From Cadet to Commanding Officer: Inside the Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada with Lieutenant-Colonel Jason Robinson

Today on Curious Conversations, we take our microphones inside the historic armoury in Cambridge, Ontario to meet Lieutenant‑Colonel Jason from the Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada. He tells us how he went from a twelve‑year‑old cadet to the highest‑ranked soldier in Waterloo Region, what a reservist actually is, and why his regiment is one year older than Canada itself.

We hear about his first summer of real army training (including shooting a gun for the first time and rappelling off a cliff), his deployment to Bosnia during Operation Palladium, and a powerful story about a woman pushing a wheelbarrow full of money just to buy one bag of groceries. Jason explains what daily life is like for part‑time soldiers, how teens in grade 11 can get started in the reserves, and why leadership, initiative, and appreciating what you have matter so much in and out of the military.

Kids will learn:

• What the Canadian Army Reserve is and how it’s different from full‑time soldiers
• How Canadian troops helped people in Bosnia after a civil war
• What it takes to become a leader in the military
• Why Canadian military history helps us understand who we are today

Links & Resources

Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada

Rockway Mennonite Collegiate 

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Enjoy another curious conversation for teens by teens!

Transcript

Speaker 0

So I find this, when we swear in new, new recruits and that and we encourage their family and friends to come, I think a lot of them are afraid that, as soon as they get trained, they're gonna be going out the door and overseas somewhere. And so one of the biggest myths with reservists is, you don't have to deploy overseas ever. You have to volunteer as a reservist to deploy overseas. You can be asked domestically to help with things like, the pandemic that we had a few years ago, forest fires, floods, ice storms, things like that. We do all the domestic response, but, deployments overseas, that is a myth. You have to volunteer to go over. 

Speaker 1

Hi everyone and welcome to a special edition of Curious Conversations, a podcast for kids by kids. I'm Xavier and I usually host this podcast with my twin sister Emma, but today I'm flying solo. This episode is actually part of a grade ten Canadian history project. And I'm really excited to share it with you. If you are a grade ten student in high school in Canada, you know the course I'm talking about. I hope this episode helps you connect what you're learning in Canadian history about war, peacekeeping, and Canada's role in the world. And for everyone else not in grade ten history, I hope this episode offer you some insight into a part of Canada's military history. Today, I'm interviewing Lieutenant Colonel Jason Robinson, the commanding officer in the Royal Highland Fugitives of Canada. He's been in this regiment for over thirty years and now leads about two hundred and fifty reservists across two armories in Cambridge and Kitchener. I feel very lucky and thankful that he took time out of his schedule not only to sit down for this interview, but also to give me a tour of the historical armory in Cambridge, which is over a hundred years old and has deep roots in our community. It's also just down the road from my high school, Rockaway Mennonite Collegiate. In this conversation, we will talk about the history of the regiment, the role local soldiers played in the World Wars, and what it means to be a reservist today. The best part is, lieutenant colonel Robertson shares some of his own stories about how he started as a teenager at the very bottom rank, how he trained all over Canada, and how he eventually became the highest ranking soldier in the Waterloo Region. A big part of this episode focuses on Bosnia and Operation Palladium, a NATO peace mission that isn't always covered in our history textbooks. You'll hear what it was like for a young Canadian soldier to deploy to a conflict zone, help delivering humanitarian aid, and work with local people trying to rebuild their lives. It was a real privilege to be able to talk with lieutenant colonel Robinson, hear his stories, and experience a piece of Canadian history firsthand by walking through the armory with him and learning about it its past. Now let's head into the armory and to my conversation with lieutenant colonel Jason Robertson. Welcome, Jason. Thank you so much for letting me have a time today. So we are doing this interview at the historical army in k armory in Cambridge, Ontario, and it's the headquarters for the Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada, and you're the lieutenant colonel? 

Speaker 0

That's correct. 

Speaker 1

K. So can you tell us a bit about yourself and what inspired you to join the Canadian Armed Forces? 

Speaker 0

Okay. So I've been in this regiment for thirty three years. And, you know, I think it goes back to, all my friends are, one, two years older than me. We all started in this building as twelve year olds as cadets, and I just kind of followed them into this regiment. It was just kind of a natural progression for me. 

