One Ride with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment - Pt. I

Full story: https://battlecorrespondent.wordpress.com/2015/09/04/hello-world/

How “the Reporter” became part of 41CBG 1st Platoon

I could have been asleep for two minutes or two days.

It’s hard to tell when you’re tucked away in what the soldiers call a ‘Hoochie’ – a waterproof shelter held together by a ground sheet, bungee cords and a little luck.

My ‘rack time’ (aka sleep) is suddenly broken by noise that wakes me up like a shot. Panic starts to set in.

Was that, incoming artillery? Gunfire? A grenade? After a moment the rain rebounding off my Hoochie gives it away.

Thunder.

Thankfully it’s not an ambush because tomorrow the Loyal Edmonton Regiment is attacking the West Isle Association’s command bunker.

And I’m going along for the ride.

Exercise Grizzly Defender (ExGD) is a nine-day training exercise for the Canadian Reserves’ 41st Company Brigade Group (41CBG). Part of a larger Exercise called Western Defender, this training operation is one of three taking place in B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Adding to the excitement, this year’s ExGD is a Combined Operation between Canada and the United States, with over 300 Canadian Reservists and 60 members of the 161st Infantry of the Washington Army National Guard.

The Coalition Forces decide to operate as one unit in Combined Sections of Canadian Reserves and American National Guard Forces.

As a recent graduate from Mount Royal University’s Journalism Program I jumped at the chance to cover the exercise.

My job will be to embed with the Forces and hone my skills as a Correspondent, but also add training value to ExGD so the soldiers can experience what combat would be like with an embedded war correspondent nipping at their heels.

Living and working with the soldiers of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment – or Eddies for short – was an experience unlike any other in my short career as a freelance journalist.

So grab your kit and jump on the truck – it’s time to move out.

Have camera; will travel

Our media pool of fresh-faced journalists is blissfully unaware of what we’ve gotten ourselves into as we load up onto a bus around 8:00 AM at the Mewata Armory in Calgary, Alberta.

But when we arrive at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright five hours later the soldiers in their army greens, crates of C7 rifles and boxes of ammunition quickly clue this “Scribe” in that he is definitely not in Kansas anymore.

I sit with the other journalists and some of the Calgary Highlander’s and we start a game of Cribbage to pass the time.

It’s a classic case of “hurry up and wait” – a term I became very familiar with over the next week and a half.

But the shuffling sounds of rucksacks and rifles is quickly growing from a din to a steady roar. It’s time to move. Tonight we bunk down in the barracks.

A Captain tells me to enjoy it and grab a shower while I can because he “really can’t say when you’ll see hot water again or a blanket again”.

Out of the frying pan…

Sometime after Noon the next day I arrive at Peregrine 7 – a Forward Operating Base, or FOB, several kilometers from the main base.

Green tents and command posts scatter the horizon as far as I can see.

I’m told to head towards a grey flag waving in the distance with the emblem of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment – a Coyote named Lestock who was adopted as the Regiment’s mascot and pet on their way to deploy in the First World War.

Edmontonians and Calgarians have a unique rivalry that extends beyond hockey, so to say I was nervous to ‘link up’ with my assigned Eddies Regiment would be a gold medal-worthy understatement.

But my nerves give way to excitement as I’m greeted by Capt Colin Papuschack, the Loyal Eddie’s Platoon Commander.

He is soft-spoken and reserved off the field but when the action starts he seamlessly switches gears, taking decisive action with a commanding presence in battle.

The Captain introduces me to the Platoon (about 30 Soldiers) and goes about finding a volunteer to share a tent with me.

No takers – here come those nerves again.

Just when it seems like they are going to draw straws for the privilege of bunking with the Reporter, a gruff looking soldier pipes up.

“Weapons Detachment has room sir, we’ll take the Reporter.”

Continue reading Pt. II - https://battlecorrespondent.wordpress.com/2015/09/04/one-ride-with-the-loyal-edmonton-regiment-pt-ii/