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| Issue 019/2005 |
Numéro 019/2005 |
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Quotation of the week If we had no faults of our own, we would not take so much pleasure in noticing those of others. La Rochfoucauld (1613 – 1680) |
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Trivia
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Over the past few months some of you have been contacted (some more than once) to either renew or take out a membership to the Club. Many of you have responded in a very positive manner – the appropriate baseball jargon: “you stepped up to the plate”. For this we are very appreciative. With this article, we have a list of all of you who signed up between 1 Jan to 1 July of this year. Members who were already life members or others who have an Annual membership which will expire during 2005 are not shown on this list. The membership drive will continue throughout the year. We have an energetic group of volunteers and although they would not be considered professional telephone marketers (thank God) they are passionate about the College and the Club. So, if you are reading this and you are not a member in good standing – or your membership runs out some time in 2005 (or before) expect to be contacted by e-mail or phone by one of our volunteers. Better still, why not take the imitative and contact us to renew or to take out a life membership? All you want to know about membership renewal may be found on the main site: www.rmcclub.ca The graph (Click HERE to see graph - this is a PDF file - see note in right colomn) which is within 5 %of the class size, 17 classes out of 20, gives a pretty good picture of where we stand and the potential growth for members. Prior to 1995, the classes, of course, included CMR & RRMC cadets. The numbers for UTPNCM for each class (three colleges) going back over 25 years was really hard to confirm. Consequently, we did not show them in the potential size of the class. It should be noted that currently we have approximately 85 UTPNCM as Club members. For this article we have not included postgraduate and associate members both of whom have a solid history of supporting the Club. We, of course, invite and encourage eligible men and women both current and former staff members to take out a membership. The other problem in confirming the correct numbers is that many candidates while going through Basic Officer Training (BOTC) or whatever it was called at Chilliwack and now St Jean were issued college numbers, however, they never did arrive at CMR, RRMC, or march through the arch at RMC because they ceased training from “boot camp” training. So how many college numbers were issued this way? Currently, we don’t have the answer. |
Also, there are a fair number of college numbers that didn’t make it through “Rook” Camps. Most of these we suspect have absolutely no interest in being members of the Club although technically they are, of course, eligible. We believe the graph is pretty easy to read. Some classes are exceptional in their support, especially the later years. Others classes are not so exceptional. Hopefully, by displaying our membership status in this manner it will motivate Ex Cadets who have been sitting on the fence, procrastinating etc. about taking out a membership to react in a positive manner. If you have any questions on membership please do not hesitate to contact Bill Oliver at Panet House. We look forward to applications flooding in through the Online process; phone; fax or in person at Panet House. In short, we’re looking for more hitters to step to the plate! Click on links below to review the member list for 2005: (you will need Adobe PDF Reader to view these files - free download HERE) *Note: Life members prior to 2005 are not shown on this particular list. A complete list of Annual and Life Members will be displayed on the Club main page soon. The support of all our Annual and Life Members is much appreicated. We plan on updating this list as the 2005 year unfolds. We received a number of new members early in July, last week and they were not processed as we went to press. We will display these names in the next e-Veritas. If your name is not currently listed and you believe it should, please contact us at rmcclub@rmc.ca If your name does not appear and you would like it to be listed contact us to take out a membership.
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RMC Club members in good standing have a real treat awaiting them. 5611 Gerry Stowe, Editor of Veritas, has pulled out all the stops for the July edition of the magazine. The 76 pages are full of very interesting stories mostly on Ex Cadets and friends of the three colleges. In particular, the feature article is a must read by 12570 Mike Kennedy.
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“12570 Mike
Kennedy
has put together a wonderful piece to commemorate the 60th
anniversary of the end of WW II and, to a lesser extent, the
Year of the Veteran. His passion for the subject is very
evident and his selection of veterans to give resonance to the
story most appropriate. He interviewed two Ex-Cadets and two
non-Ex-Cadets who are honorary members of the RMC Club.”
