Young recruits proud to serve

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This article was published 31/08/2009 (5869 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FROM a very young age, Dayton Kanius knew he was destined to don a Canadian Forces uniform.

An air show buff and lover of all things military when he was a kid, he first spoke to a recruitment officer when he was just 16 years old.

Now, the 24-year-old Winnipegger is a graduate of basic training for the reservists.

"It’s a dream come true," said Kanius before a graduation ceremony Sunday at the Minto Armoury. "As long as I can remember we’d be going to these air shows and these military displays, probably at the age of eight years old. We’d go every year and it’d be fascinating.

"It’s the whole discipline, the whole structure of it. You’re a part of something larger than yourself."

After working construction the last few years, Kanius is now focusing on splitting his time between that and the reservists.

He was one of more than 80 reserve recruits from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories to graduate from basic training Sunday.

In all, around 160 reserve recruits have graduated from basic training this summer in Winnipeg. The first wave graduated last month. They join roughly 25,000 reservists in the country.

Like Kanius, Thomas Cam never came from a military family, yet he now finds himself part of the Canadian Forces. Cam, 28, is working toward becoming a nurse. Though being a nurse and a soldier seem miles a part on first glance, the second-year University of Saskatchewan student found similarities in the two careers.

"In both, you’re in service," he explained. "In nursing, you’re caring and nurturing and in the army you serve. Both are careers where you do good. You’re not just working for yourself, you’re doing it for others."

Once a week they’ll be required to work in their chosen unit to continue their training should they ever be called to combat.

That flexibility is a chance for them to sharpen leadership skills while pursuing an education or furthering their career, said Lieut. Mark Hanly.

"Being in the reserve offers a specific type of skills that are transferable and that apply to their civilian career," Hanly said, rattling off a list of examples including leadership and managerial skills.

Since many reservists are young, this goes a long way on their resumés, he said, especially for 16-year-old Breena Kokopenace.

"These are skills most young people don’t get a chance to get. It’s nice to know as an employer if you’re hiring them, you don’t have to babysit them."

Kokopenace was finally convinced to join the reservists by her brother’s best friend.

Kokopenace is only in Grade 12 and is planning to go into either psychology or veterinary studies. Joining the reserve gives her a head start on her life, she said. "I’m taking a step further in my life," she said. "I started young. I know I’m going to be in this for a long time. I wanted to do this for life."

matt.preprost@freepress.mb.ca