Marksmanship Team & ACR I

The corps marksmanship team had been busy for the last two months getting ready for the upcoming competition in Gimli, MB.  They were scheduled to leave on April 13.  They practiced on the weekends, shooting grouping & scoring targets in the prone & standing positions.  I felt the five cadets had a good chance of performing well this year, judging from all the targets I marked.

            

Being selected to compete in Gimli is an accomplishment of its own.  A Stage II Postal Shoot is held in cadet corps across the Northwest Region and the scoring targets are mailed down to Winnipeg.  The targets are marked and corps’s with the highest scores are selected to attend the Stage III competition in Gimli.  3045 Army Cadet Corps selects its five cadets based on the 3 A’s: Attendance, Attitude, Ability.

            

*No spectators were present when this
photograph was taken. All air rifles were
unloaded and safety catches were enabled.

I was supervising a team practice on Sunday, April 8, when I decided to take several photographs for promotional purposes.  I reasoned the pictures would be useful for media releases, the corps Facebook group, the corps bulletin board in the school, and for this blog.  I made sure the air rifles were unloaded and the safety catches were on for each photograph.  The end results, as you can see, turned out quite well.

            

The cadet corps is affiliated with the Royal Regiment of Canada in Toronto, Ontario.  The Arctic Bay cadets wear the Regiment’s cap brass & badge insignias on their uniforms.  Senior cadets additionally wear Regiment brass buckles and red sashes. 

Unfortunately, due to the great distance between the Regiment & the corps, these uniform fragments were all the cadets mostly new about the Regiment.  The senior leadership of the Regiment were made aware of this and through several discussions, they made plans to come to Arctic Bay in April for the Annual Ceremonial Parade (ACR).  They would also use the opportunity to strengthen the connection by teaching the Inuit cadets about the history of the Royal Regiment and our sister corps, 2736 RCACC.

The senior leadership arrived on April 9.  They were: Colonel (Col.) Graham, Lieutenant-Colonel (Lt.-Col.) Nonato, Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) Persaud, and Sergeant Hirji.  Graham is the Honourary Colonel of the Regiment, Nonato is the Commanding Officer (CO) of the Regiment, Persaud is the Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM), and Hirji is the Regiment’s Senior Administrator.  Frank & I greeted them at the airport.  We drove them into town after formal introductions and helped them drop off supply packages for the corps & school.  We then drove them to the Tangmaarvik Inn to check in.  We had a short meeting in the Inn’s dining area to discuss the plan for the next several days.

            

The senior leadership spent April 10 out on the land with the local Rangers.  I couldn’t go, because I had to teach.  The CWO borrowed my skidoo for the trip.  From what I heard, they had a great time seeing a different part of Canada.  In the evening, the visiting staff met the cadets at the Uquutaq Centre.  They introduced themselves, explained the purpose of their visit, talked about the history of the Royal Regiment, and taught them the motto: “Royals ready? Aye ready!”  They also hinted they would be looking into the possibility of doing a cadet exchange between 2736 & 3045 in the near future.  I hope it materializes.  The biggest hurdle to overcome is the high cost of travel.  I concluded the meet-and-greet by showing pictures & videos of our cadets doing various past activities.

            

The ACR occurred on April 11.  The cadets transformed the gym at Inuujaq School into a parade square.  Two rows of chairs lined one of the walls with the awards table in the middle.  Each chair had a printed program on it.  Two cadets taped the NEAS flag on the back wall.  (NEAS is a recent corps sponsor).  Brief biographies about our guests were also taped to the walls. 

            

Flag Party. Photo taken by JF.

The parade began at 6:30pm.  The flag party marched on parade and deposited the Canadian & Cadet flags on opposite sides of the awards table.  Then they marched to their assigned places and became the left markers.  The corps marched to the centre of parade.  I marched in with the representatives of the Royal Regiment.  The audience stood.  I let Colonel Graham receive the General Salute.  The national anthem was played followed by a prayer from Rev. Leah May.  The Reviewing Party was big this year: the Colonel, Lieutenant-Colonel, CWO, and I.  While we inspected the cadets on parade, Lieutenant (ret.) Frank May kept the audience occupied by introducing the visiting officers.