A 119 Peter
Dawe, Executive Director, |
« 12570 Mike Kennedy a préparé un excellent texte en commémoration du 60e anniversaire de la fin de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, qui se veut aussi l’Année internationale de l’ancien combattant. Sa passion pour ce sujet est très évidente et sa sélection de vétérans pour donner résonance à ces récits est des plus appropriée. Il a eu des entretiens avec deux Anciens et deux membres honoraires du Club des CMR «
A 119 Peter Dawe Directeur exécutif du Club
des CMR |
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S109 Major Danny McLeod, MC, CD; 2761 Colonel Syd Frost; H15200 The Honorable Gilles Lamontagne OC, CQ, CD; 2759 Lieutenant-Colonel Charly Forbes, CD. Here, in their own words, are just small portions of the stories from the Veritas magazine of four outstanding members of the RMC Club who experienced the horrors and the triumphs of the greatest conflict mankind has ever known. They are four true Canadian heroes whose actions in battle reflect great credit upon the Royal Military College and the unique place it occupies in Canadian history. Click HERE for more . . . Note: The Veritas magazine is only mailed out to those members who are life members or their annual membership has not expired. The complete Mike Kennedy article will be found in the July edition of Veritas which should be in most mail boxes by late July / early August. |
Readers of e-Veritas who are not currently paid up members of the Club are invited to take out their membership right away, which will ensure that they are on the July snail mail list. Also members in good standing that have changed their mailing address recently please let us know right away so we can mail your Veritas to the correct location. This has been a problem almost every summer and proves to be very expensive with the extra mailing costs. Our “Return to Sender” Box is usually full by the end of August with Veritas magazines. So, please if you have just recently moved or about to be relocating contact rmcclub@rmc.ca and give us the details.
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Top Headlines |
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Friday,
September 30th
See
www.glenlawrence.com for directions to the Club
Press
HERE for more on the Reunion Golf
Classic. |
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Reunion Weekend: Club Executive
Director, Peter Dawe, has been hard at work over the past year ensuring the
2005 Reunion Weekend is a winner for all returning Ex Cadets. The
Dinner and Dance (Field House) plus the Old Brigade Dinner (SAM) will be
catered at a level never before experienced for these type of functions.
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We have assembled a support staff to help take care of the mundane, behind the scene but essential tasks if these types of events will be successful. We are confident that no stone will be left unturned, thereby, guaranteeing all those in attendance a great time. Press here to get a glimpse of the menu for the two separate functions: |
Reunion Weekend 2005
Class Events
(click
HERE for schedule)
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What's Happening Around the College? |
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RMC
Engineering Students Enter the Fight Against Breast Cancer
Goal is to raise $10,000 for Breast Cancer Research |
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Four female RMC students - three cadets: Teri Share, Amanda Jayne, Amanda Bruni and 2 Lt Michelle Whitty will be participating in a two day, 60 km walk during The Weekend to End Breast Cancer,being held September 9th to 11th. Being from RMC, these ladies are fit and live |
very active lifestyles, however, Officer Cadet, Amanda Bruni insists that the 60 km walk will not be easy. The IV Year, Chemical Engineering student, trains year round at the college but her main sport is swimming . . . Press HERE for more . . . |
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Catching Up With the News! |
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Learning to Lead
Clockwise from top left: A visit to Canal du Nord;
cadet Guillaume Grenier-Lachance at Notre Dame de Lorette |
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Sometimes there is no perfect solution; sometimes the only choice is
to narrow your eyes and go hard. When Lieutenant G.M. Flowerdew
crested the rise and saw two ranks of Germans arrayed across the
open field, machine-guns ready, he knew the meaning of imperfect.
But if he hesitated, seeing his doom, history didn’t record it.
Flowerdew turned and shouted “It’s a charge, boys, it’s a charge,” then raised his sword and led his cavalry hard against the guns. The trumpeter lifted his horn to blow the call but was shot down before the first note. |
It was
one of the strange moments of WW I, where glory and futility met on
the downside of an ugly dilemma. Flowerdew couldn’t call a retreat
without serious losses; but charging across open ground under heavy
fire was hardly inviting. He couldn’t go on, but he did. Perhaps
that’s as good a definition of courage as any.
