Where is Racism the Worst?

A bunch of disgusting assholes broke into Indigenous people's peaceful campaign in last Canada Day in Halifax. Soon it appeared that they were CAF members, to be specific Navy guys! I was not surprised, to be honest. CAF members, not all of them of course, have racism issues. This problem actually exists all around the country but has more intensity within environments which Canadians think that solely belongs to them. Perhaps they are right!

NHL is majority Caucasian. A number of Blacks. One person plays for The Maple Leafs with his roots in Lebanon. They call him a joke! CAF itself is majority Caucasian. Chinese sit in the second. Filipino is next and at a few Blacks. Almost anyone else, they would have issue with! 

I don't know these guys wanted but it's said that they would be disciplined. The problem is everyone forgets about that in a week and two! No one really knows if they are punished or not! The interesting thing in this incident was the Minister of Defense's reaction. He obviously condemn the act but I'm not sure if anyone has talked about the disgusting behaviour of Sikhs in Surrey or not! 

This world map, from 2013 classifies the intolerance of different nations toward others. My experience is quite equal to this! Today's world political situation and conflicts, I assume, is not considered when creating this map!

Does racism has deeper roots in West or it has in East. A map I have here indicates that people from where Mr. Sajjan comes have the least tolerance for people of other races! This I truly have experienced in Canada! I've seen with Chinese, Iranians and Russians as well. The latter is probably the worst although I've not experienced anything but I've read about people of Asian and African origin who have been killed by Russians in that country while there as students or workers. Tell me about your experiences. 

(Photo: Navy guys in Halifax, NS are shown here confronting Native people who had a spiritual dance session or something similar to that. It's interesting that asshole's face reveal them easily and quickly! Look at the guy whose hands are crossed!)

U-Boat Commander

Submarines have always been my interest. The first time I found myself a fan of them was when, years ago, the movie Das Boot was shown on TV in the old country as a series! The movie is a bit longer than 02:00 hours. Then when I joined CAF and of course I never finished my Basic Training(!), I selected a trade in the RCN that would have made me eligible  to even work in submarines but soon after starting Basic Training I found I'm the man of freedom, nature and mountains and I would be confined neither in a ship nor in a submarine! 

This, however, did not prevent me from enjoying books and movies about submarines or as it's said in German, Unterseeboot. 

One of the books that I've recently found and started reading is called U-Boat Commander. It's apparently written by one of a few German submarine commanders who survived WWII. The book is of course translated to English by a British guy but despite the fact that the book is very interesting, the translation sucks! It's horrible! The funny thing is the guy, named Lawrence Wilson, sounds like a British person or at least I could easily say that he's from an English-speaking country although I don't know much about Anthropology. The mistakes are so stupid and obvious that even me, who English is not his first language, notices them. Here are a few examples:

1) The first thing that comes to mind is that the book is about one specific submarine commander, Peter Cremer. So it must be titled The U-Boat Commander. First obvious and stupid mistake. 

2- Then the term U-boot, which is pronounced oo-boot in German is short for Unterseeboot. So we don't have any thing as U-Boat neither in English nor in German! So the book is titled incorrectly. At the best it should be called The Submarine Commander or Das UBoot Kommandant, the first one being a pure English title and the second one an only-German title.

3- Page 24 of the book, the Naval Institute Press edition, goes, as the story is narrated by the commander: My crew comprised 25 men, including ... . He, for whatever reason is not a fan of prepositions.

4- He calls a submarine fleet, U-Boat arm!! I don't know what type of English he studied!

I'm sure there're plenty more mistakes but I don't want to ruin the book! I also have to mention that the above is found in the first two chapters, 15 pages only.
I checked the accuracy of a number of characters which are introduced in the book and found them all correct. For that I have to say that the book is recommended for the ones who are interested history of WWII or navy, ships and submarines. I probably will have another post about the book later when I finish it.
(Photo: The cover of the book, perhaps the original publish)

CFLRS Note (33): Assignments

The recruits at times are given assignments during their course, mostly as a sort of punishment. If a recruit does something which isn't considered a serious incident, he or she normally gets a Note to File and an assignment in format of essay is given to him or her. This normally should be prepared in 500 words. The following was assigned to me:

1) The importance of following orders.

