The latest group of soldiers from the Army Training Centre (Central) in Meaford is set to graduate Friday.
On Monday, as part of their qualification training they conducted a live-fire platoon attack.
It was a simulation of an attack with the goal of destroying an enemy insurgent location. It involved about 35 to 40 Canadian infantry soldiers advancing on foot down a range, firing live rounds from C7 service rifles, M203s connected to the bottom of the C7 rifle, as well as C6 and C9 machine guns.
Major Mitchell Price, Officer Commanding Bravo Company says, “It’s hard. It’s a lot of hard work. Focus on teamwork, building team cohesion but also putting them through the paces to make sure that they’re physically and mentally ready for when they go up to an infantry battalion because they could end up being deployed. With the way things are right now, they could be deployed in a few months from when they get to battalions so we want to make sure the quality of soldier that we send to them is ready for that task.”
Lieutenant Colonel Joe Tobin, Commanding Officer of the Army Training Centre in Meaford says, “There are 38 students about to graduate. They’re all out there.”
He says, Monday’s students are all graduates of the Canadian Army Soldier First Course, explaining, “They graduated at the end of November last year. They’re now graduating their trades training, so they’re now finishing up Rank Qualification, Infantry-Private. So it’s the first qualification in the infantry specifically for them. This is what they’re been training for the last three months to learn how to do,” says Tobin.
Tobin says, on Friday, there will be a graduation parade and the soldiers will be given their cap badges. Tobin says they’ll go on to either of two regiments; Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry or the Royal Canadian Regiment.
Soldiers come from all over the country to train in Meaford, says Tobin, “We’ve got folks from as far west as BC and as far east as Newfoundland,” adding one student is from Northwest Territories as well. “They really are coast, to coast, to coast. ”
Maj. Price says as far as the platoon attack exercise went, “They did great. For these candidates, this is not something normally done, it’s not actually part of their course to do a live-fire platoon attack, but it’s something we’ve added on because it’s incredibly valuable. It’s a little bit different when you’re using blank ammunition versus having to actually use live fire ammunition and the safety concerns that go along with that. Not just for training for a range, but when they’re out there in real life on operations, we need to be safe when we’re firing and manoeuvring so it’s great practice for them. To be able to get them through training like this, a live-fire platoon attack before they go to a regular force infantry battalion is great extra training that they can have on their belts for when they get there”
There were safety staff on site during the platoon attack as well, making sure none of the soldiers were at risk of getting into the line of fire.
Price says these soldiers could be deployed to places like Latvia or Poland and the UK. Latvia is Canada’s largest overseas deployment of about 2,000 Canadian Armed Forces members, leading the NATO Multinational Brigade, as part of Operation Reassurance to deter Russian aggression.
About 300 Canadian Armed Forces members are taking part in Operation Unifier in Poland, and 160 in Operation Unifier in the United Kingdom to train Ukrainian soldiers.
The Army Training Centre-Central in Meaford will see more soldiers come through it this summer from its usual 600 to about 1,000, following its recent transition from the 4th Canadian Division Training Centre to its current role and title, more focused on training as part of Army modernization. It may also see the addition of about 60 on-base housing units in the coming years to accommodate more soldiers and their families.
The Army Training Centre is also used by reserve regiments for training exercises which are also expected to increase in the summer.
Officer Commanding Charlie Company Major Marion points out how the exercise will take place, and where the simulated enemy territory is.