Speaker 1

So how many, of your friends joined with you? 

Speaker 0

I there was three of them that joined. 

Speaker 1

How did you become a commanding officer? 

Speaker 0

Through many, many, many years of courses, all over Canada, and you have to put two to three years of, time in between each rank to get promoted. So it's a combination of time and rank and then courses and qualifications that you have to get. Okay. 

Speaker 1

So what is a lieutenant colonel? 

Speaker 0

So a lieutenant colonel in Waterloo Region is the highest rank in the region. There's only one of me, and I'm the commanding officer. So I've got two hundred and fifty soldiers between Cambridge and Kitchener, and, two buildings. This one here that you're in and then another one beside 

Speaker 1

the Kitchener Auditorium. So your main responsibility then would be to just watch over all the people in the regiment? 

Speaker 0

Yeah. I kinda guide them towards our mission of, I think we're gonna get into this in some further questions, but, you know, growing this regiment and making sure that we have a strong military presence in this area. 

Speaker 1

That's awesome. It's so cool to be the highest rank. Wow. So I would like to know, more about what it means to be a reserve. But first, I have a couple history questions. So can you tell us a little bit about the history of the armory and the history of the Royal Highland Fusilius of Canada. 

Speaker 0

Okay. So the building itself is about a hundred and twenty years old, and there's other places that no longer exist in town where the armory used to be. But this regiment started in eighteen sixty six. So we're one year older than Canada itself. And, so in Cambridge here, which was called Galt at the time, the Highland Light Infantry was here. And then up in Kitchener was a unit called the Scots Fusiliers. And then in nineteen sixty five, those two units merged and became the Highland Fusiliers of Canada. And then in nineteen ninety eight, that summer, we had a big parade in Kitchener where we've got, bestowed the name Royal. So we became the Royal Highland 

Speaker 1

Fusiliers of Canada in nineteen ninety eight. Okay. So this group, has it always been, like, reserves? 

Speaker 0

Yes. Other than World War one and World War two, where we mobilized more than one battalion of soldiers out of this area. We we've always been reserved. 

Speaker 1

Mhmm. So people did participate in the first and second World Wars from these buildings and around this area? 

Speaker 0

Correct. So, we have twenty nine battle honors, which I'll show you are on our regimental colors. We can go up there and take a look later. But, we participated in World War one, World War two, the war in Afghanistan, and then every United Nations and NATO conflict that you can think of. And I can show you again plaques that, show all those. 

Speaker 1

So this regimen, is it just made up of people from the Waterloo Region? 

Speaker 0

So So I'm gonna say the majority of them are from the Waterloo Region, although we have quite a large contingent from Brantford and Guelph, and then people as far away as, Saint Catherine's Stoney Creek in Toronto. 

Speaker 1

Before we keep going, I wanted to pause and highlight some of the history lieutenant colonel Robinson shared on our tour of the armory. As he mentioned, the Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada trace their roots back to eighteen sixty six where the twenty ninth Waterloo Battalion of of Infantry was created in what was then called Berlin. That means the regiment is actually one year older than Canada itself, which became a country in eighteen sixty seven. Fun fact. Chris Hatfield's great grandfather fought in both world wars and was a regimental sergeant in World War two with the Highland Fusiliers, and his photo hangs in the officer's mess. The local armories are more than just old brick buildings. They're community landmarks where soldiers have trained, paraded, and prepared to deploy for over a hundred and fifty years. One of the most famous moments in this regiment's history came during the second World War. In Normandy, France on July eighth nineteen forty four, soldiers of the Highland Light Infantry of Canada fought a brutal battle to capture the village of Peron from German forces. The attack was successful, but it came at a very high cost. The battalion suffered hundreds of casualties in a single day, which is why the fight is sometimes remembered as Bloody Buran. Today, the regiment continues to honor the soldiers who fought and died there. They remember the capture of Buran through ceremonies, battle honors, and regimental traditions that keep these stories alive for new generations of soldiers. So when we talk about this regiment, we're not just talking about the uniforms and marches. We're talking about real people from our area who played a role in some of the most intense fighting of the second World War. Now let's hear from lieutenant colonel Robinson on what it means to be a reservist. What is a reservant, and how is it different from being a full time soldier? 

