0930 A.M., Sat Feb. 18 1995. The young man hugs his parents and says his good-bys. They were kind enough to pay for the taxi to the airport. At the terminal the man notices some of his friends from his military base, also traveling with him. They had come down on the bus from CFB Comox that morning while he had spent the night at his parents. The young man who is now known as Corporal Mark Merriman, is in his ninth year of service in the Canadian Armed Forces. He has been trained as a driver and his trade is officially called Mobile Support Equipment Operator. The other men that are traveling with him are from all different trades and have various ranks. They have all said their good-bys to their families the night before and this morning. But you can tell that they envy Mark having his family there at the airport. Mark's Uncle Len has shown up to say good-by as well and wish's Mark well. At 0950 he makes his way to the gate and after handing his boarding pass the lady, walks to the plane. The flight departs at precisely 1005.
The Plane is a Canadian Forces airbus and is on the west to east milk run. They arrive in Toronto at 1800 hrs local time and then onto Ottawa. The military has provided a bus to take them on the three hour trip to the training school at St. Jean, Quebec.
Sunday morning finds the soldiers doing their in clearances to the school and getting to know their fellow students and running into old friends from past postings or courses. Monday is spent doing interviews with instructors and taking photos for identification cards. The card will be used when the training is over and the soldiers get to their area of operation.
Tuesday is spent separating the students into groups to simplify training schedules. Once this is done, Mark's team heads off to the class to train on the C7 rifle. This weapon is really very much the same as the AR15 A2 assault rifle that Mark has owned many of in the past few years This training is just to refresh those who have not had much of a chance to use this rifle in the past. After the morning class they all go to the mess hall for lunch. St. Jean is also a recruit school and so for the first time since Mark went through basic training, he had to eat with recruits. It was funny to think of how he had felt when he first started out in the military. All he could think was, "I hope that I didn't look that frightened when I was a recruit."
After lunch it's back to the class for pistol refresher. Mark has also owned many handguns so found this class boring, especially since it lasted for 3 1/2 hours. Evenings were free time so you could leave the complex and go to town if you wanted, some just went to the bar downstairs. Mark found that he was content to just watch TV in the common area of the barracks. He also went for long walks in the cold Quebec evenings to relax.
Tuesday started out with first aid training. This was good because they ran a basic C.P.R. course and this was new to Mark. Later they gave a combat stress lecture to the whole group. This was to prepare them for the stress of combat and how to deal with it. Then later that evening they started updating the needles that were required. The gamma globulin shot is a huge needle you get in the ass. It hurts, you actually swell up from all the stuff that goes in.
Wednesday was spent entirely on training on the C9. This is the machine gun that the Canadian Forces uses and the group spent much time just going over the load and unload of it because in a combat role you need to have this operation down pat or you run out of fire power. That evening found Mark going for a walk. In February in St. Jean it is very cold, just like Mark had been used to in Cold Lake, Alberta when he was there. He walked for over an hour and when he got home found that he was so tired that he fell asleep when he lay on his bed. He undressed himself at 0330 when he woke up to relieve himself.
Thursday they group went to the gas hut for Nuclear Biological Chemical Warfare refresher training. This involved films and lectures on the subject and then actual gas exposure. This meant putting on the gas mask while being assaulted with tear gas. He always enjoyed this training because most people get sick when they get exposed to the gas but he would always leave his mask off and act like he didn't even feel it. He had to be told to put the mask on by an instructor who took off his mask to chastise him and then promptly threw up.
Friday morning was death by briefing, as the day soon became know. The whole group was lectured on what to expect in the months to come. What were we going to be a part of, and local customs and traditions. The group was also briefed on travel arrangements, customs rules and on how to pack. They were also advised to get lots of sleep as the next day they would be losing about seven hours off the clock with the time change.
It was not until 1600 hrs that the buses departed the school for Mirabel Airport on saturday. The temperature was about negative 25 degrees and there was fresh snow on the ground. They checked baggage and did the security thing before being allowed onto the plane. This flight left Mirabel, Quebec, Canada at 1830 hrs local time. At 0530 hrs local time the flight landed in Gatwick UK. There was about two hours of free time to be had here. The majority of people when to the main shopping concourse area and drank at the 24 hour tavern. Then after resuming the flight, and catching a glimpse of the Ieffel Tower, the group finally saw their host country for the next six months. The 108 people that Mark and the group he was with were replacing were waiting on the tarmac. After an hour of advice from the old draft on things to do, go, see, buy and eat, they got on the plane and headed back to Canada. Mark's group climbed into buses and tried to take in all the sights as they proceeded on their 3 hour trip to their new home.
On arrival at the base they were met by the remaining half of the camp who helped the new men and women find their bags and then get to their rooms. Then after a late meal... , it was by now 2230 hrs local, the majority went to the bar. The rest, including Mark went to bed. Sleep came easily and Mark had no dreams that night.
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