Ex-Cadets & More in the News…
Caption: Lieutenant-Colonel Steve Jourdain, Commander Cobra Company was deployed to Afghanistan between March and October 2009 and as a result he wrote a book titled Mon Afghanistan. He is pictured here with a copy of his book. LCol Jourdain attended the Festival International du Livre Militaire (FILM) hosted by the French Military Academy, Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan, in Guer, France on July 18 to 19, 2014. FILM gathers military authors and publishers of military-themed books in a festival designed to expose the general public to military culture and contemporary conflicts, via debates, conferences, arm-chair discussions, and more.
A Canadian Army Officer takes centre stage at an international military book festival
“I wanted to capture history so the people of Quebec […] could better inform their opinion. I wanted them to be very proud. I wanted them to know that Canadian soldiers are their best ambassadors. The noblest things we have are our soldiers working abroad to support every mission the Government sends them to.”
20175 Lieutenant-Colonel Steve Jourdain – Article
Caption: Le lieutenant-colonel Steve Jourdain, commandant de la compagnie Cobra, a participé à un déploiement en Afghanistan de mars à octobre 2009. Il a narré ses expériences dans son livre, intitulé Mon Afghanistan, que l’on aperçoit entre ses mains. Le Lcol Jourdain a été invité à participer au Festival International du Livre Militaire (FILM) organisé par les Écoles militaires Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan, à Guer, France, les 18 et 19 juillet 2014. Le FILM, qui réunit des auteurs et représentants de maisons d’édition d’ouvrages militaires, vise à exposer le grand public à la culture militaire et aux conflits contemporains au moyen de débats, de conférences, de discussions informelles et d’autres activités. (Photo fournie par le lieutenant-colonel Steve Jourdain.)
Un officier de l’Armée canadienne est à l’avant scène dans un festival de livres militaires international
« Je voulais immortaliser l’histoire afin que les gens du Québec […] puissent se forger une opinion éclairée. Je souhaitais qu’ils soient très fiers. Je voulais qu’ils sachent que les soldats canadiens sont leurs meilleurs ambassadeurs. Les choses les plus nobles que nous avons sont nos soldats qui travaillent à l’étranger pour appuyer chaque mission confiée par le gouvernement. »
20175 le lieutenant‑colonel Steve Jourdain – Article
***
Caption: Col Goddard, outgoing Wing Commander, BGen Ploughman, Commander of 2 Canadian Air Division, and Col Day, the incoming Wing Commander, sign the Change of Command scrolls in a ceremony at 15 Wing Moose Jaw. PHOTO: 2Lt Josh Brighton
Colonel Day assumes Command of 15 Wing Moose Jaw
As members of the RCAF, Col Day explained, “We defend Canada. We defend North America. And we contribute to international security. That’s it; it’s that simple. Everything we do should have those roles as ultimate goals.”
16952 Alex Day
“After spending such a large amount of my career in Moose Jaw, I will miss it,”
14561 Paul Goddard Article
***
19307 Commander Dave Benoit presents inaugural HMCS Oakville Award
This year’s supplementary board was held on June 24, 2014 at the Canadian Forces Naval Engineering School (CFNES). The top two candidates were CPO2 Burns and PO1 Vinny Prosper, with CFNES Commandant, Commander (Cdr) 19307 Dave Benoit, acting as the board chair. Article
***
New CFB Esquimalt base commander comes ‘home’
“You inherit a remarkable team of professionals both in and out of uniform,” said Truelove. “You will discover leading CFB Esquimalt is demanding and rewarding and I encourage you to make it your own.”
15185 Rear Admiral Bill Truelove
“The diversity, to get back on track with our times, is very important,” he said.
He noted his three years in Victoria not only benefited him professionally but personally as well. He met his partner Francisco Mejia De La Rosa here.
“After so many years in this life as a bachelor, it’s nice to have a stabilizing force at home,” said Cassivi. He and his partner move to Ottawa in August.
16204 Commodore Luc Cassivi
***
Our Southern cousins: Canadian Army & US Army engineers train together
“Just the number of bays, number of bridges, all the different equipment, the size of the river that’s being crossed and the size of the floating bridge that’s being created. We don’t get to see that type of opportunity almost ever in our careers up north,”
20714 Steven Boychyn – Article
***
WE REMEMBER: Finding a connection to WWI
Born and raised in Brantford, Andrew Iarocci is a professor of history teaching at Western University in London and Royal Military College in Kingston.
For a couple of weeks in June, Iarocci, who also lives in Brantford, was in the back yard of a home in a small village in France. He was there to lend his First World War expertise to a CBC documentary that connects the recently discovered remains of some fallen Canadian soldiers to their descendents.
“We were there to tell the story of a young French boy who, in 2006, was playing in his back yard when he came upon some skeletal remains,” Iarocci said. “It was determined through an investigation by the Canadian Department of National Defence, that there were eight soldiers in this grave, all from the same battalion and all Canadians.
“They had all been killed on the same day in the Battle of Amiens.” Read more here
***
Canada’s defence chief finds kinship with ‘tough’ granddad through WWI diary
“It was a connection I’d never felt to my grandfather,” Lawson said of the diaries, which he only received last Christmas.
“His experiences in flight training were very much like my experiences in flight training. You (start) with terrible self- confidence and you have to build that self-confidence to become a pilot.”
12192 Gen. Tom Lawson, Canada’s top military commander – Article
***