Press Here for more . . . |
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Air Commodore Leonard Birchall, CM, OBE, DFC, OO, CD, “The Saviour of Ceylon”.
Our long time friend Donny McLeod sent along the following article on a project being organized to honour Air Commodore Leonard Birchall, CM, OBE, DFC, OO, CD, “The Saviour of Ceylon”. Press here for more info. |
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Many Ex cadets will recognize the name Noreen Hope. Noreen was a longtime R & D Supervisor with the Admin Section at RMC. She retired in the early 90s. She recently dropped by Panet House. First to purchase a 2005 Friendly & Friends Support Program (FFSP) membership and second to drop off a photo of the band from which she believes is from about 1989. Noreen was made an Honorary Member of the RMC Band prior to her retirement. She has continued to host members of the band every year at her home just outside of Kingston. She is not Online but remembers well many of the old gang from her days at the college and would be delighted |
to hear from any of them. She may be reached at 613 -387 2472 Oh yes, Noreen looks great and appears to be in good health. As I was on staff in those days I certainly recognize many of the characters, sorry, I should say gentlemen cadets in the photo. We were at a loss on what title to put with the photo. We narrowed it down to two choices. One – “Boys will be Boys.” Or Two: “The Boys in the Band.”
Press here to see “Boys will be Boys” or should it
be “The Boys in the Band”? |
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The Highways are Older Than You Think |
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Major W.E. (Gary) Campbell has served for over forty years in the Canadian Army (Militia), the Canadian Army (Regular), and the Canadian Forces. He is a PhD candidate at the University of New Brunswick and has obtained a Bachelor of Arts (History) from the University of Western Ontario and a Master of Arts (War Studies) from the Royal Military College of Canada. His passion for military history, especially logistics, and his many tours of |
duty as a transportation officer in the Logistics Branch of the Canadian Armed Forces led to his interest in the Grand Communications Route. Major Campbell recently published a book: The Highways are Older Than You Think Press here for more on the book. |
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“Bonk on the Head is a tour of duty and a tour de force.” —Mark Anthony Jarman
Bonk on the Head
is the fictional account of a young man’s strange and gruelling
journey through military indoctrination, and the strange and
gruelling family life that drives him to it. |
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FOCUS |
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Canadian Troops Back in Qandahar,
Afghanistan. By 19930 Captain Nicholas Vlachopoulos |
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It’s been five weeks since the Canadian Forces Joint Operations Group Liaison Officer (LO) Team departed Canada to begin their mission in Qandahar, Afghanistan. The LO team consists of Lieutenant-Colonel Brian Watson |
(Intelligence Officer-J2), Major Rick Williams (Signals / Operations Officer – J6/J3), Major Scott Baker (Logistics Officer – J4) and Capt Nicholas Vlachopoulos (Engineer Officer)(RMC ’95, 19930). The Canadian LO team is currently situated at Qandahar Air Field, working with US Forces as part of TASK FORCE BAYONET. The LO’s initial objective is to set the preliminary conditions for the receipt of the Canadian Theatre Activation Team (TAT) that will in turn, prepare the ground for the deployment of a Canadian Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) to this region. As announced by the government of Canada, the PRT will be operational within the August 2005 timeframe. There is no shortage of Engineer Tasks associated with activating a theatre and conducting a “beddown” (or camp and amenities) for Canadian Troops. It is no surprise, the, that an Engineer is part of the advance elements that have been sent into theatre to prepare the ground for mission success. Engineers are an invaluable force multiplier within a theatre of operations.
