such.

"I might just read to find out what drives a career soldier to turn an automatic weapon against the very citizens he is sworn to protect and then have the balls (pardon the profanity) to blame it on the loss of a regiment, I have many friends who were mbrs of that regt who did not shoot up Northwest Calgary." No at times, once a month or so they have a few beverages and wish.............and yes we are in the northwest"


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## Disenchantedsailor

ah but 3rd herd, theres a difference between thinking about it and doing it, of course that particular mall should have become the victim of an act of god a long time ago but automatic weapons in/around shopping malls could go through a sleeping babies window across the street. I doubt that you, or your comrades are that type of soldier.


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## George Wallace

ArtyNewbie said:
			
		

> ah but 3rd herd, theres a difference between thinking about it and doing it, of course that particular mall should have become the victim of an act of god a long time ago but automatic weapons in/around shopping malls could go through a sleeping babies window across the street.



Could you clean up that sentence, so that I can understand what your thought or multiple thoughts are?  It is like something out of a psychedelic haze.


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## 3rd Herd

ArtyNewbie said:
			
		

> could go through a sleeping babies window across the street.


No, 
we all old school from the Shoot to Kill  , er, I mean Shoot to Live range work. No automatic but single well aimed shots. ;D


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## the 48th regulator

3rd Herd said:
			
		

> No,
> we all old school from the Shoot to Kill  , er, I mean Shoot to Live range work. No automatic but single well aimed shots. ;D



 :rofl:

But seriously.

I would never condone any criminal act, but reading this book, gives a window on the types of soldiers that served our military, and the bad apples that they are.

We are trained to be combat soldiers, however, how many are trained to detect the ones that can use that training for wrong purposes?  None.

IT is also a story of someone with this type of training, that also served in the Airborne regiment, during the time of the the disbandment (Before, during and after).

I would say a reason enough for someone to read this.  You would get an insight on the mentality of this person.

dileas

tess


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## Fishbone Jones

WTF! How does a convicted felon get bonded as a locksmith?? Armed robber turned locksmith. Am I the only one that sees the irony in that? :


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## 1feral1

In Australia, convicted criminals in the slammer, our once released are not allowed by LAW to make any profit from their crimes. Period!

This also includes Australian citizens in prison overseas.

Perhaps Canada should look into this one too? 


Regards,

Wes


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## 31C

Capt. Pro Pat here...

Darnell is quite the piece of work, I used to know him through Karim. 

He was one of the fellas burying "care packages" around the training area.

Hope you are well....

Have a Royal Day!


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## Devlin

As far as what type of soldier/person does something like this....I had occasion to deal with a few of my troops acting out of line...nothing like what's described in this thread but some of it was enough to blow your hair back for sure.

In any event after dealing with one particular troop for the third time...I went to one of our BDE's Padre's for advice and out of frustration I said I just didn't get why someone would be have this way.....blah blah after she sorted me out for whining about the issue she said something that was quite insightful and I quote verbatim *"We are a micro chasm of society"* in reference to the CF in general and how we end up with some of these people standing beside us in uniform.


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## Hockeycaper

Thanks for all the comments so far, but lets stay away from rumors which Bass does touch on in the book. Has anyone else read the book yet? 

Hey Capt. Pro Patria,  if you are the "real" Capt PP........You must have read this book by now.


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## 31C

The real deal here, skull cap and all. Drinking beer on the point!

 I did look for the book in Chapters the other day, none in store. I am sure it is a interesting read. It takes all kinds to be soldiers, but in the end you still have to conform with society. Sad to see a capable man go down that road.


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## 1feral1

As a kid, Darnell was a keen and a highly motivated Cadet with the 155 RRR RCACC, and in his Militia days with the RRR, before going off to the Regs, he again was highly motivated, a bit extreme maybe, but I would have considered him more or less serious, level headed, and down the centre of the line in those early days. I wonder what made him tip overall?

If he stayed instead of strayed, I wonder where he would be now? No, I am far from sympathetic for him, and his stupidity, and I never knew him as an adult or really worked with him, but we did know each other through the Mess.


Cheers,

Wes


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