Speaker 0

So the big difference I would say is, a regular force is gonna live on a base where we all live at home. A reservist is a part time soldier, so typically twelve days a month or less. And most of us have a full time job or are students, and we do this on the side. 

Speaker 1

So you said that they merged with a different group. Is that the only big change that has happened to this regimen, since it's been built, I guess? 

Speaker 0

Definitely. That's that's the biggest change back in nineteen sixty five, but there's there's been some minor ones along the way, but that's the most major one. Yep. 

Speaker 1

So what's a daily life like for a resident a reservant today? 

Speaker 0

So your typical reservist prides one night a week and one weekend a month. So that that would be the the typical training and then depending on where they are. So if they parade out of Cambridge here, they're probably newer in their military career. They're learning how to properly wear their uniform and do foot drill and, basic soldier skills. Whereas if they're up in Kitchener, they're doing more advanced training. We have mortars and machine guns and all kinds of different weapons and equipment up there, so it's definitely more advanced up there. It depends geographically where you parade. 

Speaker 1

Okay. So now that we've talked a bit about the RHFC, I would like to talk a bit about your your story. So what was your first experience in military training like? 

Speaker 0

So my first real experience would be the summer of nineteen ninety four. I probably the first time I'd ever I'd ever shot a gun. I threw grenades that summer. I went into a gas hut. I was rappelling off the side of a cliff. So definitely a big eye opener and pretty exciting first summer. 

Speaker 1

And where did you train? 

Speaker 0

So that year was in Meaford, but my training's been Meaford, Borden, Petawawa, Saint Jean in Quebec, Gagetown out east. Pretty much almost every base in Canada, I've done a course at. 

Speaker 1

And out of all of the places you've been, what was what and where was the hardest one or part of the training? 

Speaker 0

That's a good one. I'm gonna say nineteen ninety six in Meaford, I did a reconnaissance patrolman course. We started with over fifty people and we only graduated seven. So probably the most physically demanding course I've ever been on. 

Speaker 1

And so what was your, like, favorite training? 

Speaker 0

Another good one. I think my favorite training, before I deployed for Bosnia, I did six months of training up in Petawawa. So, you know, it was more than just weapons and tactics. It was, learning the culture of the country I'm going into, language, religion, things like that. So it was a good mix of training that I really enjoyed. 

Speaker 1

That must have been fun. So when you were done all your training, what was your first job in the military? 

Speaker 0

A a rifleman in a section. So a group of eight to ten soldiers. Mhmm. Yeah. And I was bottom of the bottom. So I started at the bottom of the barrel in this regiment. 

Speaker 1

And you've grinded your way to the top? 

Speaker 0

Yeah. So I went right to the top. I was, I went from private to corporal to master corporal to sergeant to warrant to master warrant to chief foreign officer. And, at that point, I thought I was still young and had more to serve, so I flipped over and became an officer and was a captain, major, and now a lieutenant colonel. Wow. 

Speaker 1

That's that's incredible. 

Speaker 0

It's it's it's a pretty unique stream. Not many people do both sides, the officer and the NCO. 

Speaker 1

One of lieutenant colonel Robinson's deployment was to Bosnia in the nineteen nineties. Before we hear about Bosnia from a soldier who was actually there, let's quickly look at how that conflict started, a bit about Canada's role in it, and how it changed the map of Europe. After the second World War, Bosnia and Herzegovania was one of six republics inside a larger country called Yugoslavia, where different ethnics and religious groups lived together under a communist government. When that system began to break apart in the early nineteen nineties, several republics voted to become independent countries, and old tensions started to rise. In Bosnia, a referendum in nineteen ninety two led to the declaration of independence, but many Bosnian Serb leaders rejected this and, with support from Serbia, launched a violent campaign to carve out territory for a Serb controlled state. The result was a brutal war from nineteen ninety two to nineteen ninety five that included sieges of cities and ethnic cleansing. Canada got involved as part of the international peace efforts. Canadian soldiers first deployed under the United Nations as peacekeepers, trying to aid convoys, monitor ceasefires, and support safe areas during the fighting. After a peace deal called the Dayton Accords was signed in nineteen ninety five, Canada joined NATO missions to help enforce the agreement, separate former warring sides, and create safe conditions so people could rebuild their lives. The war also changed the political map. Yugoslavia, which used to be one big country, eventually broke down into several independent states, including Bosnia and Herzegovania, Croatia, Slovenia, North Macedonia, and what later become separate countries of Serbia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo. Now that you understand a bit more about the conflict itself, let's go back to the conversation and hear what Bosnia was like from someone who actually deployed there. So you, also went on active duty in Bosnia in nineteen ninety eight during operation Pelindum, I think it's called. Palladium. Palladium? 