Press HERE for more . . . |
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Ex Cadets in the News! We pick-up our news sources from wherever we can. Readers are encouraged to forward any item on an Ex Cadet, former staff member from any of the three military colleges. College number & photo will make our life a lot easier. William.oliver@rmc.ca |
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Colonel Noonan was born in Victoria, B.C., in 1960. He enrolled in the Canadian Forces in 1978 and graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Fuels and Materials in 1982 from Royal Military College in Kingston. As a combat engineer, Colonel Noonan commanded the airborne engineer troop and squadron in 2 CER, was second-in-command of an armoured engineer squadron with 32 Armd Engr Regiment in BAOR, commanded 41 Fd Sqn in 4 CER (during which he deployed as part of Op HARMONY Roto ) and, finally, he commanded 1 CER in Edmonton between 1999 and 2001. |
His
staff officer postings include four years as G3 Engr and G3 Plans
(Ex) with 1 Cdn Div HQ in Kingston, one year as part of the J3 Engr
staff in Ottawa and three years with the CLS staff where he was
involved in Army Transformation.
Ed note: We remember Steve with great memories wearing the
Red & White jersey with the Redmen logo. He was a power forward
(Gary Roberts style) and made major contributions in two big wins
against West Point in 1980 & ’82. His dad (Sr NCO) was also a
well-known military hockey player in the 1950s & 60s era with PPCLI.
Best wishes in Afghanistan, Steve. |
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Canadians train for combat in
Afghanistan
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OTTAWA, July 10
(Online): Canadian soldiers heading for Afghanistan are
being prepared for direct combat with Taliban fighters as insurgents
promise more and more sophisticated attacks on foreign troops. The 250-strong provincial reconstruction team, or PRT, being deployed beginning in two weeks, has undergone heightened training-their commanders well-aware of the recent dramatic increase in the threat of violence against them. The troops, mainly from Edmonton, will take over patrols in and around Kandahar from a U.S. team that was attacked by a suicide bomber less than a month ago. Afghan and U.S. officials warn such attacks likely will escalate in the coming weeks as the country prepares for elections scheduled Sept. 18. "There is an increased [insurgent] activity level in the southern provinces, there's no doubt about that," said Col. Steve Noonan, who will take on the new role of commander of Canada's Joint Task Force Afghanistan in early August. "There already is a surge of forces anticipating the higher risk." The military doesn't want troops to be sitting ducks for would-be attackers. Canada's provincial reconstruction team will be located halfway between Kandahar, a southern city that once was a stronghold of the Taliban, and the region's U.S.-controlled airfield. |
"The provincial reconstruction team is smaller in size and it's also split in two locations," explained Noonan. "So it becomes even smaller when it comes to force-protection issues. "As a result, there is more of a tactical level focus on security of both patrols and their own base." The team is designed as a first real test of Canada's so-called "3-D" foreign policy-defence, diplomacy, development. "Prior to the PRT, there was always a 3-D effort in Afghanistan," said Noonan. "But they weren't necessarily coalesced as closely as they will be within the PRT. "In Kandahar, they're all living in the same compound," he noted. "This is certainly the first time . . . where we see the Canadian strategic outlook of how to deal with failed states being a much more co-operative effort between the three departments." There will, in fact, be four government departments involved-Defence, Foreign Affairs, the Canadian International Development Agency, or CIDA, and the RCMP. Michael Callan, who will head the CIDA portion of the team, said he's worried about deteriorating security in Kandahar and whether it will hamper his work.
"The
Taliban seemingly asserting itself of late is definitely a concern,"
he remarked.
