Changing of the Guard

Big Norm Stands Down

I'll start of by admitting that it's been months since I've posted anything new on this blog if only because I've been sort of lazy about writing posts all fall and winter. I should definitely have posted in December when CWO Normand Roberge finally took his retirement from the military after some four decades of service. A retirement with honour ceremony was held for him at 30th Fd in Ottawa, which was attended by a delegation from 3BAM including our Sunray, CWO Gilles Aube, MWO Tom Savoie, WO Gilles Pelletier and of course, yours truly. It was a good thing I brought a camera in fact, since there was supposed to be a DND photographer, but this guy was a no-show.  The photographer was once again...yours truly.

Big Norm fires his final shot.

The MC for the event was 30th Fd's current RSM, Laurent Guyon, recently promoted to the rank that accompanies his position after having held it for some years. Does that sound familiar, Joao Barros? Anyway, pretty much everyone who knows Normand (Big Norm) Roberge has an interesting Norm Roberge story or two to tell. He's not a guy who's easily forgotten. Fittingly enough, my own starts an introduction to the term "grapeshot" at the gentle hands of then Sergeant Norm Roberge, who on my first exercise at Gagetown kept yelling the term at me while I was in charge of ammunition on my gun one day. I had not been properly schooled to understand to understand that it was an order to report our ammo state and had nothing to do whatsoever with the traditional sense of the term. Confused by all this and Big Norm's increasingly irritated tone of voice, I turned to my Number One who explained it to me all while Sergeant Roberge was yelling at him to get a grip his Number Seven.

As befits anyone with four decades of service, there were a lot of awards and souvenirs and letters of commendation and congratulations.

Speaking of stories, 3BAM almost didn't get there. The fact that we found the location at all was entirely due to my navigation with the aide of my iPhone and Google maps which I finally decided to use in earnest after we'd floundered around for a while in the wrong part of town. I shouldn't be too smug though as I later got myself accidentally locked out of the armoury when going to the cloakroom to get something in my coat. I tried calling on Sunray for help using my phone but do my despair, he'd left his own phone in his minivan and I had to walk around the armoury to and pound on the mess window to get them to let me back in through another door. It's a good thing it's a prefab structure with only one floor: if like with most armouries, the mess was up on a second floor I would have been locked out for a lot longer.

Anyway, my little mishap notwithstanding, it was a fun event and as is almost always the case with such events, I saw someone I have not seen in many years, in this case John Fortin, now a warrant officer in the regular force and and AIG at Gagetown. Stand Down Big Norm. Job well done!


2RCA Has a New CO

Lcol Garon prepares to walk out on the parade square at CDN for the last time

Nearly two years ago when Joao Barros was finally promoted to Chief Warrant Officer as befits the position he had held for some years, I predicted that Sylvie Pelletier would be the next CO and that Joao would still be there to be her RSM.  Last May 23rd, I was proven correct. I can't really say all that much about Colonel Pelletier as she was just beginning her career as I was in my last year in the regiment. Interestingly she joined the first year that we were admitting women into the combat arms,and I was the course warrant the for the first course in which we trained women to be gunners, though having already been made an officer cadet by the time we ran the course, she wasn't on it. Out battery commander in 7th Battery at the time was then Major David
Patterson, now a Brigadier-General, the tallest guy in the picture. Standing next to him the rear row of the photo is then Colonel (ret) Michel Pronkin who commanded the regiment at the time and gave our course a lot of support when we needed it. Next to him in the rear row is L/Col Joe Lewis, then the DCO and next to Lieutenant-Colonel Pelletier stands RSM Joao Barros, then a bombardier with already 16 years of service at the time, and now the longest serving member of the unit.

Lcol Pelletier, having assumes command of the parade.

We congratulate Colonel Pelletier on her promotion, and I think all of us feel she'll be kick-ass CO. I think we all want to thank outgoing CO Richard Garon for his incredible dedication in assuming command for the last two years of a unit that's easily four hours driving time from his home in Lévis, Qc. we congratulate him on his recent promotion to full colonel and wish him all the best of luck in his new headquarters post.

3BAM was present of course to fire  a salute to the Colonel Commandant of Artillery, retired Brigadier General J.J. Selbie and to fire a salute to the outgoing CO, Colonel Richard Garon.  We were joined on the occasion by two retired 6RAC members CWO (ret) Paulin Roland and Sgt (ret) Simon Morissette who'd we'd run into last year at Lévis-Lauzon.



Once again, it was the regiment's honourary colonel, Charles de Kovachich who put all the money out of his own pocket to make certain that I was on hand to capture the moment. There were three other photographers present, including one from the DND, but I'll be damned if we've seen more than one or two of the photos. Rather than talk on and on about it however, I simply dedicate the rest of this entry to posting photos with a few words about what's in them.

 

Col (H) Charles de Kovachich recites regimental history to invited guests before the parade. 

Col (H) De Kovachich is presented an award for his outstanding work by the Colonel Commandant, Bgen (ret) J.J. Selbie.

Outgoing CO Lcol Richard Garon receives a presentation from RSM Barros

Bgen (ret) Selbie addresses the guests before the mess dinner. 

Left to right: Lcol (ret) Bill Cloutier, Lcol (ret) Joe Lewis, Lcol Michel Bourque, Lcol (ret) Jim Brazill, Lcol Sylvie Pelletier, Col Bill Kalogerakis.

Ubique!


Gary Menten
Photographer