Canadian Armed Forces

At the age of 17, Kelly enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces, where she was provided an opportunity to represent Canada in a different way. Her mother encouraged her to enlist, as she thought the military was something Kelly would excel at. “Being a professional athlete, you get to wear a maple leaf on your back. So if I couldn’t get through, maybe the military was the right choice.”

Sergeant Ghislain Cotton was born on 9 February 1970 in Loretteville, Quebec. His father, Jean‑Charles Cotton is Scottish/Irish and his mother, Micheline Bond, is First Nations of Atikamekw/Wendat ancestry. His family lived across Canada and in Europe. His father enlisted in 1964 and served first as an infantryman with the Royal 22^e Régiment. He took a brief break from the military to help his family as a fisherman in Rivière‑au‑Renard. In the early 1970s, he rejoined the forces to pursue his passion as an Intelligence Operator.

"I arrived at Pier 21, in the darkness of night under the cloak of secrecy, boarded a ship, the Ile de France. We were kept in the dark for six days before arriving in Scotland," recalled George Couture. This is just part of a story Couture shared at an event in Halifax to commemorate the 75^th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy this past June.

Coming from a low-income family, he saw the military as an opportunity to improve his lifestyle.

“I wanted to join the army, and when the Korean War broke out, there was a lot of publicity,” WO (ret’d) Cormier says. “They needed thousands of people to form the Canadian Brigade to go to Korea. I said I was going so I joined the Van Doos.”

After leaving the military Zizek moved to Campbell River, BC and volunteered with BC Parks. He met Harry who was former military and also an Invictus Games athlete and he encouraged Zizek to apply to the Soldier On program, for a chance to compete at the Invictus Games. He eventually did, submitting an application in fall 2018, during his last couple of months in the CAF. Zizek’s application was accepted and he was selected to compete with Team Canada at The Hague in May 2020 in rowing, sitting volleyball and swimming.

It was 2009. Yuna Hur thought that after high school, she would pursue her education in fashion management to become a fashion entrepreneur. She had even applied to study fashion management in the United States. Her life took an unexpected turn after joining her friends on a visit to the CAF Recruitment centre. “I’m not going to lie, I followed my friends and I saw the military as a résumé booster,” she says.

Richards joined the Canadian Armed Forces in March 1984. As an Armoured Soldier, he was posted in numerous locations across Eastern Canada as well as to Germany, he deployed to Bosnia and Afghanistan.

“When the ice storm hit it was all hands on deck. We wanted to get out there and help people. Petawawa was deployed complete.”

Introduction

For Wenshuang Nie, joining the Naval reserves was a decision she says she made “on a whim.”

She came out of her Regina high school gym class and saw three recruiting tables lined up next to each other, one for each military branch.

But there was one in particular that caught her eye.

“The Navy was giving the best swag. It was literally a triangular highlighter that caught my attention.”

When a recruiter told her stories of adventure, travel and teamwork, Wen made up her mind: she was going to join the Forces.