Troops Out Now - Guelph

[chris_log]

After working with the Ceremonial Guard for the summer, I'm not too worried about having a squared away uniform. 

I'm not sure I follow your logic as to needing an excuse to wear my uniform to class.  I've lived on campus the previous two years (South, and then Johnston as a Residence Assistant) and during the course of that time paraded regularly (sometimes upwards of three times a week) with various PRes units in the Guelph/K-W area.  Never once did I receive "unwanted" attention for being in uniform on campus (although I cannot count the times I've received positive attention), and even if I did what would that matter?

A grown man should be able to turn the other cheek, as I am, and an officer should never be cowed into quiet intimidation.  In the course of my time in the PRes I faced greater challenges than the "threat" of some student with too much time on their hands telling me that he doesn't agree with Canadian foreign policy (its his right to do so, after all), and as an officer in the Regular Force I am certain that there will be tougher calls for me to make than "do I walk down this street, or that street?" in the off chance that there might be a mean person on one of the streets.

I'm not seeking to challenge you on this as an officer, I'm sure you're an honourable man too - but I would like to hear you explain your logic behind this a bit further.

There's a difference between walking across campus to parade and wearing a uniform to class. Walking across campus is no biggie, most people won't give you a second glance. But in class, well, you're stuck there and will stick out. And trust me, there are people who can (and will) use you to make a political/ideological point (like the guy in my public policy class who somehow manages to get a jab in at the Tories whenever he opens his mouth).

As for the 'being cowed' thing...pick your battles. By all means, wear your uniform to class if you want. But be ready to be on the receiving end of abuse AND be expected to be somewhat of a SME on all things military, which includes Afghanistan. Its your call. I like the 'quiet professional' thing, I don't wear my ID disks and IAP couse shirt everyday and I don't lecture people on why we should be in Afghanistan. If someone asks, sure, I'll tell them but I generally prefer to be left alone by 99% of the students on campus (which won't happen if I wea a uniform to class). Thats my reasoning.

Besides, I catch enough nasty looks and comments because of my other job. 

 

[IntlBr]

There's a difference between walking across campus to parade and wearing a uniform to class. Walking across campus is no biggie, most people won't give you a second glance. But in class, well, you're stuck there and will stick out. And trust me, there are people who can (and will) use you to make a political/ideological point (like the guy in my public policy class who somehow manages to get a jab in at the Tories whenever he opens his mouth).

As for the 'being cowed' thing...pick your battles. By all means, wear your uniform to class if you want. But be ready to be on the receiving end of abuse AND be expected to be somewhat of a SME on all things military, which includes Afghanistan. Its your call. I like the 'quiet professional' thing, I don't wear my ID disks and IAP couse shirt everyday and I don't lecture people on why we should be in Afghanistan. If someone asks, sure, I'll tell them but I generally prefer to be left alone by 99% of the students on campus (which won't happen if I wea a uniform to class). Thats my reasoning.

Besides, I catch enough nasty looks and comments because of my other job. 

Well, fair enough - and to each his own I suppose.  I'm not wearing my ID discs and carrying CF paraphenalia every day either, but I expect that I will wear my uniform maybe bi-weekly, or more or less as we were told "at our own discretion".

As for working at Trappers, I don't envy you, and would never cast a disapproving look your way.  If you see me on campus in uniform say hi - or incite a riot! ("GET OFF OF OUR CAMPUS YOU FASCIST PIG!" comes to mind).

Cheers

 

[chris_log]

Well, fair enough - and to each his own I suppose.  I'm not wearing my ID discs and carrying CF paraphenalia every day either, but I expect that I will wear my uniform maybe bi-weekly, or more or less as we were told "at our own discretion".

As for working at Trappers, I don't envy you, and would never cast a disapproving look your way.  If you see me on campus in uniform say hi - or incite a riot! ("GET OFF OF OUR CAMPUS YOU FASCIST PIG!" comes to mind).