Speaker 0

Yep. Mhmm. 

Speaker 1

So the conflict in Bosnia isn't something that is always taught in schools. So what would you like students to understand about what was happening there and why Canada got involved? 

Speaker 0

Okay. So, I was on operation Palladium Roto two, so the second rotation into that country in nineteen ninety eight. The big reason we the Canadians were there is there was a civil war in that country. It started in Croatia, merged over into Bosnia, and then over into Kosovo after, and all due to the breakup of, Yugoslavia. And the main reason I would say that we were there is there was a lot of refugees and displaced people that Canada was trying to get back to their homes or find homes for. We helped stabilize the region, providing humanitarian care, enforcing the ceasefire agreements that were set out there, and then, we allowed peaceful elections to take place as well. 

Speaker 1

And how many men were sent over from Canada to Bosnia? 

Speaker 0

So every they rotate every approximately six months, and it was a group of twenty five hundred men and women. 

Speaker 1

What was it like being deployed in active duty? 

Speaker 0

It definitely made me appreciate being a Canadian a lot more. I had my twenty first birthday over there. Yep. Definitely, I was, an even prouder Canadian when I came home, and it was a big eye opener. I'd never been on a plane before. That was my first plane ride, into a war zone. 

Speaker 1

Okay. And so what was the typical day like in Bosnia? 

Speaker 0

So typical days, we did a lot of foot and vehicle patrols just, going across the countryside, you know, in our area of responsibility. We did a lot of humanitarian aid deliveries. So there were people that needed help with pots, pans, food, blankets, things like that. We helped rebuild schools and playgrounds for the kids that, had been destroyed during the war. And and then we monitored the armed forces in that country as well. 

Speaker 1

And you said that people were there for six months. Is that how long you were deployed out 

Speaker 0

there for? So I was there seven months. I was January to July of nineteen ninety eight. Okay. 

Speaker 1

And so what's one story you like to tell people about your time in Bosnia? 

Speaker 0

Yeah. So one story that really hit home was I saw an old woman, going to the grocery store. She had a wheelbarrow full of money, and she came out with one bag of groceries. So it just showed, you know, their money wasn't worth a lot and the number of households that the women had to do all the work because the men had either deceased during the war or were too injured to plow the fields and help out. 

Speaker 1

Wow. How did it feel being in a conflict zone so far away from home? 

Speaker 0

Yeah. Just like I said before, I think I excuse me. It helped me appreciate Canada a lot more, but definitely, the big thing is, you know, missing family and friends, you know, for that length of time. 

Speaker 1

So did you meet or work with any of the local people in Bosnia? 

Speaker 0

Yep. So we had, local interpreters that we used, and then a lot of the kitchen staff and cleaning staff were all locals that we employed as well. 

Speaker 1

What is a lesson or experience from that mission that you that has stayed with you since you've came back? 

Speaker 0

I I I think the lesson would be, you know, just appreciate all the things that you have. And I think it goes back to that woman with a a wheelbarrow full of money that, you know, the optics of it looks like she's rich, but, you know, when she only comes out with one small grocery bag, it, you know, it's not everything's not about money. 

Speaker 1

So to appreciate what you have? 

Speaker 0

For sure. 

Speaker 1

And so you said that this that this place has helped all over the world. Have you gone on any other travel missions with the military? 

