The first order of business for those of us that had just arrived in country was to draw the clothing and equipment that we would require for the next six months. Clothing stores gave us tan dress uniforms, Indian bush fatigues, combat rucksacks, webbing and of course the C7 rifle. They also gave us a list of the things that needed to be packed into the webbing and rucksacks. On receipt of this gear I returned to my room and proceeded to pack my ready gear into the webbing and then put overnight gear into the rucksack. I then put all this on top of my locker and laid my flack jacket on top. This was to simplify easy access to my gear regarding getting dressed in a hurry. If there was a recall to bunkers or an alert, I would put on my combat uniform first. I would then put on the flack jacket. This would be followed by the web gear. If it was just a basic call out then I would leave the rucksack behind, grabbing only my rifle as I left my room to report.
When this was all arranged to my liking, I started to iron the tan uniforms. I did this because the sooner I got it out of the way, the better. We as drivers would not have to wear this uniform around the camp on a day to day basis as our dress of the day would be combats. We could wear the tans if we were going shopping in Syria and had to wear them if we were going to be in Damascus on duty. The only other time that we would be required to wear them would be for parades.
Later this first day we would begin receiving the first of 3 days of briefings. The topics to be covered were on the Area of Separation, Israeli Liaison officer introduction to Israeli rules and requirements for security from the U.N., Syrian security concerning us, and of course a history class on UNDOF.
Then it was time to get to work. Drivers in this camp are responsible for civilian staff bus runs, ration runs, water runs, milk runs, mail runs, tours, and taking personnel to the airports for holidays abroad.
Camp Ziouani, as the camp is known, is located on the Golan Heights in Israeli occupied Syria. The heights are the high ground north of the Sea of Galilee on the east side of the Jordanriver. This is land that Israel took during their last war with Syria over twenty years ago. It is located halfway down the area of separation between Israel and Syria. The AOS stretches from Lebanon at Mt Herman all the way down to the Jordan Border. The north end is Patrolled by the Austrian army while the south is patrolled by the Polish army. The Canadians are responsible for hauling all the heavy cargo and rations for all three contingents as well as moving all troops on the rotations home at the end of their tours.
The rest of this first week was spent with familiarizing ourselves with the camp and getting to know the people we'll be working with.
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