Opportunity for Deployment to Bosnia

Heroes Remember

Opportunity for Deployment to Bosnia

Transcript

As a reservist, I have a different alignment versus the "reg" force and as a reservist this is an opportunity that you apply for much like for teaching or taking another course or anything like that and to have been selected to go on tour was a very and still is a very big deal versus getting sent somewhere else in Canada or even in Ontario which is far more likely. But Bosnia, for example, I was absolutely thrilled to have felt like I was selected out of the bunch of applicants to be able to go to that. That's where I got to put my skills to the test, you know, that was the point for all the training - was to be able to go and participate. I got to be part of a platoon of reservists that went over into a certain section of Bosnia where we got to do some patrolling and there was also search and seizure operations where we collected weapons from the local community and there was a lot of interaction with the locals. I've been told that as a reservist, we were prime candidates for that having a lot more interaction with the different social communities and it was a great opportunity. I went with a great bunch of fellows from all across Ontario as part of our platoon. We were attached with the Royal Canadian Dragoons and they had the overall control of the complete landscape and we fit in right in one little spot and they had us right on par with themselves and treated us as fellow members and we had a solid go of the whole tour, the whole six months. It was great.

Description

As a reservist, Mr. Roberts speaks about his pleasure in being selected for deployment to Bosnia and how he was able to put his newly acquired skills to the test.

Allan Roberts

Mr. Allan Roberts was born March 11, 1974 in Ottawa, Ontario. Always having the desire to be part of the Canadian Forces Mr. Roberts chose to join the Infantry Reserve Unit in Trenton, Ontario. During his time in the reserves, Mr. Roberts was given the opportunity to become part of the army and accept a deployment position to Bosnia. This experience allowed him to put his training to task and work on par with the Royal Canadian Dragoons holding rank of Master Corporal taking on the daily occupation of patrol and convoy escort. After Mr. Roberrt's deployment to Bosnia, he was once again accepted to deploy to Afghanistan under the same rank and occupation but in a more intense level of service and different cultural environment. After his deployment was complete, Mr. Roberts returned to Ottawa, Ontario. Mr. Roberts is now retired from the military

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Recorded:: February 10, 2009
Duration:: 1:57
Person Interviewed:: Allan Roberts
War, Conflict or Mission:: Canadian Armed Forces
Location/Theatre:: Bosnia
Branch:: Army
Rank:: Master-Corporal
Occupation:: Infantry

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Date modified:: 2019-06-20