2) The importance of revealing medical conditions.

3) Duty, Loyalty, Courage and Integrity.

It means for each of the above I did something wrong and I had to show that I understand that concept. It's needless to say that in all cases the staff at CFLRS, as usual, never bothered to listen my side of story or accepted it. It would be interesting if one of them read this post! 

In addition to the above an assignment was once given to all the members of the platoon in the format of speech. In that one members had to select a topic, with the approval of staff and present that in a 5 min. time frame to group of recruits and staff. 

I didn't have any issue with any of them because I'm good at both writing and speaking but the last one was a little problem because I had a problem with understanding what Integrity was! In fact I forgot its meaning completely! I referred to the available library, took a dictionary out and started looking up for Integrity. Damn! There was not such a word in the dictionary! Why? Because the related page did not simply exist! Pages 502 to 529 of the dictionary had been torn apart and taken by obviously a sick-minded individual! 

What do I do now? There was another dictionary there but it was not clear, or at least I didn't understand what it was for! French-English, English-French?! I looked up the word and it helped a little. To be hundred percent sure that I got the right definition and also to make sure that I'm at least closing to 500 words, I checked a fella who was around and honestly he helped and I got the right definition eventually. When I handed it to the staff, he was surprised as how neat it was but I never got any feedback from him because at that stage it didn't matter, I guess.

(Photo: I used my laptop to do part of the assignments on and off although we had a number of PCs available to us)

CFLRS Notes (32): Code of Conducts Rules

I liked a number of subjects that were taught in CFLRS. Truly interesting. Code of Conducts Rules was one of them. A combination of 11 rules. One of them which caught my attention in the class was Rule #6. This is what the rule states:

Treat all of the prisoners of war and detainees humanly in accordance with the standard set by the Third Geneva Convention; any abuse, including torture is prohibited. 

The point here is the difference between POW and detainee. The POW, when is captured, of course, is the individual who is in the uniform of enemy while a detainee is someone such as a Vietcong or a Taliban who engages in battle, ambush or any other harmful action against the forces in civilian cloths. The rule does not specify how differently they should be treated in other terms such as interrogation, imprisonment and handing them to other authorities, for example international courts or other forces. One case was capturing members of Taliban by CAF members and handing them to Afghan police or other officials. The captured members, of course, were beaten and tortured by the Afghan officials and then the then Prime Minister, Harper and his Defense Minister were questioned by the MPs. I don't know what happened after that but that was not the PMs and the CAF's responsibility to protect Taliban after they were turned over to Afghans! I guess the MPs were just looking for any subject to show their opposition to PM and his party! 

(Photo: Canadian soldiers directing a number of Afghans in their traditional dress to detention. Any of them could be either a Taliban fighter or simply a civilian)

CFLRS Notes (31): Dress Code

Every environment has its dress code, either official or unofficial. Work-place, mechanic shop, retail store, pharmacy, you name it. They all have their own uniforms or dress codes. Schools, mostly have their uniforms. I remember when I was a kid most of the school, until junior high required students or pupils to wear a uniform. It changed a little bit after the so-called Islamic Revolution. The uniforms kind of disappeared because they didn't want to create extra cost to families. 

CFLRS has its dress code. Being a military school, recruits must have their Combats on all the time during the training. After hours, and if its after induct and if their performance has been good(!) during the week, they can be in civilian cloths.

The problem is as people have lived in such open and relaxed society such as Canada's, they forget where they are when they get to CFLRS! Low cut shirts, mini skirts, mini shirts, straight jeans, all sorts of cloths which shows all their curves. 

Staff, most of the times, approach them and warn them. This usually does not lead to a Note to File₁ or something harder than that because the girls normally follow after they are warned. 

