Quag said:
Ugggh....hate to inform you but seeing as to how you are in the CF you ARE a "soldier first".
Every trade in the CF supports the most basic unit of the military, the infantry. That is indiscriminate whether you are an Air type, Sailor or cook.
Sorry, but
gcclarke is correct. You are trying to take in
internal, army, maxim and apply it
externally, where it should not and, in my
opinion cannot be applied.
"Soldier first/tradesman second" is a good rule,
inside the army. Inside the navy - which conducts operations quite
independent of anything the army does, requiring no army support - they are, generally, "sailors first," of necessity.
Going a bit farther, if I may, we often toss "soldier first" about with thinking that many of our tradesmen
must be "tradesman first" - even when they are in danger - because that's what you
need from then when your vehicle or weapon is broken down, when you are short of supplies and when you need to be evacuated.
We are all members of
many teams, beginning with the CF and extending down through service, regiment, corps or branch to ship, battalion or squadron and to (sometimes specialist,
technical) sub-unit and team. Sailors, soldiers and air force members all do their jobs - sometimes "alone" in their unique
environments, sometimes as part of joint and combined task forces. Sailors are "warriors" but they are not and need not be soldiers.
A little history, if I may: in 1939 and '40 and '41, while the Canadian Army was being trained and equipped - because it was in no respect
ready for battle, the Canadian Navy - equally unprepared - put to sea, into
battle, because there was a
decisive battle being waged, more important than the invasion of Italy, more important, indeed, that Normandy, and the Navy could not wait, it was denied the
luxury of proper training and adequate equipment. Poorly trained sailors in second rate ships went to sea and fought - the army had nothing to do with it; the army wasn't involved, except, now and again as passengers; the Navy was
fighting a critical Naval campaign while the army waited. They were, all, "sailors first," they, and a few air force members (eventually a lot of air force members, but in 1940 only the famous "few") fought their own battles, in their own environments - decisive battles, while the soldiers watched from the sidelines and waited for their turn.
You must do your job, as a soldier, as a
specialist, as well as you can and you must rest assured that the sailors and air force members
are doing theirs the same way. And someday your
primary job may involve guarding a dockyard or a flying station, "defending" the ships and sailors and the aircraft and the people who fly and maintain them while they get on with the
fighting.
Regards
ERC
Edit: spelling error corrected