Cheers

Good on you. Either way, I don't have time to get DEU's prettied up for class (I'm the guy there unshaven and in sweat pants) and I refuse to go out in an anyway sub-par uniform. But seriously, good job in waving the flag as it were. Get some recruiting info if you can and bring it with you (phone number and address of the Kitchener CFRC maybe), you never know who may ask about joining.

As for working at Trappers, I don't envy you, and would never cast a disapproving look your way

It's ok. I get paid to stand around, my cup's half full.

 

[The Bread Guy]

A coda to this one - although the student paper had the expected coverage:

"Drop Harper, Not Bombs," "Education Not Occupation," and "Say No To War," were some of the words blazoned on picket signs being marched down Gordon Street last Saturday afternoon....

not to mention this whack-job quote contained in this piece:

.... John McMurtry, a professor of philosophy at University of Guelph, wrote in his paper, 'Why is there a war in Afghanistan?', "there is growing suspicion, which is officially unspeakable, that the Afghanistan War is 'a set-up', including September 11 itself. With any such hypothesis, one looks not only for the evidence confirming it, but more conscientiously, for the evidence disconfirming it. The evidence confirming U.S. and allied security awareness of and possible complicity in the 9/11 attack is considerable, but I have found no evidence disconfirming it." ....

one of the items saw things through a different pair of glasses:

.... While it's ideal to avoid the use of force in foreign relations and provide uncontroversial aid, the oppressive and violent tactics of the Taliban necessitate the use of force. Rehabilitation cannot be achieved without brave military personnel on the ground in Afghanistan, in combination with our infrastructural, medical, educational and food programs.

The march this weekend was built upon rhetoric and selective information, undermining the noble mission of our troops. We have a long way to go in improving the living conditions of Afghans, but pulling out of the country to spend our tax dollars at home is not the solution.

Here here!

 

[Greymatters]

"there is growing suspicion, which is officially unspeakable, that the Afghanistan War is 'a set-up', including September 11 itself. With any such hypothesis, one looks not only for the evidence confirming it, but more conscientiously, for the evidence disconfirming it. The evidence confirming U.S. and allied security awareness of and possible complicity in the 9/11 attack is considerable, but I have found no evidence disconfirming it."

It's easy to fail to find information, all you have to do is not talk to the right people.  Most notably, this person fails to recognize the difference between 'informing higher levels of threats' and having 'higher levels acting on that information', which are often two different things.  History is filled with events such as these, dating all the way back to Custer's Last Stand (Custer is reported to have refused to believe his scouts when told of a large enemy force waiting for him - a moment made famous in the movie Little Big Man)...

 

[leroi]

The discourse continues at The Ontarion and it's good to see a more reasonable view expressed by this student who is reacting to the protesters:

Canada's part in Afghanistan
A look at progressive solutions to the problems in Afghanistan.
David Renaud 
"We should … be seeking out the subtleties allowing Canada to find a role in the country's efforts toward concord"

I didn't have the chance to see the Oct. 18 anti-war protest in person, working, as I do most Saturdays, behind an office desk. I did, however, have the chance to read the Ontarion's coverage of the event.

Unsurprisingly, there seems to have been no placards or chanted slogans advocating increased reconstruction budgets, assistance in economic diversification, changes in materiel mix, outreach to moderate militants, or our government's tacit acceptance of opium cropping. In short, from what I can tell, there was nobody present that day offering possible incremental solutions to the problems currently faced by the Afghan citizenry.

Don't get me wrong—there are fair arguments both for and against our current role in Afghanistan. Critics have rightly charged, for example, that too much of the mission budget is dedicated to military operations rather than reconstruction (a charge made by CIDA's own former head of aid in Afghanistan, back in January), and that heedless eradication of poppy crops is turning destitute farmers into insurgents. But on our campus, where student political thought has the opportunity to be influenced by so many of the social sciences, it seems our opinions of the war fail to mirror the day-to-day reality faced by Afghanistan's 31 million people...http://www.theontarion.ca/viewarticle.php?id_pag=1964