Fleet Air Arm Association of Australia

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Date: 29 July 2004
Name: Alan Thomson
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I served 12 years RAN from 1974 to 1986, was a LS MET on ships Vampire, Jervis Bay then commcrew for both Tobruk and Canberra. It's amazing how old you suddenly feel when you find out they are decommissioning a ship you commissioned.

Anyway, met my wife Cindy while stationed at Long Beach and Seattle for 2 years. The other guys married American girls and I was the only one that married a Canadian.

Took her back to Aust and stayed with RAN till '86 then joined Aust Public Service. I was a meteorological observer/navigators yeoman and radar operator.

Moved to Canada 1990 where I was working in the Canadian Public Service at Toronto control tower in the met capacity.

Finally decided for some adventure again, so decided to join the Canadian Forces (must be mid-life crisis). The pension time from Aust. carries over because of Commonwealth. Had to become a Canadian citizen, so that's why I did not do it until last year when Australia changed its rules on dual citizenship). Because I had been out so long, had to re-do boot camp, which was not easy at 46.

Boot camp report (July 24, 2004)

Well here we are, 10 weeks later having survived the Canadian Armed Forces boot camp. It was bloody tough, especially at 46 yo but a few of us oldies really gave the younger ones a go.

Average age was 27, lots of 18-22 yo and 5 above 30. Anyway, I'm super fit and few muscles from many a push-up. The worst part was not having a beer for the first 4 weeks.

Here in Canada, everybody Army, Navy, Air Force and all officers go through the same boot camp which basically is an army boot camp. The base is St Jean near Montreal in French Quebec. Most of the instructors are French so it's hard to understand their English.

The base puts through around 6,000 people a year as well as junior and senior leadership courses of 2 weeks which is the same as higher rates courses for advancement. Usually 2 platoons of around 50 each and every week.

By the end of the course, it's around 35-40 because of the voluntary drop-outs, failure and injuries. Many get re-coursed to future weeks, especially medical and failure of courses.

Weapons handling and safety was one course of 26 forty minute lessons, then the practical exam. You basically had to get 100% on that one. Can now even strip a rifle in the dark.

Canada uses the C7 rifle, an advanced Canadian version of the M16.

I had to do boot camp over again as I had been out over 10 years. I was not alone, met quite a few other guys and girls, many with a rack of medals who were changing to officer and they have to go back as well and do the same boot camp.

One guy was a sergeant and had just got back from Bosnia. He still gets sgt pay but reverts back to officer cadet the same as kids joining.

Our platoon was on the 9th floor - NO USING ELEVATORS - so if you can imagine 200 steps to get to your floor at least 3 times a day. If you smoke, try many more times a day as you have to smoke in one area break room on the ground floor. This was one way of building your strength up.

We had lots of PT including 0530 runs. The PT sessions included jumping 6ft walls, rope climbing up 20ft ropes and preparation for the obstacle course.

Food was excellent compared to the old days in the RAN. Each meal was so many choices of a hot meal and huge salad bar - variety of drinks, fruit juices, hot choc and choc milk as well as at least 7 different deserts.

Eat as much as you like but it's amazing how much you did eat because of the amount of calories you were burning up. Everybody lost weight, one guy in particular 40 pounds and he was only 5'6".

Drill was my downfall, as I would always revert back to the RAN where Canadian Forces drill is more like the Aust Army.

Your day starts at 0500, breakfast at 0545, full locker/dress/bed/rifle/inspection at 0715, then 0800-1700 various lessons/drill/PT/etc. 1700 dinner, 1800 study/clean/polish boots/wash and iron/clean rifle (your rifle is never clean enough) etc to 2300.

No napping allowed, so by 2300 each day you were dead. Then 0500 it starts again.

Week 8 you head for the bush for 2 weeks to put into practice what you have been learning. Was rough, but interesting.

