Freedom of the City for HMCS DISCOVERY

In recognition of the 100^th Anniversary of the Canadian Navy, Freedom of the City will be conferred upon HMCS DISCOVERY.  We have been invited by both the Mayor of New Westminster, Mayor Wayne Wright, and the Commanding Officer of HMCS DISCOVERY, LCdr Elaine Fisher, to join their parade on Sunday, October 3^rd.

What a very exciting opportunity for us all.  This honour is rarely given and since the city was built in 1859 only four people and one group has been granted this privilege, the last time was in 1963.

This honour indicates the trust and respect that they City has for HMCS DISCOVERY and the Canadian Navy and gives HMCS DISCOVERY the right to march through the City with flags flying, bayonets fixed and band playing.

RCSCC FRASER Ship’s Company will muster in C1’s with medals, in front of the Armouries on Sunday, October 3^rd at 12:30 and will march on at 12:50.

The ceremony should take approximately 1 hour and include an inspection and a march past.

Parents are highly encouraged to stay and witness the ceremony as it takes place in front of City Hall.  It is a rare occurrence and photos would be greatly appreciated.

The Canadian Forces site for the Naval Centennial can be found here.

ORCA PCT and TALL LEAF DEPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

There are Cadet Seamanship Deployments taking place in British Columbia!!
The aim of these deployments is to provide a modern and relevant ship-borne experience for cadets to hone their skills at the corps. Trainees and staff will be split up in five distinct training serials onboard three PCT ORCAs and the Tall ship Maple Leaf, as follows:

 ORCA : from 20 to 26 Feb 11 (not including travel dates);
 ORCA : from 13 to 19 March 11 (not including travel dates);
 Maple Leaf : from 23 to 27 March 11 (not including travel dates).

MEDICAL RESTRICTIONS
Due to the conditions in which this training takes place, individuals with certain medical restrictions will not be allowed to take part in this exercise.
Trainees, staff cadets and officers deployed aboard ORCAs and the tall ship must be free of any ailment, condition (physical or psychological) or injury:
a. which requires them to be within 4 hours from a medical facility;
b. which may require the injection from an epi-pen for allergies in particular for bee or wasp ; and
c. which is incompatible with life aboard a vessel for 5 consecutive days away at sea (cramped quarters, confined spaces, standing watches, irregular meal hours, etc.).
Anyone selected and taking medication must be reminded to bring enough supplies to last for the duration. DND will not provide.

TRAINEES (not including staff cadets)
Eligibility Criteria. In order to be eligible, trainees shall be undergoing minimum of Phase 3 training.

Application
Applications are to arrive at the AdminO’s desk/email NO LATER THAN THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30.  Email the Telegraph for an application!!! 
STAFF (including staff cadets)
Staff cadet and officer positions will be filled based on required qualifications and on number of cadets from RCSUs on the different ships.
Selection Policy - Staff Cadets. When filling staff cadet positions, preference will be given to those cadets who’ve completed at least one summer as a staff cadet at a CSTC.
Qualification. Staff cadets selected for this activity are not entitled to be paid or eligible for the CSTC staff cadet badge.

Welcome Home

I would like to start by welcoming you all back from the summer.  I look forward to watching you put into action, all the new skills you learned.  We had some great feedback from you over the past year and as a result, we have a great year ahead of us with some new activities and training weekends planned.  Also, I must pass on the compliments I have received.  There were so many impressed visitors from our ACR in June.  You should all be very proud of yourselves and the fantastic showing you made to your friends, family and community.

For those of you who joined us from RCSCC MARINER last spring and have decided to stay, welcome home.  Those of you who returned to your corps, I thank you for all your work and wish you all the best in your cadet career.  I was very impressed with your deportment and it was a pleasure to have you join us for our Annual Ceremonial Review and my Change of Command Ceremony. 

I hope you all take a minute to introduce yourself to our newest staff member and welcome her to FRASER.  SLt Sarra Lyford is a former Air Officer and comes to us with a wealth of experience in the cadet programme. 