One day I was having lunch in the mass hall and two girls, who I knew, came walking while they had their trays in their hands. They both had mini-shorts on and they both had beautiful legs! Really beautiful! I admire a girl who works on her legs! I had seen one of them in the gymnasium earlier and had a little talk with her. She, though, was not the one with the more beautiful legs! One of the staff approached them and although I could not hear what they were saying, I know they were asked to go and put something on! They both put their trays down and went to their quarters to get dressed! Although it deprived me, and possibly others, from looking at beautiful legs of them (I'm obsessed with them!), I liked what the staff did! They came back after 10 minutes! They didn't look happy. The food is usually disgusting and I remember on that day it truly was awful and bland and they had to eat the cold version of it.

1) A Note to File is an indication of an undesirable action to a recruit's file. It remains with him or her as long as the file is active and is referred to. It does not have direct impact though)

(Photo: Possibly a volleyball player. The girls shorts was as short as this one and they were both kicked out of mess hall! People need to understand what to wear and where to wear it)

In Enemy Hands

One of the good things in TRP (Training Reintegration Platoon) is the library they have. They have both in English and French. I found a number of good books in English section, of course. I know there are good ones in other section but I know no French. In Enemy Hands is one of them.

The book is about the Canadian servicemen during the WWII who were captured as POW by the enemy forces. As sad as it could be, the stories are interesting at the same time. It shows what those poor guys went through. Hunger, cold, discomfort, stress, injury, sickness, you name it. 

Of course everyone knows what the feelings of a POW might be but reading what they have narrated gives you a better understanding of that. 

The worst of them would be the invasion of Dieppe where Canadians were slaughtered. A large number of them were captured by Germans. The thing about Westerners is if they are defeated they admit that and document it. In East something like this never happens. Iran had a number of disastrous operations during the 8-year Iran-Iraq War which led to losing thousands of troops, mainly volunteers called Basiji but they never admitted the loss and to this day they have never been a true number of casualties of the devastating war. 

This post is not about Iran-Iraq War but I would like to bring an example where Iranians were defeated, unfortunately, due to lack of good leadership, most likely and possibly lack of support as well. Operation Dawn 1 took place in 1983 in eastern Al-Amarah and the human waves of Revolutionary Guards were massacred by Iraqi forces. 

Going back to In Enemy Hands here are two short storied told by Canadians about what happened to them: 

Major Allen Glenn, Calgary Tank Regiment:

This is one of the comments I do remember one of the Germans made: If we knew there were so many of you coming, we would be prepared!

The French nurses at the hospital at Dieppe told us that had been getting up at 4 AM for the last four or five days. They were expecting us.

This, above, shows how unprepared and disorganized Canadians were. Their plan was know days, maybe weeks before it was put in to practice.  I leave it to you to read the rest of the book and decide for yourself whether book is good or not by I recommend that.

(Photo: This map shows the location of town of Dieppe in France. Whether it had any strategic importance or not, I don't know but seems it might have. Otherwise why they would sent troops to there. Just to be humiliated, killed and captured?! I don't think so. I guess one reason was that the Canadians were looking for some action in the war to prove themselves and this opportunity were given to them but as it was under other's command and they lacked air and naval support, they destroyed themselves)

CFLRS Notes (30): Disgusting Fucking Lair(!)

There was this girl that once we had a short conversation with and then we kept that a few more times when we were in the same platoon. She was not so good looking but we have a proverb which goes: Even an old shoe is a property when you find it in desert! So I decided to go with it and even invited her to a coffee outside. I didn't happened but because of her strange accent (she was not Caucasian) I asked her once if she spoke any other language. She replied by saying that she did not. I grew up in Canada, she added. Although it was a bullshit answer, I let it go because you could grew up in Canada and speak any other language rather than English. 

