‘Troops’ raise funds for United Way

In the News
September 16, 2013

‘Troops’ raise funds for United Way

Teams of civilians got a little taste of army life Saturday while raising money for the United Way.

The annual commando challenge saw a dozen teams compete in six events on and around the shooting range at CFB Kingston.

“The people of Kingston need to know these are their soldiers. They are proud to wear the uniform, proud to serve their country, proud to serve the people of Kingston,” said base commander Col. F.J. Chagnon.

“Sometimes there is misunderstanding about what being a soldier is about.”

The teams competed in events designed to test some of the skills used in training and on operations.

Most often the Canadian public only see the country’s military when it is deployed on foreign deployments and events like this are part of the community outreach, Chagnon said.

CFB Kingston is the second biggest donor to United Way in the city, Chagnon said, and Saturday’s event was expected to raise about $6,000.

“A lot of the soldiers look forward to this,” said organizer Capt. Mike Bezeau.

“It gives them a chance to communicate with the civilian population and to tell them what they do and be proud of what they do.”

The events included firing a C7 rifle on the shooting range, running the obstacles on the base’s confidence course, setting up a camp and doing a simulated rescue of injured soldiers.

A relay event designed to illustrate the pressures of the chain of command involves each subsequent runner carrying more equipment.

“As you move up in rank you have more responsibility on your shoulders,” Bezeau said.

“The last person you will see running will be carrying everything.”

The day culminated with a tug-of-war competition between the teams.

“I think it’s just a team-building exercise,” Bezeau said.

“You get companies that want to sponsor, first United Way, and they have an event where they can bring their, I call them their troops, but their workers and say let’s do something for fun. It builds cohesiveness, it builds team spirit.”

Source: Elliot Ferguson, Kingston Whig-Standard