The General Pays a Visit
Article by: 25337 OCdt Chris Manning – Public Information Officer (CWPIO)
The 4th year cadets of the Royal Military College were extremely privileged to receive a presentation by 15696 Major-General J.H. Vance, the current Director of Staff, Strategic Joint Staff in National Defence Headquarters. Major-General Vance also was deployed as Commander Joint Task Force Afghanistan and Task Force Kandahar between 2009 and 2010. The briefing he delivered informed the cadets of the current state of the Canadian Forces, its prospects for the future, and some challenges that the future officers will face.
Major-General Vance first discussed the state of the Canadian Forces and the nature of current operations. He told the 4th year class the importance of adaptability in force development, but asserted that basic soldiering skills are the necessary foundation of the quality soldiers we send on operations. General Vance’s advice to the class was to focus on being flexible. He stated, “you need to be flexible; that is what we demand of the officer corps today.” The desired traits in an officer must work in tandem with each other; physical robustness, soldiering skills, and critical thinking must all be applied together. General Vance stressed the importance of these officership skills to a class that will soon graduate and lead the men and women that General Vance described in stating, “these soldiers are superb. they are really flexible; all you have to do is get them ready for it.” He noted that these skills would be necessary to maintaining the adaptable force that is required for modern operations.
The Major-General’s words served as a reminder to the 4th year class of just how quickly the day where they would march of the parade square and into their leadership roles approaches. The cadets are truly thankful that Major-General Vance took time to visit the college and share his knowledge and experience. Major-General Vance’s presentation is one of the several Officer Development briefings that have been a key part of College training this year.
Day Starts off in Typical RMC Style – Inspection!
“you need to be flexible; that is what we demand of the officer corps today.”
15696 MGen JH Vance – RMC presentation to IV Years at RMC, 26 Oct 2011
The Evening Ended in a Mess Dinner
Article by: 26255 (I) OCdt Kevin Morgan
On the 27th of October 2011, Papa Flight, Romeo Flight, and Tango Flight got together at the Senior Staff Mess for B Division’s First Year Mess Dinner. This was the first chance for most of the first years in B Division to attend a Mess Dinner and also one of the first times for us to meet in a formal setting.
For those of us who had never been to one of these events, it was a very pleasant learning experience full of good laughs and great food. The music provided by the band set the mood with beautiful music that was absolutely wonderful to listen to, and was very well performed. Throughout the dinner, the various barmen explained the rules, and we were shown proper etiquette at the table, and had a good time seeing what happens when these rules are broken, as well as wonderful performances by OCdts Zaharia and Nghi.
After the dinner, there was an opportunity to talk to the many officers and guests, as well as time to socialize in a relaxed environment with friends. The RMC Pipes and Drums band performed a wonderful act, along with a great set performed by the Highland Dancers. Nearer to the end of the night, the first year flights performed skits explaining their various experiences throughout FYOP, mostly through respectable impressions of their staff, including a great job done by the camelpack bearing, censorship bar holding OCdt Maclean, doing a great job as OCdt Neppel. The skits brought on many laughs and were a great pleasure to watch and perform.
The night would night have been possible without the Official Host, Major Chayer, the PMC, Captain Morisette, the VPMC, OCdt Dupuis, and the Guest of Honour, Major-General Vance. Major-General Vance’s speech had some great stories and some inspirational words of advice for their careers down the road, and those who had the chance to speak with him afterwards were lucky enough to hear these stories in more detail. It was an honour to have him attend the dinner with us.