A few days later I saw her with a bag with Hebrew writing on it! Of course it meant she was Jewish and then it was then I realized that she was a stinking piece of shit, disgusting lair! I asked her if she speaks Hebrew and she admitted that. We exchanged a few e-mails mostly in regard to material she wanted and never received(!) because I had no intention to have the smallest relationship with such a freaking, disgusting lair! I even called her once and left her a message as she didn't pick up and stated that she was busy. She also indicated a few times that a friend had come and picked her up and they went for a weekend time-spending. I assume that was her service provider(!) and she was looking for a better option at the time specially when I told her that I would be going to Halifax because she said that she would be going there too and that was when she gave me her e-mail address and telephone number because she said she wanted to have the same discussions with me (We had short political discussions a few times).

Time passed and I didn't see her until one day I was having supper with a few and she came and sat at the table on the only empty seat, next to me. I paid no attention and then I realized that she was talking to someone in French! This was another proof that she was a nasty lair but I didn't say a word. Then after a few minutes she turned to me and said something about going to platoon or similar which was totally untrue (and is unrelated here) and I response said: No! You're delusional. It was not that! She shut the fucked up and said nothing! Perhaps didn't even hear me! 

Then the next morning she was sitting by herself, as she did mostly and I guess that is because almost everyone knew how disgusting she was(!), I saw her and passed by and sat at another table in a way that that she saw me. I even deleted her e-mail address and telephone number from my telephone address book. Simply disgusting!
(Photo: Hillary Clinton, wife of the former president, Bill Clinton, who also was a disgusting and awful lair, was accused of lying during the last presidential campaign against, mainly Trump, here is shown in a funny picture being fed a medicine of truth! Something which probably should be done to that ugly awful girl, although I doubt it works on her!)

CFLRS Notes (29): Playing Chess

You got plenty of free time while on training in CFLRS at times because the training method here is Run ... Run ... Run ... and then Wait ... Wait ... Wait! Unfortunately you cannot use the time you have the way you want and most of it wasted. In TRP (Training Reintegration Platoon) though, at times, you can use this time the way you want. In fact many use it for different thing including volunteering, OJT (On-job Training), etc. Some play cards, read books or simply hang out and talk. I mostly played chess when I had time. At first there was a set which one of the guys had purchased from a local Wal-Mart. Then another fella bought a nice set from a store in town for some $100. And then there was one in the office that guys used. So there were 3 or even 4 sets on the tables and people were playing! It was amazing! Even one of the staff came a few times and he was interested. One of our Sergeants!

I enjoyed that a lot and slaughtered everyone who played against me! In fact there were only two or three that I had to put extra effort. The rest vaporized after a few minutes. The Sergeant then suggested me to start a tournament(!) and it was shortly after I was sent back to regular training.

I continued playing in the platoon although we didn't have same amount of time. I played against a few and beat them of course and then when we came out of our induct, I continued playing through internet sites, mainly Lichess as no one was interested! Normally everyone goes out during the weekend. They go to bars, strip clubs, restaurants, hotels (to have sex with their new partners), etc.

When I sent back to TRP again, as a result of being re-coursed, it was not that much action but I gave it a little push and beat everyone again except for this Oriental girl whom I played against two times. The first time I resigned because I knew I didn't have any chance and I decided to quit honorably(!) instead of being defeated and shamed! The second time our game was interrupted and we abandoned it. She was good.

Chess is a very good game but similar to anything else that could become addiction, this could be an addiction as well. This concept is very well explained in movie The Chess Players by Satyajit Ray. I still think it's better than playing cards or hanging out and bull-shiting each other!

(Photo: An interesting chess set! It looks like a skiff but it's longer. It certainly is not a ship but it's just for fun! The four cannons at the corners look excessive though!)

The Tunnels of Cu Chi

I have watched a number of war movies about Vietnam, the ones that everyone has watched, mostly. To name:

1- Full Metal Jacket.

2- Platoon. 

3- The Deer Hunter.
4- Apocalypse Now.

