CWO Retires & S3M 2025 Part 1

The day had finally arrived for the cadet Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) of 3045 Army Cadets.  Their last day to be exact.  As I mentioned before, the Canadian Cadet Program is for youth aged 12 – 18.  You retire - “age out” - on your 19^th birthday.  It was time for the CWO to hang up his uniform for the last time.

At the end of the regular training night, the cadets honoured & thanked the CWO’s time & achievements by doing a March Past.  He stood tall & proud as the cadets marched passed him.  The cadet Master Warrant Officer (MWO) led the parade.  I stood on the sidelines taking photographs.  The MWO gave the CWO the opportunity to say a few words to the cadets.  The CWO thanked the cadets for supporting him and encouraged them to keep going in the program.  He dismissed the cadets for the last time.  I shook his hand & congratulated him for making it to the end.        

I received a March Past when I aged out as an MWO many, many years ago.  To be honest, I didn’t expect it, but I was honoured.        

The following day, 3045’s Marksmanship Team departed for Winnipeg to compete in the Stage 3 Regional Marksmanship Competition.  I was granted leave from my civilian job to attend as their escort officer & coach.  We spent the previous weekend packing air rifles, shooting jackets, safety glasses, tools, and our personal kit.  We were excited.

The plane took off from Arctic Bay in the afternoon, and we successfully landed in Iqaluit.  We proceeded through security, waited a few hours, and then boarded the Canadian North plane bound for Ottawa.  I enjoyed the chicken Tuscan dinner meal.  We landed in Ottawa just after midnight, picked up our luggage, and took the free shuttle to the hotel.  We slept well in our hotel rooms.

The cadets enjoyed breakfast on the ground floor of the hotel.  Our flight to Winnipeg wasn’t until the early evening so we had time to spare in Canada’s capital.  I suggested we take the newly built light-rail trainline to a nearby Wal-Mart to shop.  The cadets happily agreed.  The cadets & I spent an hour at Wal-Mart.  We then enjoyed lunch at Montana’s.  I ordered steak.  We then returned to the hotel.

We boarded an Air Canada jet in the late afternoon and flew to Winnipeg.  The flight was uneventful.  We picked up our luggage in the Arrivals Area and were greeted by a former 3045 army cadet who happened to be in Winnipeg on personal business.  He took a group photo of us sitting in front of the large YWG sign.  (YWG is the code for the Winnipeg Airport).  We were picked up by an officer who drove us to CFB Winnipeg.  He dropped us off at a barracks building where all the other out-of-town cadet teams would be staying.  My cadets & I were assigned rooms.  I had a room to myself.  The benefits of being a CIC military officer.

Lights out was at 11:00pm.  Everyone was told to get a good night’s rest because the weekend was going to be busy & competitive.

To Be Continued . . .

Pink Shirt Day 2025 & Parents Night Parade

“Pink Shirt Day [PSD] is an annual event against bullying held in Canada [&] New Zealand.  Participants wear pink shirts […] and raise awareness about bullying, particularly in schools.”  PSD began in 2007 in Canada and is held on the last Wednesday of February.  Bullying is a worldwide problem and not unique to Nunavut.  It would be nice if bullying never existed, but life isn’t fair.  Thankfully, efforts are being made to eliminate it.  It’s alright to have disagreements but resorting to bullying / harassment is taking matters way too far.

PSD fell on February 26 this year.  Ant-bullying activities were held in classes for the day, and everyone was encouraged to wear pink.  The only pink item I own is a tie.  Maybe I should invest in a pink shirt next year?  The day culminated in an afternoon school photo in the gym.  All staff & students assembled in the gym wearing pink clothing.  I recruited a parent to take several photos with my camera.  Unfortunately, I can’t post the best photo here because I don’t have written permission from everyone.  Sorry.  A high school student pointed out that I was wearing the same getup as last year.  I guess I really do need to get more pink clothing for next year.

3045 Army Cadets held a Parents Night Parade on the evening of February 26.  The cadets and I arrived at the school gym an hour early to set everything up.  Doors opened at 6:15pm and the parade began at 6:30pm.  The reviewing officer was the Executive Director of Qikiqtani School Operations (QSO).  QSO is one of three Nunavut school boards, and the Executive Director (ED) is the boss.  He’s higher than the superintendents.  He was visiting Inuujaq School for a week and I managed to convince him to volunteer his time to participate.

I marched into the gym with the ED.  He inspected the cadets on parade after the General Salute & playing of O Canada.  I read his introduction to the audience during the inspection.  The cadets then did a March Past.  The cadet parade commander invited the ED to say a few words and assist in handing out awards.  He thanked the corps for inviting him to the parade and for putting on a good show.  He also thanked the parents & guardians in the audience for supporting their children and the corps.

Marksmanship Team.

The first badge awarded was the Level 4 Marksmanship badge, the highest level in the cadet program.  One junior cadet received the badge.  I then called up the marksmanship team to make an important announcement.  The results of the Stage 2 competition in January had recently been posted and 3045 came in first place in the Arctic Zone!  The team will be advancing to the Stage 3 Regional competition in late March (more on this in future posts).  The audience applauded the achievement and announcement.         

The cadet chief warrant officer (CWO) was called to the front to be publicly recognized for their recent participation in the inaugural Avannaa Arctic Games in Ilulisaat, Greenland.  Around 70 athletes from Greenland, Nunavut, Alaska, and Nunavik, “competed in more than a dozen events between February 8 & 13.”  Nunavut won 26 medals.  The CWO received a military themed t-shirt.

The Canadian Cadet Program is for youth, aged 12 – 18.  You age out or “retire” on your 19^th birthday.  Two of my senior cadets were nearing retirement so I called them to the front to congratulate them for going through the entire program and for all they achievements.  I also gifted them two framed photographs of them as cadets.  They would age out before the Annual Ceremonial Review Parade in May.

