Canadian Army reservists gather in Chilliwack for annual disaster response training

CHILLIWACK, B.C. -

Hundreds of reservists with the Canadian Armed Forces have gathered in Chilliwack, B.C., for their annual disaster training.

The combat engineer specialists have come from regiments across the country to take part in the training known as “Paladin Response,” which has been going on for decades.

The five-day exercise provides the reservists the chance to brush up on the design and construction of rafts and bridges.

“This training is absolutely critical for our trade,” Maj. Andrew Gower told CTV News.

 “So getting out here every year to practice is really important.”

The reservists are often called in for domestic operations such as natural disasters, making bridge-making an absolutely vital skill.

“We can use them to transport troops across the water or even vehicles as well, in a tactical or non-tactical situation,” said Cpl. Jihan Siage, a reservist from Ottawa.

According to Gower, bridging has yet to be used in B.C., but was effective in the military’s response to the extreme floods in Quebec five years ago. https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/in-pictures-flooding-in-quebec-and-new-brunswick-1.4391065

“They actually used the medium raft to get sand bags to locations that had been cut off by flood waters,” he said.

“They also built a large Acrow bridge to access a cut-off subdivision (that) had been washed out,”

Another part of the training is the operation of assault boats, which Gower said were vital during their response to the devastating B.C. floods last year.

”I had soldiers deployed on that response, and one of the assets we took out right away was the assault boat, because when there’s a flooded area you need to get into, that’s the piece of equipment you need,” Gower said.

Reservists make up about a quarter of the Armed Forces, but while their service is part-time, Gower says their commitment to helping their country is whole-hearted.

“Reservists are people with full-time jobs, so this is their vacation,” he said. “They’ve taken their holiday and chosen to come here and do army training for a week. I think that’s pretty cool.”