Speaker 0

So I I've probably done exercises in every state in the United States. And then our sister regiment's based out of Scotland, and I think I've been there four times. I'm heading over there in another in a week and a half, I think, for ten days. 

Speaker 1

You said you've been to almost every state. What was your favorite one to, I guess, go visit? 

Speaker 0

Kentucky, I think. I had a really good exercise in Kentucky. They had, some nice sandy beaches that we crawled through and did some really cool ranges. 

Speaker 1

It must have been fun. Yep. What is a sister regimen? Regiment? 

Speaker 0

So our sister regiment is somebody that we partner with and, share a lot of traditions and history. And so my sister regiment is the second battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland, the Royal Highland Fusiliers. And we're the Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada. So we both wear the same white hackle in our headdress. And so other than our camouflage pattern's a little bit different, we wear a lot of the same accoutrements, the same tartan, a lot of the same pieces of uniform. 

Speaker 1

And how long has that regiment been your sister regiment? 

Speaker 0

So that regiment, you know, I I I told you near the beginning that our regiments have been around since eighteen sixty six, and theirs has been around two hundred years older than us. Yeah. So we're the new per the new, stepchild. 

Speaker 1

And I guess and you've been a sister regimen for the entire time? 

Speaker 0

Since our beginning. Yeah. Okay. And so you 

Speaker 1

said you've been over there four times? 

Speaker 0

This would be my fourth time 

Speaker 1

this month. How how many times have they came over to you if they have? 

Speaker 0

Easily as many. 

Speaker 1

Easily as many. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. They come over every two, three years. And do you have a favorite memory of them coming over or you going over? So I just had my counterpart, the commanding officer of their regiment. I just hosted him here last spring, and it was, it was really nice having him here as a guest speaker sitting beside me at all of the events. 

Speaker 1

Mhmm. Do you have any is do you only have one sister regiment? 

Speaker 0

So we do have we we're loosely connected to another one. They're also in Scotland. Mhmm. So our sister regiment, the second battalion, they're based just outside of Edinburgh. 

Speaker 1

Cool. 

Speaker 0

And then the other regiment is a reserve unit like ours, and that's they're called six Scotts, and they're based out of Glasgow. 

Speaker 1

Glasgow. Okay. 

Speaker 0

Yep. 

Speaker 1

And so from all your experiences, how has the military shaped you into the person you are today? 

Speaker 0

Oh, I think it's, it's definitely helped me with my time appreciation. I've got, two boys in rep hockey. I've got a full time job, and I do this almost every day of the, the week. So I'm really good with, managing my time. 

Speaker 1

I also play hockey. I love I love it. So, leadership seems to be a big part of your job. So what qualities makes a great leader in the military? 

Speaker 0

The first one I would say is initiative. You gotta be able to, you know, think on your toes and think up good ideas. I think people look up to you as the leader if you're trustworthy, accountable, and self aware as well. Like, I know my own strengths and weaknesses, and, you know, I have the luxury of saying I've been there right at the very bottom, and I know what they're going through. So I I take that in into account whenever I'm coming up with ideas. 

Speaker 1

So how do you help the younger soldiers learn leadership and teamwork? And do I probably assume, do many of them, look up to you from how your career path has gone? Yeah. 

Speaker 0

I think a lot of them, appreciate the career path they took. And I would say the way we help them is through courses, lots of training exercises at least once a month, and then mentorship. We've got a good mentorship program here where somebody that's been there, done that, they, you know, come down and and help the younger leaders, get to where they are. 

Speaker 1

Have you ever trained, like, new soldiers coming in? Do you train them? 

Speaker 0

Yep. So as soon as we're done this interview, I'll go show you. I've got, forty high school students on somewhere in the building that are doing training. They're here Monday to Friday during the day. And then on weekends, I've got another course running here and one in Kitchener. So this time of year, especially in the spring, we have new recruits starting. They are guaranteed a full time summer job, their first four summers in the army nowadays, a luxury that I didn't have when I started. And so, by the fall, most of these soldiers will all be fully qualified qualified, and they'll all move up to Kitchener to work out of there. 

Speaker 1

And so what is the minimum age requirement to, like, I guess, ask to join this regiment? 

