- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 410
("hats off" to Mary MacKay!!!)
Howitzer‘s loud report in exercise makes body jump and shake
By Mary MacKay
Charlottetown Guardian
The orders alone to fire the 105-mm howitzer are shouted at ear-drum-rolling level.
The most important command - "Fire!" - was the word I was waiting for on my last day in the field at ARCON 02, a week-long military training exercise at CFB Gagetown, N.B.
This artillery exercise, being performed by reservists from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in a designated-impact area, was one of a myriad of training events being held to fine tune the skills of 1,400 reservists from Atlantic Canada.
"There is special ammunition that can go 15 kilometres . . . but these are shooting six kilometres," said ARCON public relations person Lt. Herb Theissen as we waited for the order to fire.
For a person who cringes when a balloon is about to be popped, waiting for this huge gun to go off was an eye-squinting, shoulder-hunching, hand-wringing two minutes.
And no matter how prepared a person is, for at least the first few times the body‘s reaction to the explosive firing power of the howitzer and its immediate concussion is to jerk the first few steps of an electric chicken dance.
When I stopped shaking, our next stop was the Prince Edward Island Regiment‘s (P.E.I.R.) hide, where a few of the 53 members were stashed away in the woods awaiting the helicopter arrival, the 20-plus reconnaissance (recce, pronounced rek-key) crew.
After a long day in the field chasing down the enemy the day before, they had hopped aboard a Sea King helicopter with only the packs on their backs and at last light were flown into a remote area to find the enemy who were holed up in some structures there.
"Even though they‘re gone for most of the night, and all they have is the clothes on their backs, (a few rations) and no sleeping gear to sleep in, everyone loves it," says P.E.I.R. Warrant Officer Bernie Kiggins of Stratford.
"It‘s something different. We‘re normally in the vehicles doing tactics across the ground. So to get out there in three-man groups to do what we call a ?sneak-and-peek‘, to sneak up on the enemy through the bushes and find the enemy, it‘s the exact same thing you see in the movies."
However, in the movies the helicopters aren‘t usually grounded as the Sea King was on this day. So the final shot of the P.E.I. recce troop returning didn‘t happen as planned.
So it was back to the Jerusalem Ridge bivouac where I‘d started my tour of duty in what seems like eons ago.
I have to admit I felt more than a bit guilty since I was fresh out of the shower, a luxury at ARCON 02 that is talked about with the same salivating tone as a slice of double-chocolate cake smothered under a scoop of cool ice cream.
Patrolling the perimeter of the hide is Private Bailey Lidstone of O‘Leary, who along with fellow P.E.I.R. reservist Michael Quinlan, are on their first ARCON exercise.
"It‘s been too long, I don‘t remember. You don‘t think about it," he said of the last time he wore clean clothing.
The fortunate part is that the lack of daily showers doesn‘t affect the nasal senses because just as it is in an Italian restaurant, if everyone is eating garlic, no one really notices the smell.
Also on sentry duty was 22-year-old Gordon Wood of Borden-Carleton, who has been with the P.E.I.R. for four years and is enjoying his third ARCON.
"There are two types of ARCON, the defensive or the offensive. This year we‘re on the offensive so we‘re on the move and for recce that‘s very important because we go in and find out what the enemy has and pass it on to higher (levels), it goes back and the ground troops take it out," he said.
To participate in this and the summer-long training sessions held at Gagetown, Wood takes the season off from his truck-driving position at Gateway Auctions to do sentry watch and this week he has been chauffeuring another born Islander around the ARCON terrain.
"I‘m regimental sergeant major of the best regiment in the Canadian army, the Prince Edward Island Regiment," Raymond Van Iderstine said with obvious pride and a broad smile.
An Eldon native, Van Iderstine has 37 years in military service, most of which has been with the tanks and reconnaissance side, with the exception of two years as a paratrooper with the Canadian Airborne Regiment.
He is now a reservist with the P.E.I. Regiment, despite the fact that he must regularly bridge the distance from his present home in Port Elgin, N.B., to the Island.
"For everyone, (ARCON) of course, is a different experience, depending on their level of training. And we‘ve got some great young kids who have . . . only been in the army for six weeks, and since we only do this exercise every two years, what a great exposure to the military this is," said Van Iderstine, who hasn‘t regretted a single day of his career choice.
"I‘m 54 now, and if I had my chance to live my life again - if I was 17 years old and of military age - and the good Lord asked me what I would like to do, I would do it all over again."
Today, ARCON 02 training exercises will slowly come to a close. By the end of the weekend, reservists from the 721 Communications Regiment in Charlottetown and the P.E.I. Regiment will have returned home, a little worn out but a whole lot wiser for it all.
As am I.
Late one evening as we were returning to the P.E.I. Regiment hide, my military guide Theissen, the driver and I arrived at a bivouac hide site that didn‘t exactly ring a bell in my mind.
"This isn‘t our regiment," I said to Theissen as I scanned the camouflaged camp setup and didn‘t recognize P.E.I.R.‘s unique style.
" ?Our‘ regiment?" he asked with a smile on his face.
"That‘s the first time I‘ve heard you say it that way."
