Note: to view additional photos, click the photo under Image Gallery.
By Steven Fouchard, Army Public Affairs
Oromocto, New Brunswick — Captain Matt Bernhardt has a good mental snapshot to illustrate the pace of life within his unit, 4 Artillery Regiment (General Support) Royal Canadian Artillery [4 Regt (GS)]: “Between July and December of last year, I was not home for more than about two weeks at a time. My last water bill was $15.”
4 Regt (GS) is one of two units based at 5th Canadian Division Support Base (5 CDSB) Gagetown in New Brunswick that provide unique capabilities which are in high demand right across the Canadian Army (CA).
Most CA units spend only a year at a time in a state of high readiness – which is to say, ready to deploy domestically or internationally at short notice – before entering a period of rest and then a new cycle of high-readiness training.
However, due to their one-of-a-kind capabilities and personnel shortages that are an issue CA-wide, 4 Regt (GS) and their compatriots in 4 Engineer Support Regiment (4 ESR) are so in demand that they find themselves at a high tempo all year round.
“Each one of our batteries goes through the cycle once a year,” Capt Bernhardt explained. “One of our batteries is at each stage of that high readiness cycle at any given time.”
Currently, he noted, 4 Regt (GS) members are providing personnel to the CA's enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) Battlegroup in Latvia. And, while most of the troops there…
Continue Reading This Article At The Canadian Armed Forces Website