In none of them the Vietcong tunnels have been mentioned to the extent they actually existed during the war. There's a short scene in Platoon that one of the guys goes into a tunnel and comes out of another entrance and two other soldiers get caught in a booby trap. That's all. When I found The Tunnels of Cu Chi and went through it, I was quite stunned by the way Vietcong treated Americans. I then found another movie in the Internet called Tunnel Rats which the name suggests it could be about underground fighting. I have to watch it first although it's mentioned that it has been a failure but the book is just amazing. It shows how brutal Vietcong guerrillas were towards Americans, not that Americans didn't do anything as bad. Then I realized that the said tunnels now is a tourist attraction in the country! 

Here's some of the interesting parts of the book:

Vietcong soldiers (if the term soldiers could be used for them and I will have a separate post in that regard based on what we were taught in CFLRS) in used tropical animals in the tunnels against Americans. Snakes, Spiders, you name it and there're horrible and scary stories about them in the book. In addition to that the animals themselves were a threat to American soldier because they didn't know what to do with them or what to expect from them. To name Rats were available to a large extent in tunnels and we all know how scary they could be at times. In one instance, and this is what an American serviceman indicates in the book, he turns his flashlight on in the darker-than-night cave-like tunnel and sees a big Rat standing on his back feet (in the book another term is used for back feet which I can't recall) and showing its teeth! He flips out and crawls up the tunnel while firing his rifle. He gets out with all the difficulty he has. The tunnels are all made for the slim body of Vietnamese and of course its difficult for Americans to go up and down easily although at times they intentionally widen parts of the tunnel to lure the Americans in. He gets out, all frightened and starts throwing all sorts of explosives in!
It appears during the book that the tunnels are very well structured and almost immune to all different types of explosives. It's because of the type of soil that Vietnam, generally, has and that is Clay. It's indicated that Vietnam is generally a peasant land and at the time, at least, the majority of population lived in small villages and hamlets and they soil gave them everything they needed. Perhaps not now that every country seems to be industrialized because of the cheap labour they have to make the goods Western countries encourage their citizens or habitats to buy on daily basis even if they don't need them!
Hundreds of book probably have been written about Vietnam War and the good thing is that at least a number of them, I hope, are neutral and tell the truth of that devastating war. Unfortunately something similar to that, as I've indicated earlier, has never been available during Iran-Iraq War, the useless war which destroyed two countries and threw them back years. It is mainly because in Iran, and I'm sure about Iraq but probably the same, all the media is under the government's control. So only the news which had advantage for the warlord government get permission to be broadcasted. 

(Photo: This a scanned copy of the first two pages of the book shows a typical structure of a Vietcong tunnel system. Some people spent as long as 5 years in this rat hole!)

CFLRS Notes (28): Bolt(s)

Bolt is a critical part of rifle that without it shooting does not occur. Bolt is assembled in to another part called Bolt Carrier and is put in the rifle in the back, just ahead of Cocking Handle. Bolt practically moves a round to the Chamber when it comes up from magazine. During the training in CFLRS, and I hope this is not a secret, when the recruits are assigned a rifle, the bolt is taken out, for safety reasons and is put in only during drill practice (to make it heavier!) and shooting. When the bolts are platoon members are out, they are all put in a box and a recruit is assigned to carry the box everywhere the platoon goes. I was in charge of one of the damn boxes which had more than 33 damn bolts and it was freaking heavy! And when I say heavy, I really mean it. I don't exaggerate. The staff usually would let me go ahead of the platoon because I was way slower than the rest. The other box, in our platoon, which was remarkably smaller than usual at the beginning, had only few bolt. The other guy didn't have much trouble but usually there are two guys who chase the platoon while hauling the damn boxes!

I wondered how heavy the damn box was and I was going to measure a bolt, consider the hallow parts of it's cylinder shape, calculate it's volume and using the density formula which is Density = Mass/Volume but I never got the chance! 