Speaker 0

So it's typically grade eleven. If you're under eighteen you need your parents signature and at eighteen you can sign your own permission slip. 

Speaker 1

And what is the age maximum if there is one? 

Speaker 0

So the maximum age right now is sixty. We wouldn't take anybody over fifty seven typically because it's gonna take a couple years to get you fully trained. So we we usually, we don't have many people coming at fifty seven, but I guess that would be the maximum age that I couldn't say no to. 

Speaker 1

So what is the old oldest person that you've trained here? 

Speaker 0

I've definitely trained people in their forties, which is so late in life to start. We, I guess we should have talked about this at the beginning. So my regiment is a light infantry regiment. We have a couple trucks, but those trucks are for carrying really, really heavy things. The rest of it's all on our back, and we walk everywhere. And so what is what is the difference between training someone who is eighteen versus someone who's in their mid forties? Nothing. So we are very inclusive, and we would never delineate. It's the same standard no matter if you're a man, woman, black, white, forty, twenty. You know, it's it's all the same. 

Speaker 1

Do they do they treat it differently? Have you have you noticed someone who's a bit younger, a bit more, like, excited to be there? Or are they both just, like, they're, like, excited? 

Speaker 0

Somebody who later in life is joining, definitely has the eagerness to succeed. You know, there must be a reason why they're coming that late in life. And those people, the ones that are successful, I find they fast track through the leadership very quickly because one, they don't wanna be in the trench too long, with their knees and back hurting. And then, secondly, they've got a lot of life skills and leadership qualities that they probably learned in their life by the time they're in their forties that they bring to to us. 

Speaker 1

Okay. And you said you were a light infantry infantry regiment? 

Speaker 0

Yep. So that's that's our trade. So in Southern Ontario in our brigade so my brigade stretches from, this area here, Guelph, Cambridge, Kitchener, Hamilton, and then all the way down to Windsor, Chatham, Sarnia. So that's just my brigade. There's another one in Toronto that reaches up to Barrie and Owen Sound, and then another one in Ottawa. So there's three reserve brigades, each with twelve to sixteen regiments in just in Ontario. 

Speaker 1

Okay. And so in closing, I have a few broader questions about Canada's military today and the importance of Canadian military history. 

Speaker 0

Okay. 

Speaker 1

So how do you see the role of the Canadian Armed Forces in today's world? 

Speaker 0

So I see it as emerging. I'll say that. I see, if you've turned on the news anytime in the last, few months, the, chief of defense staff is on there, and she's, she's given us a lot of money that was never available to us, a lot of brand new kit and equipment that's coming, and a lot of growth. She wants to grow the army. So for example, there are twenty two thousand reservists, I believe, in Canada, and that number is gonna shoot up to a hundred thousand in the next few years. So my regimen alone is looking to quadruple the size of, in the next next couple years. So I think with those numbers, we're gonna be able to go to more places in greater numbers and have more effect on the areas that we go to. 

Speaker 1

Are you excited for the number of people to come in now? 

Speaker 0

I I definitely am, but I'm on a three year term usually in this position. So I don't I don't think I'll see it come to fruition. I'm gonna definitely see it grow, grow faster than I've ever seen it during my career, but I I'm not gonna see the end, result while I'm in uniform. 

Speaker 1

So how long have you been the lieutenant colonel then? If you said it's a three year term? 

Speaker 0

So I've been a lieutenant colonel a year and a half. 

Speaker 1

So you still see about 

Speaker 0

I'm halfway through. 

Speaker 1

Okay. Yeah. So what happens next after you're done with this? 

Speaker 0

I I don't know. Yep. So we'll we'll cross that path closer to the end. I'm I'm getting there. Yeah. I don't know. I I think by then I'll have thirty five years in and I'd be I'd be okay retiring and maybe catching a few more hockey games, missing a few less birthdays and stuff like that. It's it's a huge commitment, and, you know, I think thirty five years I've served my 

Speaker 1

country. Mhmm. So you said that it's three years to be a lieutenant colonel. Is is that the same for, every other, like, promotion you get? You have to stay three 

Speaker 0

years or they're diff are they longer or shorter term? Shorter. So in the senior officer ranks and the very senior NCO ranks, it's usually three years between each rank, and then some of the lower ranks, it's only two years between ranks. 

