Clawback of Military and RCMP Pensions

You and the Canadian Soldier

Your alarm goes off, you hit the snooze and sleep for another 10 minutes.

He stays up for days on end.

You take a warm shower to help you wake up.

He goes days or weeks without running water.

You complain of a "headache", and call in sick.

He gets shot at as others are hit, and keeps moving forward.

You put on your "anti war/don't support the troops" shirt, and go meet up with your friends.

He still fights for your right to wear that shirt.

You make sure you're cell phone is in your pocket.

He clutches the cross hanging on his chain next to his dog tags.

You talk trash about your "buddies" that aren't with you.

He knows he may not see some of his buddies again.

You walk down the beach, staring at all the pretty girls.

He walks the streets, searching for insurgents and terrorists.

You complain about how hot it is.

He wears his heavy gear, not daring to take off his helmet to wipe his brow.

You go out to lunch, and complain because the restaurant got your order wrong.

He doesn't get to eat today.

Your maid makes your bed and washes your clothes.

He wears the same things for weeks, but makes sure his weapons are clean.

You go to the mall and get your hair redone.

He doesn't have time to brush his teeth today.

You're angry because your class ran 5 minutes over.

He's told he will be held over an extra 2 months.

You call your girlfriend and set a date for tonight.

He waits for the mail to see if there is a letter from home.

You hug and kiss your girlfriend, like you do everyday.

He holds his letter close and smells his love's perfume.

You roll your eyes as a baby cries.

He gets a letter with pictures of his new child, and wonders if they'll ever meet.

You criticize your government, and say that war never solves anything.

He sees the innocent tortured and killed by their own people and remembers why he is fighting.

You hear the jokes about the war, and make fun of men like him.

He hears the gunfire, bombs and screams of the wounded.

You see only what the media wants you to see.

He sees the broken bodies lying around him.

You are asked to go to the store by your parents. You don't go.

He does exactly what he is told.

You stay at home and watch TV.

He takes whatever time he is given to call, write home, sleep, and eat.

You crawl into your soft bed, with down pillows, and get comfortable.

He crawls under a tank for shade and a 5 minute nap, only to be woken by gunfire.

You sit there and judge him, saying the world is probably a worse place because of men like him.

If only there were more men like him!

If you support your troops, copy and send this to everyone you know,

If it gets to another veteran who hasn't received it yet, it will bring back memories.

Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the Canadian soldier.

One died for your soul, the other for your freedom

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps Canadian, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."

"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Dieppe on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."

My dad stood his watch in that Korean Land',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
Something red and, white, ... a Canadian flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a trench with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbour no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled,
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

Military Pay

Those of us who volunteer to serve our country by joining the military certainly do not do so for the money.  Above is a sample of the pay we received when I joined the RCAF in 1965. It shows my pay as a brand new AC2 at $165.00 per month. Well my take-home was closer to $80.00.

The general public thought that we got free room and board, free clothing, we didn't pay taxes, etc. Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, but we paid it all, to the max. Note the bottom of the above card where it shows the amount deducted if we lived in quarters.

In order not to live in quarters almost took an act of God, because the request had to go up the chain of command to the Commanding Officer for approval. Anyone between you and the CO could reject the request; and believe it, there were a lot of people between an AC2 and a Group Captain!

Notice also that you earned more if you were married than you did if you were single.  I guess you did better work when married than you did if single -- or something? However, you couldn't just go out and get married in order to get more money, you had to submit a formal request up through channels and obtain the Commanding Officer's approval first. Same chain of command, same number of possible rejections.

Ah, Them were the days.

Hmmm, could there be some human rights issues in there somewhere?  Oh, never mind, I forgot.  We didn't have any rights back then.  That's why we never had any choice when it came to merging the military pension premiums with the Canada Pension Plan premiums when CPP was established in 1966.

And one other thing -- we paid Unemployment Insurance premiums, also to the max, knowing that we didn't qualify and could never claim the bennefits. That's like buying car insurance knowing that you can't collect on it.  Now who's dumb enough to do that?

We had no choice!

So, finally we come to 1989. I'd spent 24 years in uniform when I decide to get out. Luckily, I had a job waiting for me because there was no UI for me. The pay over the years had not been much improved. When I took off the uniform in 1989 as a Master Warrant Office, I was making $42,00.00 per year. If you compare that to the 1965 chart for the equivalent rank, Warrant Officer Class 2, it isn't even a factor of 10. However, in that period of time the cost of living had actually increased by a factor of 12 to 14. So, in fact I lost ground.

And that's what my pension is based on.

I'm happy to say that in the mid to late 1990's the military finally recieved some worth while and well deserved pay raises but that won't do any good for anyone of my generation, who took their release prior to that. Even the cost of living indexing to the pension won't do much good when the pay that it's based on is way below par.

Peacetime, PeaceKeeping, or Combat

It makes no difference the circumstances, our military is putting their lives on the line on a daily basis to serve and protect you, our country and as an extension, our global community.

In times of conflict, even if they don't agree with the war itself, most Canadians understand and appreciate the sacrifices that these men and women make toward this end .

But what about in peacetimes?

The military is looked upon as a drain on our tax dollars, or even worse, as an alternate to welfare.

Not true!

In 1965 I joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) which was later ammalgamated along with the Royal Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Navy into the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in which I served for 24 years until I took my release in 1989.  I was fortunate that during that time I was not required to serve in a theatre of war, however, I did spend 3 years in West Germany under the constant threat of a Russian attack. Although this period was concidered to be "peace-time" the Cold War loomed large, especially since we were only a few minutes flight time away for Russian airborne weapons. 

Even though we were not in direct contact with an enemy during this period of (quote) peace (unquote), every service man and service woman of the time put themselves in danger on a daily basis.  Remember that the materials and equipment that our military personnel handle, maintain and use on a daily basis was designed to kill and destroy.  Every effort has been made to keep our personnel safe, through exhaustive testing of the equipment and training of our personnel, but sometimes, things just go wrong, and when they do, people are sometimes injured or killed.

We must maintain a core of trained military personnel even during peacetime.  Trained personnel who are ready and willing to deploy on short notice when strife is unavoidable. There must also be trained personnel available to train new recruits to fill in behind those who deployed initially.

Where would these trained personnel come from if we didn't maintain our military during peacetime?

So, no matter the circumstances, our uniformed men and women have volunteered to put themselves in harms way, even to the extent of laying down their lives for your protection, and the freedom that you all enjoy today.