It was then that I realized that that‘s exactly what they are, ours.
Howitzer‘s loud report in exercise makes body jump and shake
By Mary MacKay
Charlottetown Guardian
The orders alone to fire the 105-mm howitzer are shouted at ear-drum-rolling level.
The most important command - "Fire!" - was the word I was waiting for on my last day in the field at ARCON 02, a week-long military training exercise at CFB Gagetown, N.B.
This artillery exercise, being performed by reservists from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in a designated-impact area, was one of a myriad of training events being held to fine tune the skills of 1,400 reservists from Atlantic Canada.
"There is special ammunition that can go 15 kilometres . . . but these are shooting six kilometres," said ARCON public relations person Lt. Herb Theissen as we waited for the order to fire.
For a person who cringes when a balloon is about to be popped, waiting for this huge gun to go off was an eye-squinting, shoulder-hunching, hand-wringing two minutes.
And no matter how prepared a person is, for at least the first few times the body‘s reaction to the explosive firing power of the howitzer and its immediate concussion is to jerk the first few steps of an electric chicken dance.
When I stopped shaking, our next stop was the Prince Edward Island Regiment‘s (P.E.I.R.) hide, where a few of the 53 members were stashed away in the woods awaiting the helicopter arrival, the 20-plus reconnaissance (recce, pronounced rek-key) crew.
After a long day in the field chasing down the enemy the day before, they had hopped aboard a Sea King helicopter with only the packs on their backs and at last light were flown into a remote area to find the enemy who were holed up in some structures there.
"Even though they‘re gone for most of the night, and all they have is the clothes on their backs, (a few rations) and no sleeping gear to sleep in, everyone loves it," says P.E.I.R. Warrant Officer Bernie Kiggins of Stratford.
"It‘s something different. We‘re normally in the vehicles doing tactics across the ground. So to get out there in three-man groups to do what we call a ?sneak-and-peek‘, to sneak up on the enemy through the bushes and find the enemy, it‘s the exact same thing you see in the movies."
However, in the movies the helicopters aren‘t usually grounded as the Sea King was on this day. So the final shot of the P.E.I. recce troop returning didn‘t happen as planned.
So it was back to the Jerusalem Ridge bivouac where I‘d started my tour of duty in what seems like eons ago.
I have to admit I felt more than a bit guilty since I was fresh out of the shower, a luxury at ARCON 02 that is talked about with the same salivating tone as a slice of double-chocolate cake smothered under a scoop of cool ice cream.
Patrolling the perimeter of the hide is Private Bailey Lidstone of O‘Leary, who along with fellow P.E.I.R. reservist Michael Quinlan, are on their first ARCON exercise.
"It‘s been too long, I don‘t remember. You don‘t think about it," he said of the last time he wore clean clothing.
The fortunate part is that the lack of daily showers doesn‘t affect the nasal senses because just as it is in an Italian restaurant, if everyone is eating garlic, no one really notices the smell.
Also on sentry duty was 22-year-old Gordon Wood of Borden-Carleton, who has been with the P.E.I.R. for four years and is enjoying his third ARCON.
"There are two types of ARCON, the defensive or the offensive. This year we‘re on the offensive so we‘re on the move and for recce that‘s very important because we go in and find out what the enemy has and pass it on to higher (levels), it goes back and the ground troops take it out," he said.
To participate in this and the summer-long training sessions held at Gagetown, Wood takes the season off from his truck-driving position at Gateway Auctions to do sentry watch and this week he has been chauffeuring another born Islander around the ARCON terrain.
"I‘m regimental sergeant major of the best regiment in the Canadian army, the Prince Edward Island Regiment," Raymond Van Iderstine said with obvious pride and a broad smile.
An Eldon native, Van Iderstine has 37 years in military service, most of which has been with the tanks and reconnaissance side, with the exception of two years as a paratrooper with the Canadian Airborne Regiment.
He is now a reservist with the P.E.I. Regiment, despite the fact that he must regularly bridge the distance from his present home in Port Elgin, N.B., to the Island.
"For everyone, (ARCON) of course, is a different experience, depending on their level of training. And we‘ve got some great young kids who have . . . only been in the army for six weeks, and since we only do this exercise every two years, what a great exposure to the military this is," said Van Iderstine, who hasn‘t regretted a single day of his career choice.
"I‘m 54 now, and if I had my chance to live my life again - if I was 17 years old and of military age - and the good Lord asked me what I would like to do, I would do it all over again."
Today, ARCON 02 training exercises will slowly come to a close. By the end of the weekend, reservists from the 721 Communications Regiment in Charlottetown and the P.E.I. Regiment will have returned home, a little worn out but a whole lot wiser for it all.
As am I.
Late one evening as we were returning to the P.E.I. Regiment hide, my military guide Theissen, the driver and I arrived at a bivouac hide site that didn‘t exactly ring a bell in my mind.
"This isn‘t our regiment," I said to Theissen as I scanned the camouflaged camp setup and didn‘t recognize P.E.I.R.‘s unique style.
" ?Our‘ regiment?" he asked with a smile on his face.
"That‘s the first time I‘ve heard you say it that way."
It was then that I realized that that‘s exactly what they are, ours.
