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Life as a cadet

Things are not starting off well.I am heading to the RCMP Training Depot in Regina, Sask., to live the life of a cadet for a couple of days and I just stole a pair of socks. The instructions in my cadet package clearly say I need navy socks to go with the cadet uniform and since I couldn’t find any of my own, I took my husband’s blue dress socks. It was more of a “borrowing without permission” situation if you want to be technical about it.
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A cadet troop demonstrating proper marching technique. Marching properly is harder than it looks. Until a troop learns to march properly

Things are not starting off well.

I am heading to the RCMP Training Depot in Regina, Sask., to live the life of a cadet for a couple of days and I just stole a pair of socks. The instructions in my cadet package clearly say I need navy socks to go with the cadet uniform and since I couldn’t find any of my own, I took my husband’s blue dress socks. It was more of a “borrowing without permission” situation if you want to be technical about it. I plan to return them later — if I don’t ruin them at boot camp.

A small group of travel writers has been invited to experience the life of an RCMP cadet for a couple of days and I managed to score a spot in the group.

As I check into Depot, my home for the next two days, I receive a blue duffle bag with a pair of snug fitting navy pants, a cadet uniform shirt, cotton gym shorts, a white T-shirt and a karategi for mixed martial arts training. We have only a few minutes to settle into our room before we are due at our first class — Simulation and Judgmental Training.

Simulators are some of the latest technology in police training and that is what our first class is all about. Using actual police encounters, computer programs lead cadets through situations where deadly force may be warranted. There are also simulators designed to teach techniques for defensive driving and high-speed chase situations.

As I buckle myself into the driving simulator, Corporal Blaine Landry explains the purpose of the exercise. “You are not here to learn how to drive,” he explains. “You are here to learn how to drive like an officer.” I try three different driving simulations and do well until I reach the fourth and most difficult scenario involving a high speed driving situation. Things are going well until I hit an unfortunate pedestrian, spin out and disable the vehicle. Corporal Landry raises a disapproving eyebrow and I realize that I will need a few more lessons before I will be able to drive like an officer.

The next simulator relates to the use of deadly force. Corporal Landry explains that these simulators give cadets a feel for what it is like to use handguns, pepper spray and other weapons in simulated situations long before they have to use such devices in real life.

More importantly, they can practice various techniques for defusing a situation before it becomes deadly. I am standing beside Corporal Landry when he asks for volunteers, so naturally I am the first up. Turns out I am actually pretty good at the firearms simulator — when it is set at the easiest level.

After a good dinner in the mess hall with the other cadets, we have a tour of the base led by an actual cadet in training and go back to the dorms to iron our shirts for Drill Hall the next morning. I have never been so highly motivated to iron. If the drill sergeants find wrinkles in your uniform or hairs out of place on your head, it could mean push-ups for the entire troop.

Getting up with the sun has never been easy for me and when the alarm goes off, I try to figure out where the fire is. Our second day at depot is a busy one. We have Drill Class, Police Defensive Tactics, Applied Police Sciences, Fitness and Advanced Driving on the schedule.

To begin the day, we practice marching. Then we practice more marching. Then we follow that up with some double-time marching. It turns out marching is not as easy as it looks. I have a new appreciation of the skill required as I watch the troops in the morning parade.

Breakfast is really delicious, but we only have about 15 minutes to eat it before drill class begins. Once we are in the drill hall, we line up from tallest to shortest for inspection. “When you are standing at attention there are four things you are allowed to do,” explains Corporal Penny Hermann in a loud commanding voice. “You can breathe, blink, shiver and sweat. If you do anything else, you will be paying for it. Push-ups are not part of Drill, they are part of screw-ups.”

I knew right then that I would be doing a lot of push-ups.

Standing at attention and marching properly were difficult skills to learn, but the hardest part of drill hall was keeping your composure when the drill instructors were boisterously yelling at the troop. I couldn’t help but smile when a fellow troop member got in trouble for wearing a friendship bracelet and earrings with her regulation uniform.

When it was over, the Drill Sergeant explained that the purpose of Drill Hall is to teach recruits the importance of projecting a certain image and keeping their wits about the even when people are yelling at them. “We are trying to teach recruits to have discipline and composure even in difficult situations,” explains Sergeant Andre Clemente when class is over. “We don’t swear. We don’t belittle recruits. Laughter is what we deal with most often and after enough push-ups they learn to get it under control.”

By the time I leave Drill Hall, I have done more push-ups in a single day than I have done in the entire year previous. It is only 10 am and I am already tired. It is not until I am changing out of my cadet uniform and into my karategi for Police Defensive Tactics Class that I realize that none of the drill instructors bothered to look at my newly acquired navy socks.

The Details

-Visitors to Regina are welcome to tour the RCMP Heritage Centre Museum and to watch the Sergeant Major’s parade, the Sunset Parade and attend special events as scheduled throughout the year. Touring the museum will cost $10 per adult or $30 per family. At the museum, you can try on a real police uniform – without having to go through boot camp.

-If you would like to experience life as a cadet at the RCMP Training Depot, you might be interested in a new program called “Send Your Boss to Boot Camp.” Used as a fundraiser to support the RCMP Heritage Centre, the program allows companies and individuals to raise money to send their boss, husband, wife or friend to RCMP boot camp to live the life of a cadet for a couple of days. In the first ever Boss Boot Camp, a minimum fundraising effort of $2500 was required in order to participate. For more information on Boss Boot Camp experiences or to find out more about the museum, visit: www.rcmpheritagecentre.com.

Did You Know?

The RCMP have one of the top training facilities in the world and use the latest techniques in police training. Police forces from around the world visit Depot Division including representatives from Russia, China, Spain and even the famous LAPD from the USA.

Debbie Olsen is a Lacombe-based freelance writer. If you have a travel story you would like to share or know someone with an interesting travel story who we might interview, please email: DOGO@telusplanet.net or write to: Debbie Olsen, c/o Red Deer Advocate, 2950 Bremner Ave., Red Deer, Alta., T4R 1M9.