Exercise Paladin Response - Combat Engineers Exercise Visit

Selected cadets from 525, along with cadets from other local air and army cadet units, visited Exercise Paladin Response, an annual training exercise attended by reserve combat engineering units from across the country. The soldiers were training in bridging and gap crossing tasks over land and water, learning skills that combat engineers apply in support of domestic disaster response efforts. Training was conducted outdoors in DND training areas near Chilliwack. Despite the cold and wet weather, including light snow at higher elevations, the cadets remained in good spirits and came home with new knowledge on numerous pieces of military equipment.

The cadets started their day with an introductory briefing at the Colonel Roger St John Armoury in Chilliwack, where they toured the exercise's command post. They then rotated through the various training sites, where they were introduced to the equipment used in building the Acrow and Medium Girder bridges, highly portable bridges that can be assembled primarily using human power. They also visited the field medical centre, and were able to learn about the equipment in a field ambulance with staff from 12 Field Ambulance, Vancouver's reserve field medical unit. 

The cadets finished the day on the water, at Maple Bay, where they donned their life jackets and hiked down to the beach. Cadets took in a short cruise on a Medium Raft/ Floating Bridge, or a Rigid Hull Inflatable boat operated by personnel from HMCS Discovery. Some cadets also enjoyed paddling the waters of Cultus Lake on the inflatable assault boats.