Stage 3 Marksmanship 2024 – Part 2

We woke up early on the morning of April 6 and got to the mess hall at 6:30am for breakfast.  We were the first in line.  The frontline chefs came out and started preparing eggs and English muffins.  The heated side dishes were bacon & hashbrowns.  Other available offerings were fruit, bread, muffins, and a variety of beverages.  I chose orange juice.  My cadets & I finished our meals in 30 minutes. 

I drove the cadet team over to the large gym building where the competition would take place.  Being assigned a military van to drive made things easier for us and the organizers.  They didn’t need to hire extra drivers. 

The air rifle range looked the same as it did the day before.  More & more cadet teams arrived over a period of 20 minutes.  Teams were instructed to prepare their air rifles & shooting gear for inspection.  Everything had to be inspected to prevent cheating and/or illegal modifications.  The cadets put on their shooting jackets & safety glass and stood in line holding their air rifles.  It took us about 30 minutes to get through the inspection line.  Once our rifles & gear were cleared, I instructed the cadets to put everything away.  We had another commitment to get to and needed time to get ready.  The competition organizers were aware of this and approved because we weren’t scheduled to begin until after lunch.

I drove my cadets back to accommodations and we changed into our formal dress uniforms.  3045 Army Cadet Corps was invited to participate in a Vimy Ridge Commemoration Parade at Vimy Ridge Park in downtown Winnipeg.  I think this was 3045’s first time participating.  I used Google Maps on my cellphone to guide me to the location.  We safely made it.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge occurred during the First World War, taking place from April 9 – 12, 1917.  It was the first time the Canadian Corps’ four divisions fought together.  Canadian soldiers liberated most of the ridge from German occupation on the first day and then pushed German soldiers further back to the Oppy-Mericourt line by April 12.  Canada regards this battle to be the birth of the nation.

I found one of the officers in charge of the parade and introduced myself and my cadets.  The cadets were led inside a church where cadets from various local corps were getting ready.  I followed but was directed to a room where an officers briefing was being held.  We reviewed the parade program.

Everyone involved in the parade exited the church and assembled in Vimy Park for a parade practice.  There had to be at least 100 - 150 cadets in attendance.  The cadets were organized into four platoons, renamed divisions, in honour of the four Canadian divisions.  The four divisions contained a mixture of cadets from participating corps.  Two cadets stood guard at the cenotaph holding Canadian flags.  There even was a cadet band to provide music.

A short parade practice was held.  The cadets marched in from two directions and halted in front of the cenotaph.  The band played General Salute and O Canada.  A few more parts of the program were reviewed and then the cadets were marched back to their starting positions.  A crowd had begun to form when the cadets were being marched off.  I had to reassure a few onlookers they hadn’t missed the actual parade.

The real parade began at 11am.  The cadets marched in from their starting positions and halted in in front of the cenotaph as an audience of people looked on.  The senior officer presiding over the parade was Lt. Col Diduck.  The cadet band played General Salute and O Canada.  Lt. Col. Diduck gave a speech about the Battle of Vimy Ridge and why Canadians commemorate this battle.  He also thanked the cadets & everyone in the audience for attending the parade.  These comments were echoed by Linda Wall, the president of the Army Cadet League of Canada’s (ACLC) Manitoba Branch.

Diduck placed a wreath in front of the cenotaph and saluted, along with his Chief Warrant Officer, the cadet chief warrant officer parade commander and Ms. Wall.  The trumpeter in the band played Last Post.  This was followed by a Minute of Silence.  The trumpeter then played Reveille.  The cadets were then marched off.  The parade had come to an end.

Unfortunately, my cadets & I couldn’t stay for lunch because we had to get back to the shooting competition.  The parade organizers thanked us for our participation and gave us bagged lunches.  The cadets ate in the van while I drove back to 17 Wing.  We returned to barracks first to change out of our dress uniforms and into civilian clothing.  We hopped back into the van and drove over to the gym. 

The gym was busy with several marksmanship teams shooting and others enjoying lunch catered by the Pita Pit.  The cadets put on their shooting vests and glasses and waited to be called for their practice prone relay.  When the time came, they grabbed their Daisy air rifles and stood in a long line.  The Range Safety Officer (RSO) invited all participating teams to take their positions on the shooting range.  Cadets were given 30 minutes to shoot as many times as they wanted.

The target systems used are made by SIUS.  They’re pretty good at recording where pellets hit the paper targets by using five microphones to triangulate the impacts through soundwaves.  Shooters see where they hit on a small console.  A perfect dead centre shot is 10.9 points.  A no hit is 0 points.

Shooting relays lasted 30 minutes and teams shot every second relay.  It’s good to have breaks in between.  The first day of the competition was all about shooting prone.  Teams shot three prone relays, 20 pellets per relay.  The cadet coach & I encouraged our team to take their time and shoot steady.  The point of the competition is accuracy, not speed.  We were done by 5pm.

For dinner at the mess hall, I had beef roast, some vegetables, and bread.  We spent the remainder of evening in barracks.  I managed to take a good picture of a herd of deer grazing on base.  They may have been the same deer I saw the night before.

                                                                To Be Continued . . .