I'm settled in at the Canadian Police College in Ottawa and we're into Day 2 of our pre-deployment training. I've had a chance to meet and talk with most of the mission members. We've got a pretty senior group with an average seniority of about 18-20 years. The most senior member has 40 years and the most junior has around 10 years. The members have come from all parts of Canada and some have been on United Nations missions before. One of my cohorts has been to Haiti twice already. Nobody has been to Afghanistan though and we're all eager to soak up any bits of knowledge our course coordinator throws our way. We've already picked up a few interesting bits on Monday morning. Suffice it to say that nobody is expecting a comfortable stay in Afghanistan regardless of where we might get posted. That hasn't dissuaded the group and enthusiasm and anticipation remain high.
This is my first trip to the Canadian Police College and I'm impressed so far. The accommodations are nice and the food is great. I've got the internet in my room and a nice view over the river. My neighbour is from Fredericton Police Service but is a former Camrose member who went through EPS recruit training a few years ago. My good friend and old patrol/tactical partner J-GL is an instructor here at the CPC and he has given me the grand tour. Its always nice to have a familiar face around and I'm going to enjoy spending a few evenings shooting the breeze and catching up with him before we deploy.
I've been able to Skype home every evening and stay connected. N was tested early; she woke up Monday morning to a burned out motor on the furnace. She took it all in stride though and got it all sorted out in short order. It was probably a good confidence booster for all of us. On top of all that N had the recent snowfall to clear away too.
I'm able to check out what's going on with C and J at school on the EPBS web site. I can review their homework assignments, school events, and even send e-mails to their teachers. Tonight I'll practice their spelling words with them on Skype. Skyping is going to take some of the edge off this separation and we're glad to have such technology available.
I appreciate all the kind words of encouragement that were sent our way in the days before I left Edmonton. A very special thanks to JS and RP who surprised me at the airport early Sunday morning. They braved the icy roads to wish us well and bring us a card signed by Squad 8. Thanks for the nice words everybody. I love you too Turtle but not like you hope.
That's all for now folks.
Thanks for checking in.
Ken.
