Hail to the Chief

Well, the Prime Minister didn’t end up making it in today. Perfect weather up here, but not so nice down south (Churchill, Manitoba – which is pretty north itself) where he was coming from. Seems like everyone – the Americans, the CBC, KB – everyone knew that we wouldn’t be meeting anyone Right Honourable this morning, except us on camp, still buzzing about in VIP-is-coming!-everyone-look-busy mode, and stepping around extra-careful so as not to scuff our carefully-blackened inspection-ready boots. But that’s ok, we went ahead with our welcome of the Chief of Defence Staff instead.

It was a perfect day to have the CDS visit – I don’t know if the military Meteorology branch has the same arsenal as the Chinese air force and their weather-controlling bombs for the Beijing Olympics, but it looks like the good General brought along sunny skies and a calm breeze with him from Ministry of Defence headquarters. I’ve never met the man himself, but have heard him rally the troops before – positive, encouraging yet realistic keynotes, and this pep talk was no exception.

Positive: “In Afghanistan, in Haiti, or here in the Arctic, we have a sense of purpose at every level, and we will not go back to the ‘Decade of Darkness’”. Encouraging: “We are investing in the Joint Strike Fighter for the Air Force, the Joint Support Ship for the Navy is moving to the next level, and we will invest in the latest armoured vehicles for the Army.” Realistic: “After two rotos in Kosovo, twelve in Bosnia and now ten in Afghanistan, we have lost predictability in what we do. As in Haiti, we will be called, without notice, whenever we are needed. And we will respond – you will respond.”

The CDS took open questions from the troops after the speech. Usually if you want to ask anyone anything in the military you have to write formal memos to exact military specifications and pass it up your chain of command, with the magic words, “For your consideration”. But at these Towne Halls – and only at these Towne Halls, it seems – anything goes. “Sir, how you doin’?” (“I’m all right!”) to “After Haiti, is Dart (Disaster Assistance Response Team, the military’s rapid intervention to humanitarian crises) ready for the next call?” (Yes, Dart is “reset” and ready) to “The Navy was returned its executive curl for its centennial year; is there any chance of restoring the ‘Royal’ to the Navy and Air Force also?”

I was actually really looking forward to that question. Alas, no chance – this was discussed and not supported amongst the senior non-commissioned members of both the Navy and Air Force. Instead, what was supported was less-Commonwealth, more-American names: “Canadian Navy” and “Canadian Air Force”. The General asked a show of hands to prove the point: “Who prefers ‘Canadian Navy’ and ‘Canadian Air Force’… and who prefers ‘Royal Canadian Navy’ and ‘Royal Canadian Air Force’?” There was no actual debate about it, just a show of preference: it was about 10:1 against the “Royal”. So be it – bigger fish to fry.

(Random aside: I like how Singapore, even though it’s a republic, is still part of the Commonwealth, and keeps traditional-sounding acronyms for its navy and air force: RSN and RSAF – though the “R” stands for “Republic” and not “Royal”, it doesn’t look out of place when they’re mentioned alongside other Commonwealth forces. Versus our “CF Maritime Command” and “CF Air Command”… ???)

The CDS wrapped up with a thank you and “Hoo-ah” to the American contingent with us in the Arctic, and a “BZ” to the Navy for its strong work, especially carrying the Army at a drop of a hat all the way to Haiti – except for the part about cramming all the troops in the lowest cargo holds for the ride. “You’ll need more than a refit to scrape the puke from the hull!” Funny guy.

The rest of the day was an Open House for the camp to the community, and vice-versa. Finally got to mingle around and figure out what actually goes on in that mysterious Polar Continental Shelf Programme: basically, research about everything Polar, from ice floe flows, to hypothetical missing-link species from Arctic fossil finds (they’re everywhere!), to animal behaviour as markers of environmental change, to the big thing driving all this interest, the potential oil and resources to be found.

The Northern Strategy booklets outlined the four principles of what we’re doing up here – in English, French and Inuktitut. 1) Exercising our Arctic Sovereignty: “strengthening our presence, defining our domain”; 2) Protecting our environmental heritage: “being a global leader in Arctic science, advancing our knowledge”; 3) Promoting social and economic development: “addressing critical infrastructure needs, supporting Northerners’ well-being”; and 4) Improving and devolving Northern Governance: “made-in-the-North policies and strategies, providing the right tools”.

The mayor of Resolute and some other dignitaries spoke briefly about the Strategy – mostly repeating the same points, and highlighting the strong work done during this year’s operation, so by the end everyone knew it as Gospel. I was expecting a reference to the forced relocation of Inuit to the High Arctic in the 50s that started the town in the first place; if it was there, I missed it. Maybe they were saving that for the Prime Minister to address himself when he gets here. But one lone protester made sure it wasn’t missed:

On the front panel was a reference to his grandparents arriving in the 50s; on the back, a direct comment on the military operation: “I am a tax payer. How much is this operation costing me. Because school is starting soon, and 1/3 to 1/2 the students go to school with only 1 meal a day due to highest cost of living.” He meandered around the lunch queue and I was expecting the Public Affairs people in line ahead of me to chat him up – maybe they’d have Media Response Lines that would be perfect to help him out. But if they did, I missed it.

I’d've liked to have heard more from him, but I’m sure he’d rather talk to someone more useful – all I could’ve done is listen, take notes and blog, commiserate and agree that malnutrition is a public health problem, and optimistically point out the Nutrition North Canada programme, which will subsidise getting nutritious, fresh food to the North like fruits, vegetables, eggs and dairy (and then people won’t have to use Coffeemate as a milk substitute anymore).

The rest of the event was a lighter mood – with the infanteers, camouflage face painting for the kids

and if you were still hungry after the pork chops, roast chicken and fresh veggies from the field kitchen, you could chow down on military rations (mmm, navarin…)

try on the field kit and weapons – after a week in the field, the infanteers were happy to unload it all onto some fresh shoulders

and with the busy-ness of the patrols wrapping up, a bit more time to chat with the Rangers about life around here – even got an anatomy lesson about Arctic char

After some close-calls with the stormy weather and just a few hours short of us sending in a Coast Guard rescue ship, Maj Z made it back just in time from his side-trip to Devon Island with the diving contingent, so we had the entire medical station staff on hand – one big happy family again.

Our medics broke out the leftover trauma simulation kit make-up and were a hit with the kids – fake blood, skin putty and bruise markers are also useful for “normal” facepainting

but, of course, you can still use it for regular trauma simulation too – getting a head-start on Hallowe’en!

Some wise-cracking Ranger suggested I should get the medics to beef up my sorry excuse of a moustache with the trauma sim markers… Hey, I tell him, isn’t there something in the National Defence Act about insulting the moustache of a superior officer? “Yes sir – but only if I’m wrong. And that is a weak moustache. Sir.” Well, I tried – short, blind and unable to grow a moustache: you see the Asian genes I have to work with!

And that’s that. Beginning of the end – the list is up. The list – I think I’m on there somewhere.

I hope so, anyway.

Advertisement