An update before the holidays...

Good day folks,

Another chapter is finished, Phase IV is all done. I am officially done the training system and will be joining the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment here in Fredericton, New Brunswick tomorrow morning. It feels like forever ago (just under 5 years ago to be exact) that I started my BBA, with all things leading to this beauty of a cap badge.

The cap badge is one of the most sacred symbols of the regiment. All members wear it on their beret with pride and it identifies you as not just a member of the Canadian Forces, but a member of your regiment. I am lucky enough to be joining The Royal Canadian Regiment, the oldest regular force regiment with the most battle honours to boot.

Phase IV was a lot of fun. I thought I would post some pics with a little bit of commentary to show some of the highlights from the course. Unfortunately, the pics of the 17 tonne LAV we flipped upside down on its turret will not be posted as that is still under investigation.

Here's me all prettied up for the Remembrance Day ceremony, one of the things in your career that's most worth polishing your boots for...

Here's the Top Candidate giving a thumbs up after we destroyed some Tartans during Hasty Attacks

A couple of characters dressed up for Halloween as single dad's before heading out to Dolan's Pub in Fredericton...

Here's me and a good buddy who is also joining 2RCR, enjoying some downtime in the field.

Myself, also just after destroying some Tartans, showing off the M203 grenade launcher...

It became a nightly ritual in the field for me to read bedtime stories to the boys... Here I am reciting some Edgar Allen Poe - as officers we must be well-cultured gentleman and all...

Here is the first LAV we managed to roll... At the time we thought it was pretty cool, little did we know how small of an incident this was... we certainly learned what a real "roll-over" was by the end of course haha.

Here's me and another course mate dressed up before the graduate's Mess Dinner... 11 people got promoted so there was $1800 put down on the bar and we never paid for a thing all night... The handsome young chap who has his arm around me, who hated the cold more than anyone on the platoon, found out that he'll be flying to the Arctic and driving 4 hours north on snowmobile to meet his platoon very shortly!

All in all, it was a fun course and we are all very happy to be headed to battalion and then on Xmas leave. I'll be flying to Fort McMurray on Saturday, before heading to Cincinnati Jan 2-5 to train some jiu jitsu, and then back here on the 6th. Work starts on the 7th, but I've secured an apartment so I will likely be moving my stuff into that as soon as we get back. I'll keep you all updated!

Cheers

Happy Thanksgiving and what I'm thankful for

Well, it's Thanksgiving Sunday (7 Oct 2012) today and I just woke up in Saint John, NB, at a relatives house after an eventful night out with some great friends to celebrate my friend's birthday. I wish I had pictures but after dropping my phone it no longer holds the SD card, so right now the camera function does not function. Anyway, we met up at the Ale House today to try and piece together what happened last night and sample some of their famous Buttermilk Battered Chicken which was delicious, and after going our separate ways I feel extra thankful this Thanksgiving. I attempted to make a FB status about it, but there was no way I could give it it's proper due, so I'm making a post here.

Things I'm thankful for:

Family and Friends
I've been blessed for another year of good health and happiness. I think after having done my Phase 3 course and now completing Phase 4 with some of the same people, there was certainly an addition of extra beauties in my life. I'm thankful for my Mom and Dad, aunts and uncles, and my grandparents, and my great grandma who is still winning a staring contest against mortality at the ripe old age of 94. I'm thankful for all my old friends for still being my friends and I'm thankful for all my new friends who I hope will always be so.

I don't want to list specific names as the list would be too extensive and I am fearful I would forget someone.

My Career
I'm thankful that I've found a career that helps sooth my ambitions and helps me accomplish a sense of purpose and direction. I lucked out because I could have easily done so many different things and I'd still be searching for something like this. In this profession I meet some of the greatest people and so I can also thank my career for my Family and Friends. There's nothing that makes you appreciate your Family and Friends more than being in the Army.

Being born in and living in Canada
Reading the news today about the conflict in Syria and Turkey, and how the IDF shot down a (most likely Iranian) drone flying in their airspace, I'm thankful to live in Canada. Through no doing of our own, we were lucky enough to be born here, safe, sound, and free. Any place where I can get belligerently drunk and shoot my mouth off in the way I do, without getting shot, is a great place to be. This is, for me, the best country in the world and I won't take it for granted.

Gracie Jiu Jitsu
Yes, I am thankful for the gift of Jiu Jitsu. I'm thankful to Grandmaster Helio Gracie for giving us the gift of Jiu Jitsu, I'm thankful for all those who have dedicated their life to teaching it to others (Professor Pedro Sauer especially... for teaching my instructor Michael Foley) so that it eventually made its way down to me as I continue to learn, and for all the great people I've met on the mats.

That $99.25 that miraculously appeared in my bank account, and the $5 I found this morning.
It's true that money can't buy you happiness but what it does buy is freedom. Thanks to that $99.25 that miraculously showed up in my bank account (seriously still can't figure out why it was deposited) I was able to go out last night and have a helluva time. This beer's for you, $99.25.

