April 1996

American member's evening [page 1]

Down-sizing crosses the border

For the Canadians in the audience the general's message was all too familiar, down sizing and doing more with less. This time for a change the hits were not targeted at the Canadian Armed Forces but at the United States reserves and National Guard. The speaker of record was Brigadier-General John Fenimore, Acting Adjutant General of the 18,000 member New York Air National Guard. BGen Fenimore was guest of honour at the annual American Member's Evening. General Fenimore prefaced his speech by explaining that his family name has connections with Clan Moffatt. On a trip to Scotland he had hoped to find a connection to an aristocratic line. Instead he was told his family had links with some very accomplished sheep thieves.

For the benefit is his Canadian audience the General explained the genesis of the National Guard which is enshrined in the in the United States Constitution. The military reserve system in the United States is considerably more complicated than that employed in Canada. In the US the reserves are made of three Guards, the Army, Air and State National Guards. In two states, New York and Alaska, there is another reserve organisation called the Navy Militia. Enrolling in the Navy Militia requires taking two oaths one federal and the other to the state. In New York State there are 6,000 members of the Navy Militia, which also encompasses the US Marines Reserve. Another major difference between the US and Canadian reserve system is that in the national guard the federal government provides the equipment and pays the soldiers and the state appoints the officers.

From left: RCMI President LCol John Gibson, Mrs Gail Gibson, BGen John Fenimore, Mrs Barbara Fenimore

Like the Canadian Armed Forces there is cultural difference between the active army and the National Guard. Unlike the CF units in the National Guard have continuous specific commitments. As an example a squadron of the New York National Guard provides airlift support to scientific operations taking place at both the North and South poles. After his very informative presentation the General fielded questions from the audience. The evening was rounded out by Keith Alderson and his band.

S/Sgt James Gibbons, a US Marine reservist from Bufalo and guest of BGen Gordon Gannon, USMC, checks out the cutlery in the Sword Room

LCol John Gibson shows BGen John Fenimore Baron von Richtofen's aircraft seat

Fun in the Sun? [page 5]

March school break and Florida, sounds like a recipe for sun, fun, surf and golden beaches, right? Wrong! Ok, so hold the surf. Let's picture -- sun, fun and golden beaches, right? Well not quiet! Well, how about the sun, combat rations, going tactical and we will throw in the sand? Almost, but it sounds like an exercise in Borden!!! Well almost, but it was Exercise Southern Strike held at Camp Blanding a Florida Army National Guard base. Camp Blanding is a training area located in north-central Florida about one hours drive from Jacksonville. This was the third year that members of the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, based at CFB Borden, had used the Blanding facilities during the mid-March period. The four and half day training was designed to exercised the over 650 soldiers in infantry defensive operations.

3RCR is designated as a 10/90 Battalion -- 90 per cent are reserve soldiers from the Belleville, Hamilton, St. Catharines and Toronto and 10 per cent are regular force soldiers based in Borden. The reserve soldiers that make up the companies are drawn from The Royal Regiment of Canada, The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment and the Lincoln and Welland Regiment. All the troops continued to wear their unit insignia.

The troops travelled from CFB Trenton to Jacksonville International Airport on three Airbus flights. During the day the main body assembled in Hanger #7 at CFB Trenton for processing. Processing consisting filling the usual variety of military forms, receiving a $70.00 US advance and drawing two days supply of combat rations. Canadian field rations, which are known to be the best in the world, are called IMPs for Individual Meal Plan. The soldiers then loaded their rucksack and duffle bag into the aircraft's baggage containers that were lined up in the hanger.

As soon as the soldiers hit the ground in Blanding, their part of the exercise started. They deployed immediately to the training area where they were issued their orders and ammunition. The soldiers remained in the field for the duration of the exercise living out of their rucksack.

Camp Blanding has several large training areas and offers a number of challenging stands, most notable is Smithville. Smithville is a newly built site for conducting "Fighting In A Built Up Area" training (FIBUA). It consists of almost 20 buildings up to three stories in a tight suburban type setting that could be residential or industrial depending on the scenario being used. During the exercise in Smithville soldiers wore the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES) -- a harness with laser censors that activated an alarm if the soldier is shot at or hit. The MILES puts an end to the age-old argument of who shot whom first.

Another purpose built facility was an underground tunnel complex where soldiers conducted offensive or defensive operations. During Exercise Southern Strike members of 3RCR took part in: defensive operations in a built-up area; assault boat water crossing, occupying and defending an area; and long range fighting patrols. A low pressure zone arrived in Florida with the Canadian troops. The bottom fell out of the thermometer breaking 100-year old records. For a day and half the cold temperatures were accompanied by driving rain. Everybody suffered from the cold and one soldier was hospitalised briefly with hypothermia. By the end of the exercise temperatures had risen to a more seasonal 84F, this created a concern that some soldiers suffer from heat prostration.

After the exercise finished the soldiers left the field to clean and secure their equipment, a shower and to prepare for a days leave before returning home. Soldiers had selected bus trips to spend the day at either Disney World Resort or St. Augustine. The troops could also opted to rental car for the day.

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