Speaker 1

Mhmm. And so what was the shortest and then the longest time in between promotions for you? 

Speaker 0

Yeah. To get through all those ranks, I didn't stay in one very long. I I think I was a corporal four years. So that might have been the longest I was ever at the same rank, and the shortest would be this one. I've only been a year and a half so far. 

Speaker 1

Did you have, like, a a favorite position? 

Speaker 0

I think I'd be a fool not to say this one. You know, I'm I'm, I'm at the top of the pyramid right now and get to make all the decisions. So, yeah, there's been other positions along the way that I really, really enjoyed, but, you know, this one here, I'm not just making suggestions. I can actually make change. 

Speaker 1

So, what is a myth about joining the military or the reserves? 

Speaker 0

So I find this, when we swear in new, new recruits and that and we encourage their family and friends to come, I think a lot of them are afraid that, as soon as they get trained, they're gonna be going out the door and overseas somewhere. And so one of the biggest myths with reservists is, you don't have to deploy overseas ever. There's as much of a chance your mom being sent as, you know, a new reservist. You have to volunteer as a reservist to deploy overseas. You can be asked domestically to help with things like, the pandemic that we had a few years ago, forest fires, floods, ice storms, things like that. We do all the domestic response, but, deployments overseas, that is a myth. You have to volunteer to go over. 

Speaker 1

And when you first joined the military, would there was there, like, a myth that you were thinking of before you joined? 

Speaker 0

No. Again, I there wasn't much thought into it. I just followed my friends and had a long lineage of, family members that had served in the military. 

Speaker 1

So why do you think it's important for students to learn about that about Canadians' military history? 

Speaker 0

I would say it's important for them to learn about the Canadian military history because it's gonna help them understand how Canada evolved into an independent nation, as well as, how we earn global respect. So I think they would find in their research that, in the sixties, seventies, eighties, you know, Canada was a leading source for the United Nations and well respected. 

Speaker 1

So what advice would you give to young Canadians who might be considering joining the reserve or the military? 

Speaker 0

So I would definitely tell them it's a great source of employment. I know people have trouble finding jobs these days and, you know, we're always hiring. It doesn't it may not mean a lot to people of a younger age, but, you know, we have a great benefit package, and you actually get a pension as a reservist. So, I've never heard of a part time job that gives out a pension. And again, to seventeen and twenty one year olds, it means nothing, but I wish I'd known about that. Having a pension that young is fantastic. Education, we help out with bursaries and grants, and we provide free leadership training. Actually, even better, we we pay you while you're on that leadership training. So those are courses and skills that you can take with you when you're done your time in the military that can help you in civilian life. 

Speaker 1

What would you think would be better for someone at a younger age to join the military or to join the reserves? 

Speaker 0

Well, the reserves is part of the military. I I think it depends on where you're at in life. So joining the regular army is not an option in grade eleven. You need to finish high school and you should probably think about post secondary school. But during all those years, you could be in the reserves and already start your military career, start your pension. And all the courses that we do are the exact same courses that the regular army does. So if somebody in my organization were to join the regular army, which a handful of soldiers do every year, all their courses are transferrable and they go in at the same rank and same qualifications that they had here. 

Speaker 1

So they don't have to restart and do training all over again? Nope. That's good. 

Speaker 0

It it does sound good, but, those courses are quite lengthy. So you have to manage it around your full time job or your studies, to get those qualifications. It's a lot easier for a person that it's their full time job and that's all all they have to do. 

Speaker 1

Have you trained people in the military and in the reserves? 

Speaker 0

Yeah. There's a lot of our courses have a mixture of full time and part time soldiers on it. And I a lot of a lot of my courses, definitely later in my career as well, are a mixture of full time and reserves that go on the same courses. 

Speaker 1

Thank you so much for the time and doing this interview. 

Speaker 0

Alright. Thank you for this interview, and I look forward to our tour. 

Speaker 1

I do as well. Thank you so much.