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12265 Major (Ret’d) Michael Campbell
12265 (RMC ’79) Major (Ret’d) Dr Michael Campbell (second row) second from the left |
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12265 Major (Ret’d) Michael Campbell is team doctor for the Canadian Men’s Under-20 (Youth) soccer team. Dr Campbell graduated from RMC in 1979 with a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in chemical engineering. He then obtained his pilot’s wings at CFB Moose Jaw and served as a line pilot at MR 880 Squadron in Summerside, P.E.I. Dr Campbell entered medical school at the University of Toronto in 1984 and completed his training in 1989. He went on to be flight surgeon and then Base Surgeon at CFB Edmonton and CFB Chilliwack. He retired from the CAF in 1995 |
and now practices Family Medicine in Abbotsford, B.C. The Canadian Men’s Youth team has qualified for the World Youth Championships (the Under-20 World Cup) in the Netherlands. This competition is the second largest soccer event after the World Cup. Dr Campbell relays his three-week experiences from this world stage (press here) |
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We received a fair bit of mail over the past couple of months. It is not our intent to print all or even most of them with this e-Veritas. We have passed most of them over to the Executive Director, who will make every effort to address all the serious concerns submitted. We made a random draw from the many emails we received. “Our 30 year is coming up in two years and we are organizing to attend. However, through no fault of the club or the associates that work on promoting the club, it has become less relevant to me. All I get from the club is repeated requests for money. The club has become an annoyance in that regard. If the country does not want to fund the college, then it must change and accept whatever that evolution will be. Let the Redmen go out on the ice in tattered rags if that is what it takes for the government to be embarrassed. It is not a private club, it is a public institution. I am always glad to help out the club locally, but for me the college is comprised of memories, classmates and reunions. On the other hand, I must ask myself why then am I reading the Veritas that is e-mailed to me”? Ed note: We withheld the name which we thought is fair, because the person was responding as part of the membership blitz and not an article in e-Veritas. We do hope he reconsiders and takes out a membership. |
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"Many Hands - make the burden light". « L’aide de plusieurs rend la tâche facile » S125 Bill & S134 Rolande Oliver |
| The eVERITAS electronic Newsletter reaches over 5,000 readers . It is a service provided by the RMC Club for Members in good standing with current addresses in the data base. It is designed to provide timely information on current events at RMC and to keep Members "connected". Occasionally, it will be distributed to non-members to entice them to join or renew their membership. Membership information is available at www.rmcclub.ca Newsworthy articles from national or local papers that may not have been available to the majority of our readers may be reproduced in e-VERITAS. We will also publish articles in either official language as submitted by Cadets and Staff, on "current life" at RMC. Other short “human interest stories" about Cadets, Ex-Cadets, Alumni and current and former Staff at the College will appear from time-to-time. Readers of e-VERITAS are encouraged to submit articles in either official language to william.oliver@rmc.ca. In particular, up-to-date “Where are they now?” articles on Ex-Cadets, Alumni and current and former Staff would be most welcome.
eVERITAS
is intended as a supplement and not a replacement of Veritas, the
highly popular magazine of the RMC Club printed and distributed three
times a year to Members by mail.
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Chaque édition du bulletin électronique e-VERITAS rejoint plus de 5,000 lecteurs. C’est un service fourni, par le Club des CMR, aux membres dont les adresses sont à jour dans notre base de données. Son but est de fournir des renseignements à point nommé sur les actualités au CMR et de garder en communication les membres du Club. Occasionnellement, il sera distribué aux membres qui ne sont plus en règle espérant qu’ils renouvelleront leur carte de membre annuelle ou qu’ils deviendront membres à vie. Les renseignements sur l’adhésion au Club sont disponibles au www.rmcclub.ca. Articles d’intérêt national ou local qui ne sont pas disponibles à la majorité de nos lecteurs seront reproduits dans e-VERITAS. Nous produirons aussi des articles dans l’une des deux langues officielles soumis par les élèves officiers et le personnel du Collège sur la vie actuelle au CMR. Nous offrirons de temps à autre de courtes anecdotes sur les élèves officiers, les Anciens et les membres du personnel d’hier et d’aujourd’hui. Nous encourageons les lecteurs de e-VERITAS à soumettre des articles dans l’une ou l’autre des deux langues officielles à Rolande.Oliver@rmc.ca. En particulier des articles récents sur « Où sont-ils présentement? » seraient grandement appréciés. e-VERITAS est un supplément et NON une substitution pour VERITAS la revue populaire du Club des CMR imprimée et distribuée aux membres en règle, par la poste, trois fois par année. |