The last part of the awards section was promotions.  Three cadets were promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal, and one cadet was promoted to the senior rank of Master Warrant Officer.

The finished the parade by doing an Advance In Review Order and General Salute.  God Save The King was played.  I escorted the ED out of the gym.  The parade came to an end.

The cadets & I had a group photo taken.  The cadets were then dismissed to the reception table.  Reception lasted 30 minutes.  The cadets & I spent about 20 minutes cleaning up & putting everything away.  I held a quick debriefing with the cadets after cleanup to go over upcoming activities on the weekend.  The cadets were then dismissed for the night.

Fighting Evil – 3 Years Later

Well, here we are.  Three years later and the war against Evil continues with no end in sight.  The war in Ukraine could have ended already if NATO had thrown its entire might & weight against the orcs, but instead they decided to cave to fear and hand aid to Ukraine & its armed forces in piece meal.  Things were starting to turn around in Ukraine’s favour when it became clear the orc overlord’s threats of nuclear annihilation turned out to be exaggerated bluffs and his military is not as great as he thinks it is.  Unfortunately, it seems the tide has turned against Ukraine & the Free World again due to the recent change of leadership in the United States in late January.  This reminds me of the year 1917 when Germany successfully took Russia out of World War I by fostering a communist revolution with the help of Vladimir Lenin.  Now it’s Russia taking out the USA by putting in a convicted felon in the White House.

It appears Ukraine’s Kursk Campaign is entering its final stages.  The Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF), despite valiant efforts, have been forced to withdraw closer to the Ukrainian border due to overwhelming orc & North Korean forces.  An unfortunate turn of events, I’ll admit, but it’s not like they’re defending their own land.  One of the main reasons behind the incursion was to divert orc forces from other battlefields, thus taking the pressure off UAF forces in those areas.  I’m still surprised the incursion lasted this long.  I originally thought it would be a cross-border raid, but the UAF managed to hold on for 8 months!  The Kursk Campaign will most likely be seen as a costly failure for Ukraine, but I think the operation was necessary to raise morale, bleed the orcs of resources & manpower, and show the world that Ukraine is not out of the fight. 

Drone & missile attacks have increased on both sides.  Every day there’s a news story of drones & missiles striking deep into Ukraine & Russia.  Ukraine needs more weapons systems to protect its soldiers & civilians from these deadly threats.  It would also be a huge help for Ukraine to receive longer range cruise missiles, like Tomahawks, to strike weapons factories & military infrastructure deep in Russia.  If NATO won’t do it, let Ukraine do it.  NATO really needs to increase weapons & ammunition production.  Unless something drastic happens, it’s only a matter of time before NATO becomes directly involved in the conflict.

It’s still beyond belief there are countries that still support the orcs.  Iran, North Korea, Belarus, and even Hungary.  They’re puppet states, taking orders directly from the Kremlin.  Brainwashing is still effective, unfortunately.  It’s making itself well-known in the United States.

The returning US president and his cronies are clearly brainwashed & out of touch.  They genuinely think it’s better to negotiate with Evil now than to give Ukraine all it needs to defeat the orcs.  The fact they think letting Russia keep the occupied lands will lead to everlasting peace is beyond me.  Hitler is rolling in his grave wishing Trump was president when he was alive.  Freezing the battle lines will not end the war.  It’ll only give the orcs time to rebuild, rearm, and continue their conquest.  The Russian bear must be beaten back to the pre-2014 border lines. 

I originally wanted to publish this post earlier, but I decided to wait until after the highly anticipated meeting between Ukrainian President Zelensky & USA President Donald Trump at the White House on February 28.  Well, that meeting didn’t go well.  The only sane person in attendance was Zelensky.  He kept his cool & stuck to the facts.  He was correct in his assertion that if Russia isn’t stopped now, USA & NATO will regret it later.  Trump & Vance, on the other hand, behaved irrationally, criticizing Zelensky on everything, from not wearing a suit, to not being thankful for all the aid the USA has provided up until then.  They said more ridiculous things that I won’t bother mentioning here because it’s a waste of time.

You know Trump & Vance, when 9/11 happened, many countries helped the USA, and NOT ONCE did they demand a public thank you from America.  You two should be thankful for that help.

Trump can state he wants peace & avoid World War III all he wants, but that’s not the real reason.  He just wants a Nobel Peace Prize, an extra accolade he can boast on his resume.  He’s jealous of Barack Obama.  Stopping the war now will not stop the war.  It’ll only pause it until Pootin decides to go on the war path.  He has proven many times that he cannot be trusted and he will not stop until all of Ukraine is under occupation.  If he succeeds, he’ll target other countries that were part of the Soviet Union.  I’m looking at Latvia, Estonia, & Lithuania. 

Trump does not think militarily.  He’s a businessman and only thinks in business deals.  He doesn’t mind Russia keeping the occupied Ukrainian lands because he probably sees it as a hostile takeover and hostile takeovers are the norm in the business world.  The American people better hope Russia doesn’t invade USA while Trump is still president.  He’ll probably cut a deal with Pootin and let him keep the occupied American lands.  Hopefully Trump & his cronies will see the error of their ways fast and get back to supporting Ukraine’s fight for freedom. 

Getting back on track, it looks like Western Europe still supports Ukraine and is willing to continue providing military & financial aid.  Well, not completely, because they’re still hesitant to release all the frozen Russian money for Ukraine to use.  To quote Nike, “Just do it!”  Do it before it’s too late.  Also, keep providing much needed military training to the UAF.  They’re suffering a manpower shortage and new recruits need as much training as possible to feel confident and prepared to face the orcs.  Without it, there will be many more cases of desertion.    

Slava Ukraini!