question about Petewawa

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Veryrudeindeed. After rereading your post I guess I got it backwards what you were asking. Please disregard. Thanks

 

[greeves]

Bruce: never got my British wings, unfortunately. My course serial was 9110 - so 84 was a bit before my time, Do you remember a WO Gatward from your days in 2RCHA? He was a PI at CABC Edmonton before I got there, but I ran into him a few times during the course of my militia career. He was a hard man, but strangely we all liked him. A real character!

 

[excoelis]

On that subject, does anyone know if 2RCHA still has a jump element?

I‘m not Arty, but I can assist somewhat with your question. 2 RCHA still supports Para Coy, 3 RCR in a limited capacity. FOO/FAC etc.. This support has been provided since disbandment, and much appreciated, I must add. This means only a handfull of guys get to participate in para ops. There are still gunner/jumpers around with quals such as JM, PI, MFP, FJM, MFPI, PPF. Although they are very supportive of 3 RCR, it appears an increasing amount of the skills and expertise are held at the higher ranking NCM level, a legacy of the Airborne days. Unfortunately, this precludes most from realistically being employed in this capacity. The gunners still have good representation at the Cdn Parachute Center in Trenton. Surprising, considering their limited employment in para roles.
As a side note: The Engineers are roughly in the same boat, though a little better off for numbers, due to the nature of their employment and their secondary role.

BTW, I love Pet, 13 yrs straight(as a jumper) and don‘t want to leave.

 

[greeves]

Thanks for the update, excoelis! How does Trenton compare to CABC Edmonton? Where do they jump during J stage - DZ Anzio or is there a DZ in the Trenton area? I still have fond (??) memories of collapsing in my bunk at MacKenzie Block after a hard day of pushing down the floor at the CABC (Course Senior...25!!) I also remember having to pull slips at the last minute to avoid the **** wheat bales that dotted the far end of DZ Buxton...it seems that if you were one of the first 4 or 5 on your stick you‘d always have to avoid them...

 

[excoelis]

How does Trenton compare to CABC Edmonton? Where do they jump during J stage - DZ Anzio or is there a DZ in the Trenton area?

Trenton is alright I suppose, it kinda grows on ya. Initially it was a bad choice due to weather off the bay and the lack of a sizeable DZ. The latter has been rectified with the construction of DZ Hodgson. It is located just beside Mountain View Afd and was dedicated 3 yrs ago after the death of an old Airborne legend, CWO Bob Hodgson. I was lucky to be freefalling for the dedication drop as the weather played havoc even then and S/L was shut down after the first pass. There isn‘t a lot you can do about the weather. I suppose having the school co-located with 8 Wing has it‘s advantages, and being three hours away in Pet can pay off for both jumping and last minute fills on courses. The school has the option of flying up to Pet for a drop on Anzio, it‘s only a 40-45 min flight each way, providing the trng area isn‘t already booked.
Socially, you just can‘t party like the old Edmonton days. There are places in Belleville that are worth a look, better than Pet I guess, but it‘s still not the same :blotto: