The pre-deployment

Throughout the fall, I complete my work-up training for overseas, ensuring that as an alternate, I can replace either of the two sergeants at a moment's notice. Although one may consider the training "old hat," having been to Afghanistan twice already, the information is always changing with up-to-date info, fresh from overseas or pulled from the Army Lessons Learned.

Most of the training is done at the Peace Support Training Centre in Kingston, Ont., where SME's (Subject Matter Experts) from across the Canadian Forces are brought as instructors for their areas of expertise, and apply the lessons learned to a myriad of continuous deployments, such as Afghanistan, Sudan and Lebanon, to name a few.

Some of the instructors are engineers I had served with at 2 CER (2 Combat Engineer Regiment), and on Roto 4 to Afghanistan, and we talk about Petawawa and 2 CER during the break.

One thing about the military is that once you have shared an experience with a fellow soldier, whether being posted to the same unit, attending a military course, or exercise, or an overseas deployment, you have something in common for the rest of your career. A bond that almost always starts with; "Hey you remember that time…" or "Whatever happened to…?"

Having known some of the soldiers killed and wounded in Afghanistan over the past two years, we pass on what we each know about the wounded and how they are coping, and comment on the loss of our brothers in arms. It's sadly something that will likely happen each time we meet for years to come.

Part of our confirmation training is firing on the range, and having recently been qualified as a range safety officer, Sgt. Dave Hitt and myself are tasked to organize and carry out PWT 1 and 2 (Personal Weapons Test). Essentially it is testing the ability to engage various targets, under simulated conditions, in a variety of firing positions from 25 to 200 metres.

We alternate running relays of 20 shooters through, and manage to get our timing eventually trimmed down to one hour and five minutes, start to finish, while strictly enforcing stringent safety standards.

I must admit, having been on many ranges throughout my 16 years in the army, I now know it is just as much an accomplishment to run 90-plus soldiers successfully through the ranges, as it is to individually qualify (at least for myself).

In November, Fox Troop soldiers begin to depart for Afghanistan, and slowly the soldiers I have worked with for the past year all head off on tour. I gather each time with the small crowd of fellow soldiers and family members, shaking each of their hands, telling them to be careful and have a good mission.

It's kind of odd this time to actually be saying that, rather than hearing it, but having talked with the operations warrant and sergeant major, I know my time will be coming again all too soon.

Moving the family off base

If army life wasn't hectic enough on the family, Nathalie and I prepare for our upcoming move off the base at the end of November. There were a number of reasons that we decided to finally move off base, ranging from being closer to Nathalie's work to allowing the kids to live in a non-military environment. Not that living in one is a bad thing, but it's all we have known for our entire lives, so it's a pretty big step for us.

This will be one of our very first moves on our own, and although it is only downtown Kingston, we slowly realize how hectic preparing for a move can be. We spend almost every night in November packing a few boxes at a time, or shuttling small items that we won't need down to our new house.

Although we weren't planning on having the kids change schools, as I have to be back on the base every morning, I am told by Lt. Thompson, my new troop commander, that I will be heading down to Texas from mid-January to mid-March with 2 Brigade (from Petawawa) to do confirmation training for their rotation to Afghanistan in September. It will also double as our confirmation training for deploying in May.

After some looking around at the neighbourhood schools, we settle on St. Thomas More Catholic School, and enrol the boys for Jan. 7, right after the holidays. We didn't really want to have to switch them, but with the Texas deployment so close to my overseas deployment, we think it will be best for them.

We know they shouldn't have any problems settling in or making friends, as that is something that military families tend to be quite experienced at, over time.

Making time for the kids

Nathalie talks to her boss, and manages to get her hours cut down at LA Weight Loss (where she now works) just to make sure we aren't spending all our money on babysitting while I am gone. The other big part is simply being a parent to our kids. With one parent gone, it isn't really fair to our children to have a family friend looking after them, when it should be one of us.

We do realize that once I get back from Texas, I won't really have a lot of time left before I take off for Afghanistan. So we are already making plans to have a holiday before I leave this time — I guess sort of a makeup holiday, since I won't be around for the summer. We haven't really decided on a spot yet, just somewhere warm in the south.

The kids are already excited about a trip, and maybe that has helped with handling me leaving, or maybe they know there is no danger in Texas.

Or quite possibly me leaving has become all too routine for them.