Bed Time on the Bus

GSD, (a.k.a. Mr. No Web Presence), catching up on his beauty sleep on the way to Pet.

pizza in pet

This was at our ‘smoker’ in Petawawa during area concentration in the summer of 05. We ate, relaxed, than working into the late night. Not the best way to end off a fun exercise.

pizza in the mess

vegi of course

Next Generation

A picture of my nephew and I on Halloween many years ago. I’d like to draw your attention to a few things:

a) the old style helmet I wore when I first joined
b) the shinny plastic cover on my moms couch, (kinda hard to make out)
c) the not yet full grown beard on my youthful face
d) my nerdy glasses
e) the eye of the tiger my nephew was showing off

I love Halloween.

DSB

A hard day in the field

Working hard or hardly working? A very good tasking.

TOP SECRET

Mums the word.

DSB

23 Singhs

RSR

Now we have all/both of the pics with
just the three of us…more to follow...

rise and shine

RSR

one of my troops trying to
give me an early 'wake up call'

a little piece of history...

RSR

The Honorary Colonel (the boy on the right) from 25 Med Company gave me this pic a few years ago. It was taken in 1942 & it shows some Singhs from a Sikh regiment serving for the British during their WWII African campaign.

wannabe machine gunner

RSR
This was the first time I used a C6.
It has a good deal of kick which makes it more interesting.
Unfortunately I was just spending ammo here.

Ruck For the Cure 2005

Beat`n down cancer.

Dress Uniform

This is me looking very dashing in my dress uniform, (and yes I was contemplating something very deep and thought provoking). This was taken about 4 years ago. I have since gained a great deal more hair and weight.


DSB

The 3 of use in our dress uniforms; I think this was at a mess dinner. The guy with a bar does not want a web presence.









RSR and I stepping out on a cold Remembrance Day parade

LSVW AMB

This is where we, (the medics anyway), often spend a great deal of time working out of. I'll call your attention to the great Cam job.

NS MLVW

Friday Night, Rain, Owen Sound, Broken MLVW.
The start of a great weekend.

GAS GAS GAS

In certain circumstances glasses can cause grief.

No Meat for You

RSR: Being a vegetarian in the army has been a very small inconvenience as the army is quite accommodating. To day the highest rank to ever had deliver me a vegetarian meal is a Major. (Some may dispute this and say it was L. Colonel but they are just exaggerating). Oh, and the new vegetarian instant meals are quite good.

DSB: Getting a Veggie meal is not guaranteed. I often bring additional food, (granola bars, powdered soup, nuts, and seeds) to supplement my rations in the field.

Turbans Vs. Helmet??

Helmets are tough issue to deal with; to someone in the west is might seem pretty clear cut.

Sikhs have a long history of soldiering. They have fought through India, Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Pacific. As far as I know they never wore helmets.

I’m not versed enough on Sikh theology to really go out on a limb and state a consensus view here. I can state that in my conversations I have come across people who are vehemently against it and people who don’t think it’s a major issue. I often get the line “God decides when you die, wearing a helmet will not change your destiny”, (I paraphrased that by the way).

In India there are 1000s of Sikh soldiers who are regularly in operational conditions. They do not wear helmets. In fact Sikhs do not wear helmets in any job in India; not for motorcycles, not on construction sites etc…

I personally don’t like wearing a helmet…they are not the most comfortable things to put on. I do however wear one. I tie a dastar, (a touch smaller than I normally would), and place the helmet over top.

The other Sikhs I’ve come across in the CF wear helmets over their Turbans or Patkas. No helmet = no CF service.

DSB


Pulling and patching while eating cantaloupe, a great day.

















Usually I tie a small dastar and wear a helmet on top. If I’m doing a lot of activity I’ll tie a patka.




This picture was taken during a break in my JNCO. It was hot; you can see how the sweat has ruined my cam.














In this one you can see my smaller dastar… a ‘goal pug’. That’s what I usually wear in the field.

RSR

DSB: A little too pretty here....


RSR: It all started at the back of a first year physics class where D told me about the army and his experiences with it. Prior to that I honestly didn’t even know Canada had an army. That day, I just saw the ’Canadian Forces’ shirt D was wearing (he will deny ever owning such a shirt) and after 50min I was totally convinced. Then, two days later I was at a recruiting centre ready to save the world from commies or terrorists or international drug cartels or something. Seriously though, what better (or more adventurous) way for an undergrad student interested in medicine to earn some coin than being a medic in the reserves.

I didn’t really think I would stick around for more than a year but now, almost eight years later, the friends and unique employment opportunities have managed to keep me around. Overall, my experience with the army has been overwhelmingly positive I have met a lot of interesting people and almost all of them have shown an earnest interest in the turban and Sikhism. Further to that, I have yet to experience institutionalized discrimination, or prejudice beliefs shown by any of my superiors in the army.

Outside of the army I am a third year medical student at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine.

DSB: RSR is looking for a woman to complete him. If you are, (or know a gal who might be), the one who can be the wind beneath his wings get in touch.

GSD(C?)

This member does not want a web presence, hence the blue bar.

I am filling in his Bio and I'm sure he won't be terribly pleased by it.

I like to think of G as the snack machine. This guy always has something to eat in his pockets. I guess you need that extra engery when you're as active as he is.

He has taken full advatnage of what the army has to offer. He is a regular on CACs, Southern Drives and other joint operations. A proffessional who had opportunity to apply some of his medical skills in Banda Ache after the Tsunami.

He definitely has the travel bug. He is looking to get married, so if you know of anyone who might interested feel free to get in touch.

G feel free to add/delete/or make any changes you wish.

DSB

DSB

DSB

I joined the Army Reserve in 1996, and I work as a Med Tech. Initially I wanted to work in another trade but couldn’t due to my vision; what a stroke of luck that was. I love my job and I love my unit.

Currently there are three Sikhs in my unit and we have had next to no problems in the CF. I have not come across any blatant discrimination or harassment. In fact what I have come across is positive curiosity, understanding, and acceptance. The CF is a professional institution and in the end it all comes down to level of competence and your professionalism.

When I am not working with my FD AMB I work as an educator.