I'm sure I missed some big things. Today I feel so lucky that I know it would be impossible not to miss something. Anyway, I have to get ready for the field this week. I have a lot of hate and discontent to send down range with the LAV III's this week, and I should have pics/videos to post, so until then, KCCO ;-)

My 2 weeks off in a nutshell

So I'm a little late but now that my next course (Phase 4: Mechanized Platoon Commander) is underway and I have the weekend off, here is what I did on my two weeks off for those who missed it.

Once Phase 3 was over, a good friend of mine had us all over for some celebratory beers to bask our in our accomplishments. Here are 4 of us graduates at the start of the night playing washer-toss.

It quickly turned into a fire / hot tub party.

After driving to Newfoundland and arriving at 9:30 PM, my first day was spent at Tara and Jonathan's new house, helping shingle their new roof.

And then I was off to Crab's Beach with my family (who were also in Newfoundland on their vacation) to the cabin, my dad's favourite spot to go in the whole world. We spent 3 days out there on this trip.

The beach/cabins

My old man taking a rest on the shed

On a rainy night, he taught me how to play crib... and then I took him to school on it.

After a trip to my Aunt and Uncle's cabin in Howley (unfortunately, no pics, but it was a good night. My cousin and his wife, with their new-born baby, also flew in from Alberta and met us there),  Labour Day weekend was now in full swing and my good buddy Andrew (shingling the roof with me above) invited me to go camping with some of his friends. No arm-twisting needed, I tagged along, and at some point decided to put a condom on my head.

After arriving back, I decided to drive out to SJ to do some Jiu Jitsu at my old club. It was such a treat to see everyone again and get a chance to roll with them. I'll always contend that Michael Foley's Academy of Martial Arts and the people I met there were the highlight of my 3 year tour of St. John's. Afterwards, I got George-faced on Shit Street with some friends from school and some friends from Ph 3, including the guy in plaid who had flown down just to visit and get drunk on George St with his Newfie budds.

On the way back to Gagetown I spent Saturday night in Sydney, NS, with my buddy who I played hockey with since I first put on skates. Thankfully there is no picture-evidence from this night. And now I'm back in Gagetown, learning how to drive, gun, and command the LAV III. I'm looking forward to sending some hate and discontent down range, 25mm at a time in this puppy.

Misery loves B Company

Well, I am back living in the shacks and the Defensive FTX has been passed, completed, and is now just a blurry memory of digging a lot and falling asleep while standing up. At the end we completed "the Death March," which is a Rite of Passage of sorts for being an Infantry Officer. On the last day of the exercise, the CO and RSM show up and all of B Company marches 16km with full kit and defensive stores, etc.

Here I am upon my return, looking rather emaciated. 9 days of no sleep, not enough food, and a lot of digging / ruck marching takes a toll on a person. I started this course at about 200 lbs and in this pic I am 175 lbs.

After a few celebratory beers and a full night's sleep, the next day we headed to Saint John, NB for some seafood. The Saint John Ale House had a good variety, so we basically ordered a bunch of appetizers and went to town. Clams, oysters, mussels, scallops, and then some. This was my first time having raw oysters and steamed clams. I was a little disappointed with the oysters, they have zero taste... the clams I was happy with, they taste exactly like mussels (which I love) except there is more meat! Big win.

After walking around Brunswick Square, we headed back into Fredericton for the real night of celebratory drinks at a few places... these adventures shall remain classified. ;-)

Oh no! An Infantry Officer with a Blog!

Well, this is something I've wanted to start for a long time, although I fear I will be inconsistent at best. My own little corner of the earth to rant and roar about all of life's up's and down's.

Allow me to explain the major theme surrounding this blog. I am currently wrapping up my training to be an Infantry Officer with the Canadian Forces. If everything goes as planned, in December it will be complete and I will be posted to a battalion (where I will continue with more and more training).

This is why it's a "Gentleman's" blog, in a purely sarcastic tone as I pride myself in being anything but a gentleman. My job title, "Infantry Officer," is an oxymoron all on it's own. While Officers are traditionally referred to as "gentlemen" in the Commonwealth, the Infantry Corps are known as "grunts" for their profanity, hygiene, dark humour, and other "not very gentleman-like" qualities. The marriage of the two leads to one big walking talking soup sandwich of contradictions, aka me, the profane, insensitive, unshaven gentleman.

Anyone that knows me will agree that one of my favourite things to rant and roar about are politics/religion/money/etc, all things someone of my job title shouldn't rant and roar about on public platforms such as a blog (hence the address, "public affairs nightmare" .blogspot.com) Because of this, I will unfortunately have to try and keep the good stuff to a minimum on this page.

So then what is the god damn point of this blog then? Well there is no specific point really. I will post as it pleases me, always attempting (and probably failing) to keep my loud mouth in check. I hope it at least provides you with some entertainment!