I look forward to my first year of Command at FRASER.  Looking back on my journey through Cadets, I never would have imagined when I joined a small Sea Cadet corps in Edmonton, Alberta so many years ago that I would one day command my own corps.  There are so many great opportunities for you with this program, you never know where they can take you.  Mr. Rainbow has submitted an article on his experience a little farther down the page.  I hope you take advantage of everything offered to you!

 Welcome home FRASER!  Je Suis Prest!

Lt(N) Megan St. Hilaire

Commanding Officer

Fireside Chat

As the summer ends, we look forward to welcoming you and the ship’s company of Fraser back for another training year.  Your involvement in our program demonstrates your commitment to improve your skills in leadership, citizenship and physical fitness.
We are excited to provide opportunities to you to develop these skills and age out of the corps as a well-rounded member of our community.

International exchanges, deployments, on water training and a fantastic training facility are a few of the benefits provided to you at no cost.  In return, we expect that you will attend parades regularly, maintain all uniforms entrusted to you and participate in fundraising activities.
By being an engaged member of the corps, you will receive the maximum return for your efforts.
The beginning of training marks my 11^th year of involvement with the Sea Cadet program.  There is a lot that being active with Fraser has done for me over the years.  I hope that you find the same value in being with us.  I am excited to serve with you as Executive Officer as well as Training officer and look forward to a successful year of instruction.

'Je Suis Prest'

Lt(N) Bryan Watson
Executive Officer

One Man's Discovery

On Canada’s West Coast, north of Cape Scott on Vancouver Island and south of the Alaskan border lies a vast wilderness; my favourite place in the world.  The distance between these two points is only 400 kilometres, but inside is contained a place of vast natural beauty where one can lose themselves and find themselves.  When I am there, I lose myself inside the waves and among the trees.  I never want to leave.  Each step through the moss and sway of the boat is an adventure.  At the same time, this place acts as a prism; each water drop focuses my mind on what is important in my life.

This place, where terra firma meets the sea and sky, is a land of wonder, myth, timelessness and adventure; a place where the Raven reigns.  This pneumatic, terrestrial and aquatic wilderness is riddled with rocks, islands, glacial river valleys, inlets and fiords.  An Etch A Sketch® of geographic proportions, which if stretched out in a straight coast-line, would measure 16,000 kilometres!  Every single one of those kilometres bristles with gem-like islands; crystalline lakes and tide pools; waterfalls as elegant and delicate as a wedding veil or as powerful as a thundering deluge; and towering, monolithic trees.  Hundreds of these features are yet to be named, some are still uncharted, but all of them are teeming with life.  Sea lions, porpoises, whales, seals, wolves, black bears, Kermode bears, grizzly bears, sea birds, otters, bald eagles, ravens and the life giving salmon all call this place home.  The biological productivity of this emerald and sapphire wilderness is unmatched anywhere on Earth.  It has a biomass of 500 tons per acre; 40 percent greater than the tropical rainforest.

There is a beauty in this landscape that I have yet to see equalled anywhere in the world.  I recall the first time a came here.  It was aboard the Sail Training Vessel Maple Leaf, on a 2 week cadet Tall Ship Deployment.    As a young Petty Officer 2^nd Class, my eyes were about as wide as moon snails with the wonder and newness of the experiences.  We learned navigation, traditional sailing, watched wildlife, soaked in hot springs, explored old growth forests, ate fresh seafood and sang sea shanties.  This two week experience with my fellow cadets was like none I had ever had before.  I decided then and there that I wanted to come back.

And here I am, years later, working for a company that pays me to explore this beautiful place.  For eight months of the year I explore this wild BC coastline on a 70’ sailing yacht; everyday experiencing something new.  That is what keeps me coming back.  Some days it rains a lot, on other days I might have to have a serious argument with a piece of boat machinery, but all I have to do is look outside the porthole and I am reminded of why I love my job and being in this place.

I encourage you to use the cadet program to its fullest as I have.  Experience what this program and country has to offer, and who knows?  Maybe you will find a rewarding job and beautiful landscape.  I know I have.    There is an adventure in those trees and between the waves.  The raven is calling you to go find it.

   

Written by B. Rainbow / Photos by D. Rainbow

XO's Uniform Tips

It's Thursday night and you are down at FRASER with your friends having dsome fun learning some sort of cadet related goodness.  Then, out of nowhere, it's 21:00, the band is playing God Save the Queen and you are out the door on your way home!  (Ok, it is more like 21:20 and you are in the duty division, but someone has to keep our home clean!)

You walk in the front door of your house; you take your boots off, maybe throw them over by the other shoes or perhaps you toss them into the closet.  Off with the tunic!  Struggle to get out of that gunshirt that doesn't fit!  (Which reminds you that you forgot to fill out that request form that you will turn into your DPO who gives it to your DivO who gives it to the Supply Officers (yes, this is a shameless plug for the Chain of Command) so that our wonderful Supply Officers, ASLt Englouen & Lt(N) Parent can order you a new one!  Now that you've got your uniform off, you crumple it into a ball and give it a little toss.  It lands somewhere behind your bed forgotten until next Thursday... Sound somewhat familiar??? (Here's hoping that it doesn't!!)

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to my most favorite piece of kit ever!  It's... The Coat hanger!!  That's right!  All you have to do to save yourself a lot of time doing uniform preparation each week is to Hang your uniform up at the end of the day!  It really is that simple! 

Next Thursday, simply remove your uniform from your coat hangar; zap the iron quickly over a few spots, and Voila!  You too can be getting the award for Best Dressed Cadet!  Let‘s not forget about those boots either!  Once you get them to that gorgeous shine the first time, a quick touch up coat on a Thursday night is all you need to fix those fly away hairs in the mirror like finish on your toes!  Uniform maintenance really is that easy once you get it started on a regular basis.  15 minutes each week is all it takes to have the other cadets in envy of your amazing uniform!

Written by Lt(N) B. Watson

Pacific Region Cadets Sweep National Regatta

RCSCC FRASER is proud to welcome home CPO2 Kevin Bowen and PO1 Cory Bernard from the National Sea Cadet Regatta held in Kingston, Ontario.  CPO2 Bowen and his sailing partner CPO2 Dana Tomlinson were awarded the Bronze Medal while
PO1 Bernard and PO2 Gleb Moiseyenko took fifth place.  Pacific Region cadets swept the podium at the four day regatta that sees teams from across the country compete for the title of Canada's top Cadet sailors.  CPO2 Bowen has this to say about his experience:

What was it like sailing at the National Regatta?
Although, I went last year. It still seemed surreal to me that I was racing against some of the best cadet sailors in the country. Practicing on the ocean for my whole cadet career and being put into a whole new environment was a challenge all on it's own. Before Nationals I had barely touched a Pirate before, or sailed on a Lake.  So although the whole regatta was about testing cadets' ability to sail.  Most of us still came out of the regatta having learned something.  The competition this year was definitely fierce.  All the other regions definitely gave us a run for the top, even by the last race I didn't feel like we had secured any kind of position.  It was a mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting week and having been able to demonstrate really well, gives Dana (my partner)I such an amazing feeling of accomplishment.

What was the best part of the competition?
I think the best part was the team we had this year.  After finishing every race we would always congratulate each other on how well we did.  We always looked out for each other during the races.  We had such a good group dynamic.  On and Off the water, Pac Region team is where it was at!  I think having such a strong group dynamic helped us mentally with our racing.  We all knew we had a group of people on this course that we could rely on, so we performed better by having a positive outlook on any race we were going in to.  Having a positive attitude for each race and a strong will to win helped each of us reach the Top 5.

What else did you do while you were there?
In the evenings every team would have an event planned out for them.  For the first night there the Eastern Team organized a type of "Opening Ceremony" to have every team introduce themselves.  After that most of the other events were just by team.  We got to go Go-Karting, which was definitely the most fun evening activity by far and we went Mini-Golfing as well.  One night we also had the opportunity to watch the Sunset Ceremony at Fort Henry.  Wow!  Was it ever a spectacular show!  Otherwise the rest of our time was devoted to making as many inside jokes as possible and having a great time!

Congratulations from the Officers and Cadets of RCSCC Fraser!