Air Force contingent Buckingham bound

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This article was published 08/06/2018 (2730 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For the past five weeks, more than 120 Royal Canadian Air Force service members drilled hard in the hot sun on the parade square at 17 Wing Winnipeg.

It’s for good reason — they’re about to protect the Queen and the royal family.

From June 25 to July 15, the contingent will parade from their barracks in London to Buckingham Palace or other royal residences to stand watch, armed with their rifles, bayonets afixed. The airmen and airwomen need to be in top form and top shape — boots shined, hats positioned just right, each step calculated.

It’s the first time in its 94-year history the Canadian Armed Forces are sending a non-infantry unit to perform ceremonial duties in England.

The Queen’s Guard, as the group will be called when performing its duties, come from all over Canada. But they trained together in Winnipeg.

Maj. Véronique Gagné, the task force commander for the contingent, carried a sword as she led the contingent, which includes an RCAF band, as they paraded through the square Friday morning. The contingent’s heavy boots clapped hard against the pavement as Gagné shouted her commands.

Maj. David Meister, the public affairs officer, said commanders like Gagné get voice training from the Air Force band so they don’t strain their vocal cords.

Training to be the Queen’s Guard was hard work — the Air Force doesn’t drill nearly as often as the Army does, said Brig.-Gen. Sean Boyle, the deputy commander of 1 Canadian Air Force Division.

“For the Air Force to get to this level is very impressive — day-to-day, we’re doing operations around the world,” he said.

Boyle went to military college, where drilling was a part of everyday life.

“So, I’m pretty picky when it comes to looking at how people are dressed-off and in-step,” he said.

Before Friday morning’s parade, Boyle took the time to inspect each airman and airwoman for two reasons.

“A real inspection does take a lot of time,” he said. Often, he said, inspections are more of a formality. But not so with the Queen’s Guard.

“They’ll look at alignment and buttons — I wanted to simulate that time.”

“I was also wanting to get a sense for the morale of the folks — if they felt ready, training-wise, and put them at ease,” he said.

Overall, they are all motivated and ready to do their duties, Boyle said, which wasn’t the case five weeks ago when they started their training.

“There was a lot of deer-in-the-headlights looks of people who just met each other,” he said. “What are we getting ourselves into?”

Gagné said she knew the contingent would be ready for action.

“I knew for sure that we would get there, but that we would have to work very hard,” she said.

“I saw on day one that everyone was very dedicated.”

She and her contingent are proud to represent the Air Force and Canada on the international stage, she said.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Royal Air Force and the 94-year anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force. The contingent will help celebrate the RAF’s anniversary on July 10 in London.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @erik_pindera