Posted Apr 1, 2020
ALL CADET ACTIVITIES CANCELLED UNTIL AT LEAST 30 APR
WHAT WE KNOW
The Ministry of Education (Ontario) has closed school until at least “early May”.
Formation Command in Ottawa has cancelled all cadet activities until at least 30 Apr. There have been assurances that before that date decisions will be made (and distributed) about the rest of the training year. RSCU(C) has previously directed that local units are to follow the lead of local school boards. Translation: We won’t parade until at least the schools are back in.
Formation has cancelled all international trips, exchanges, and international training until the end of summer.
Formation has cancelled all recreational trips until the end of June. This means no Wonderland.
Formation has cancelled all Officer training except for the following: “courses offered on the DLN and courses required for force generation for CTC summer 2020, which are planned for May/June 2020, i.e. Adventure Training Specialty Courses, Glider Pilot Instructor Courses, Tow Pilot Conversion Courses, and Range Safety Officer – Large Bore Courses”.
NAG FTX is cancelled.
NAG Band and Drill Comp is postponed at this time. Depending on when we are allowed to parade the hope is we can still do this. MTF.
WHAT WE THINK
With schools being closed until at least 4 May, I think it will be longer. Most of the projections for COVID-19 that I am seeing as of this writing is that there will be a numbers surge for the next couple of weeks and then a decline toward the end of April. Which is good. But I can’t see schools reopening until there has been a significant drop in new cases which would likely be the end of May earliest. That’s guesswork, but educated guesswork.
At this point, I don’t see us parading before June. Hopefully I’m wrong, but I’m not optimistic about this.
The ACR. The ACR is planned months ahead of time, from booking facilities, the RO, etc etc etc. If we parade for any time in June then we will do our best to have an ACR. However, it will look very different from ACRs of years past. Until we know IF we will be parading, we won’t know WHEN we can parade so until then, not much can be planned for. When I know more about this, you will know more.
At this point, I THINK (and fervently hope) summer training will go forward. Formation is still allowing Officer courses that are CTC force generators. We are still putting names into FORTRESS for camp selection. So we are all planning for the training. Hopefully, we will know more by the end of April.
WHAT WE ARE PLANNING
The Beatles said it best when they said “Ob la di, ob la da, life goes on”
Training will commence on Thursday 9 Apr (Friday is Good Friday). We will be doing virtual classrooms. The training staff has been directed to determine which classes are required to complete your level. Those are the priority. Once those are done we will be doing whatever optional training we can do just to keep you engaged in whatever way we can.
Each class will have one instructor, no more than 10 cadets, and one staff member or command team cadet. Instructors will be our Level 5s. The intent is to have 1 - 1.5 hours of “cadets” on Friday nights. The training will be done using Zoom. It’s a free app, and the SSC has bought a limited subscription so we aren’t limited to 40-minute classes.
The senior cadets will also be posting on the Facebook page different training related questions. There will be prizes for correct answers! WO2 Lampman will be keeping score and winning cadets will get tokens for the canteen for when we get back.
That’s what I have so far. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me. Please note that the Training Officer sends these mass emails out so just hitting “reply” will send her the email. If you want to email me, see the address below.
Stay healthy, stay strong.
Major RA Robinson, CD
Commanding Officer