We did topography ,trekking km all day to various checkpoints through thick bush using compass and map, then that night we did it again. That was different and challenging, with no flashlight except to recharge the lumiessence on the compass. So you trekked through bush, swamps etc.

Other days we did rappelling which was pretty cool from 60ft and the static helicopter rapell from the same height. Also did river crossings on a zip line/maritime crossing/flying fox, whatever you want to call it.

Mock battles, lots of lack of sleep with simulated mortars going off at 0200 in the morning with gas attacks at 0400. Lots of mozzies too.

Also spent a day at the range using the C7 rifle (less kick than 7.62SLR). C7 is 5.56mm 30 round mag. Pretty neat on full auto. Just missed out on top shot.

We were firing from 100 metres and right beside you we had a TV monitor which would show your shots on target. These days it's not hitting the bullseye but getting groups of 5 groupings next to the bulleye. Very impressive. This is all done in various positions - prone, kneeling, standing etc.

The last day of your bush training was the ultimate test. A 13km forced march with full webbing, rifle and rucksack with 3 litres of water - time 2 hours 15 minutes.

A truck would follow 100yds behind with an ambulance some distance behind that. By 10km I was really hurting, but it's amazing how we kept going. We had about 9 drop out (they dont fail) due to exhaustion, mainly women, but they dont get any breaks at all. They have to carry the same as the men, so I give my hat off to them.

At the end of the march we had 10 minute break then had to do the 18 part obstacle course, under barb wire , 6 and 12ft walls, tarzan ropes/tunnels/monkey bars/logs over water etc, still with rifle and webbing, no rucksack.

After that the medical staff had foot inspection for blisters which were large and numerous.

We then returned to base exhausted, dirty with camoflage paint on and still had to climb 200 stairs with kit to have a nice shower. Some people just collapsed on their beds.

Most of us showered , put on heaps of tiger balm for the aches and pains and headed for the base bar for many well-deserved cold ones.

A few days later we graduated, instead of the Army greens you have been wearing for the past 10 weeks we are now wearing your element uniform (Army Navy, Air Force).

Aerospace Controller posting

Cindy and Michael came up for graduation, then we drove 6 hours to my first posting at Canadian Forces Base North Bay. I am with the Air Force as a Aerospace Controller.

During the next 6 months, I am on courses between here and the civilian air traffic control school in Cornwall. My job is working 600ft underground monitoring and controlling North American airspace as part of NORAD( North American Aerospace Defence Command).

From our facility alone, we monitor 200,000 flights a year arriving Canadian airspace and have 2 minutes to identify them before we dispatch CDN F18s or American F16s and F15s from their US bases.

We are directly linked with NORAD Command Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado which all of you have at least seen in the movies. The difference is they built that one in the side of a mountain where ours is 600ft underground and access is by a bus which drives down a steep grade for around 7 minutes.

The tunnel is impressive but once in the complex it's just like the same of any building. From here we have satelite links to coastal radars and AWACS. In conjunction with US drug law enforcement agency, we also monitor small aircraft suspected of running drugs (planes with no flight plans trying to avoid radar detection).

Will be here for a while, then can accept postings to various US postings like Cheyenne Mountain etc as well as many postings to the US AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System - Boeing 707 aircraft with the huge radar domes) or other postings to the NATO AWACS in Germany. Hence we are all aircrew, our daily workdress is flying suits.

So that's what I have been up to lately. Comming home to Niagara Falls on weekends, at present 5 hours drive. Cindy and Michael will be moving to North Bay around Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, if you have or know young kids who are waiting for Santa, we at NORAD North Bay do a up-to-the-minute track of his whereabouts on Christmas eve and this year you may even hear me (being the only Aussie).

Will send you the internet link later but it's a big deal in North America as radio stations cross to NORAD to see where Santa is (they intercept him with F18s first to identify) and the kids go crazy.

Anyway that's it, regards, Alan Thomson ("Thommo", or as Canadians or Americans say, Thooomo - they just can't seem to get it right).

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