            

Lt.-Col. Nonato.

A March Past followed the inspection.  The cadets marched very well.  The visiting guests were given a chance to say a few words.  Lt.-Col. Nonato was the first to speak, followed by Col. Graham, and CWO Persaud.  They all talked about being in Arctic Bay for the first time, enjoying the scenery, learning from locals about Inuit culture, and doing whatever it takes to keep the relationship between the Regiment & cadet corps strong.

            

Cdt. Iqaqrialu receives his
Bronze Level Fitness badge.

The parade moved on to the presentation of awards.  We started with General Awards.  The three winners of the 2017 Fall Biathlon Competition were called up to the front to receive their prizes: t-shirts & sweaters.  The Biathlon Team was called up next to be recognized for competing in Whitehorse in February.  They didn’t advance to the national level but they deserved recognition nonetheless. 

Cadets were called to the front to receive marksmanship level badges.  There are 4 levels: 1 is the lowest & 4 is the highest.  The 2018 Marksmanship Team was recognized for being chosen to represent the corps at the upcoming competition and wished good luck.  Civilian Instructor Kigutikarjuk concluded the General Awards by calling out the cadets who earned physical fitness badges.

MCpl Ejangiaq receives the Most Improved Cadet Award.

MCpl Willie receives the Best Boots & Deportment Trophy.

MCpl Tilley, D., & LCpl Tilley, C.
receive the Top Male & Female Athletes
Trophy.

There were four special awards to present.  The first was the Most Improved Cadet Award and this went to Master-Corporal Ejangiaq.  Local RCMP officer Jessie presented the award.  CWO Persaud presented the Best Boots & Deportment Award to Master-Corporal Willie.  Lt.-Col. Nonato had the honour of presenting the Top Male & Female Athletes Trophy to Master-Corporal Tilley, D., and Lance-Corporal Tilley, C.  The final special award was the Top Cadet Award and this went Master-Corporal Pauloosie.  Col. Graham presented the award.

MCpl Pauloosie receives the Top Cadet Award.

Me showing the audience the corps fidget spinner.

The last presentations to make were the Special Acknowledgements.  I went first by thanking the senior staff of the Royal Regiment for coming this far north to see the cadets and for being the Guest Reviewing Officers (GROs).  To show my appreciation I presented them four corps fidget spinners.  They were greatly amused by this gesture.  Lt. (ret.) May went next by presenting them with picture books of Arctic Bay, put together by Clare Kines, and four Inuit carvings.

RSM Persaud explains the significance
of the pace stick.

Unbeknownst to everyone, the Regiment also had special acknowledgements to make.  Col. Graham called me to the front and praised me for being in charge of the corps & teaching the cadets leadership skills.  For my efforts, he presented me a book, titled Always Ready: A History of the Royal Regiment of Canada.  I also received a framed portrait of present & past Royal Regiment uniforms.  CWO Persaud went next and handed over his regimental pace stick as a gift to the corps.  I was surprised by this gesture.  I carefully handed over the “sacred pace stick” to cadet Platoon Commander Tilley, D.  Lt. May was also recognized for his efforts within the corps and given a copy of Always Ready.  A third copy of the book would be donated to the Inuujaq School library.  Lt.-Col. Nonato did the final acknowledgement, awarding a small Royal Regiment plaque to RCMP officer Jessie for his tireless efforts in keeping the people of Arctic Bay safe.         

            

MCpl Tilley, 2Lt. Dzioba, & RSM Persaud

Arctic Bay resident Sheena Qaunaq did the closing remarks, thanking the parents, sponsors, the people who prepared snacks, and the visiting GROs.

            

The parade concluded with the Advance in Review Order, General Salute, and the playing of God Save The Queen.  I breathed a sigh of relief after I marched out of the gym with the GROs.

            

Everyone was dismissed to the reception table after the final applause from the audience.  The GROs posed with the cadets for a group photo.  To keep everyone entertained while they ate, I played a slideshow of photographs of the entire cadet training year.

            

Another successful ACR Parade.

*Most featured photographs were taken by Clare Kines.  Thank you for being the Official Photographer!