Every now and again, when shooting an event photo, my least favorite sort of photographic assignment, I do something correctly and I have to say that this photo of the 2nd Field Regiment's new commanding officer LCol Richard Garon, is the one that for me, makes it worthwhile to have spent as much time as I have Saturday and Sunday covering the event. I think that I can speak on behalf of all 3BAM members congratulating him on his new command, and that we all look forward to continuing our support of the regiment now that he has been appointed it's commanding officer.
We wish all the best also the regiment's outgoing CO, LCol Parent, who's commanded the regiment these last five years. As mentioned last night by General Jeffrey, five years a long to to command a unit, and let's face it, it's a tough job. I'm afraid I never had the chance to get to know Colonel Parent since I only got involved with 3BAM last September and spent most of the last 22 years keeping away from the military regretting for most of it that I had ever left. Perhaps I can atone for this mistake by being around a little more in the future, which is likely given how active 3BAM is and the close connection between 3BAM and the 2nd Field Regiment.
Still, commanding a regiment is one of the best jobs in the army as a regiment is something with a life of its own. In our army, commanding the fierce individual loyalty it does from it's members, it's both a family and something akin to a tribe. No matter how long you've commanded it, turning over your command to someone else must be a difficult thing. It cannot possibly be easy.
To support the regiment during the ceremony, 3BAM fired four gunshots, one to honour the Colonel Commandant of Artillery, LGen (ret) Michael Jeffrey, and the other three as a salute to the LCol Parent as his former command offered him three cheers under it's new commander. Oh, and I almost forgot (not really ;o) that 3BAM's photographer was tasked to cover the event as the regiment's own in-house guy was unavailable. It was of course my honour to help out though I'm not trying to steal anyone's job. The other 3BAM members who participated today were CWO (ret) Aub
é, LCol's (ret) Borne and B
égin, Capt (ret) Noreau, Capt Ayoub, OCdt's Champagne and Ouellette, WO (ret) Lepage, and Bdr (ret) Rocheleau. 2Lt Bélec's Cadet Corps 2719 also had a detachment on the parade. Once again, apologies to anyone I've omitted or whose name I've misspelled or whose rank I've gotten wrong.
Though I won't veer off into politics I can't be a witness this sort of event without remarking on how very saddened and shocked I am by the very small size of the unit I saw on parade today. I'd been fairly warned sometime ago by Gilles that these days, parades were small and so this was no surprise, just another reminder how much things have changed in the more than two decades that I've been a civilian. I had more men just in my troop when I was Firing Troop TSM 22 years ago I'd be willing to bet there were more people at the mess dinner last night than on the parade square today. I can really only hope that this is a low point and that there are better days ahead for the regiment. Perhaps this is all the more reason for 3BAM to be as active as possible within the community, helping to preserve the traditions of the artillery and I hope raising awareness as to the general existence of our corps and maybe in the process, helping the regiment to gain some recruits.
I will close by saying that despite all the work it involved and the time it took up, it was a pleasure and an honour to participate in some small way in this weekend's change of command activities at the regiment. I had the opportunity to see and spend time with old colleagues and mess-mates, some of whom I haven't seen in many years. I know from the many thanks I received from General Jeffrey on down, from the comments I've received on photos and the many visits to the blog, that my presence and effort were appreciated right through the ranks. For being present, I have a better grasp of the challenges that lie ahead for the 2nd Field Regiment, and a better appreciation of how close the connection is between the regiment and 3BAM. I wish the best of luck to LCol Garon as he takes the reins and takes on the many challenges that a commanding officer faces, and I am confident that he will do an outstanding job. For now however, I have to put down this blog and look after Bogart, my attention-loving pet cat who's feeling much neglected after I've spent the last two weekends neglecting him and a myriad of housekeeping duties shooting photos around CDN Armoury or posting blog entries.
Ubique!
Gary Menten
Photographer
We wish all the best also the regiment's outgoing CO, LCol Parent, who's commanded the regiment these last five years. As mentioned last night by General Jeffrey, five years a long to to command a unit, and let's face it, it's a tough job. I'm afraid I never had the chance to get to know Colonel Parent since I only got involved with 3BAM last September and spent most of the last 22 years keeping away from the military regretting for most of it that I had ever left. Perhaps I can atone for this mistake by being around a little more in the future, which is likely given how active 3BAM is and the close connection between 3BAM and the 2nd Field Regiment.