The act of putting in or pulling out the Bolt as usual and similar to everything else(!) in CFLRS should take place fast. However there's a time that the Bolt Carrier, which is casually is called Bolt, should be put with much attention and that's when the rifle is stripped (or disassembled) and is now is going to be re-assembled. There're are two tests to be performed before the Bolt can go back in: The first one is hitting the bolt on your palm to make sure that its components are not loose because if they give away when they are in the rifle, there will be a disaster to take them out. The second test which is not actually a test and is an extra step before the Bolt can go in, is to shake it well, downward in a way that rectangle-shape bolt is turned to its proper direction. 

The last thing to mention about this piece is one of the reasons why the Bolts are taken away from recruits which deprives them from a good practice on daily basis when they have the rifle in their possession. Apparently there has been a number of shooting previously in the school or other Canadian bases. A member went bananas and opened fire on people. They intent to prevent that in case someone got live rounds similar to Lowrance (Private Pyle) in Full Metal Jacket and kills someone! 

(Photo: A Bolt Carrier. The bolt is actually the piece at the right side of the assembly with a head similar to cogwheel and that is also one of the parts in the rifle which should be oil-free)

The (Not!) Stolen Vehicle

I did a stupid mistake when I left home for Quebec and that was leaving the car on the street with the hope that nothing happens to it although the car has been broken into once and scratched several times! One day I received a call from Mom indicating that the the car had been gone! Stolen! I was both mad at me and her. I was mad at me because I should not have left the vehicle on the damn street of disgusting downtown Calgary. I was mad at Mom because what I could do from more than 3600 Km away!

I started thinking. This is not a kind of vehicle that could be stolen easily. The time that it was broken into, one of the back doors had been left unlocked accidentally by a passenger. One thing came to mind was: Damn street cleaning but before that I called the damn Calgary Parking Authority. The thieves of the city who make the easiest money! I asked if they had a record of my car. The lady at the other side of line was actually was very nice and helpful and after several minutes she concluded that the car was not in the city parking lot and must have been left on one of the streets around the neighbourhood. 

I asked Mom to check and it was not found until finally a few days later she said that she had seen it parked on a steer not far from the place. She had seen it on her way to a local supermarket. 

We then decided not to leave it there. I forgot to indicate that I had to call the city police and file a stolen vehicle report which later was removed when it was found! 

I asked a new buddy of mine to go with Mom, grabs the car and park it somewhere safe. After that we decided to park it in the underground parking of the apartment just to be sure although we have to pay those thieves $50 a month! I will take the car out as soon as I can and leave that damn neighbourhood as soon as possible. One thing I was sure about was that the car, which was bought brand new in 2009 could not be stolen that easy. It was proven to me!

(Photo: For this post I use this artist's painting of someone trying to break into a car. Hope she or he doesn't mind it)

CFLRS Notes (27): MP (Military Police)

Military Police, with all due respect to the members of this fine organization, is probably one of the most boring jobs there is! In CFLRS their jurisdiction, as far as I know and I hope they don't get upset or anything if they read it, is limited to the garrison itself. I don't think they can do much outside the walls or barrier. The recruits though, could be picked up and charged by any police force in the country! So you get my point! There's no doubt that other bases and operation or mission zones have their own MPs but it's like adding one extra organization to the organizations which already are active in an area and separating their area of work, something which is common and routine in Canada! 

When MPs show up in an area, say kitchen or gymnasium, everyone is alerted and asks one another if the have done something, for example last night! It reminds me of an old Persian proverb which my Dad used to use it and it literally is: When you go for a rock (to pick it up to throw), the thief cat jumps back! It might be hard to understand for the ones who are not familiar with the culture! 

It means the one who has done something bad and expected to be caught sooner or later, jumps up as soon as sees an authority.  

The interesting thing is that even when they go somewhere very calmly just to check on something (or look for someone as we really don't know what they are after, that could be that as well!) they leave their car in the middle of the road with its beacons on! I guess they do that to make it more exciting for themselves and also create fear in the possible criminals and everyone else! 

(Photo: Military Police shoulder patch on a member and of course it's bilingual as it's a Government agency. Another person is seen in distance. I don't know what this photograph is about but I hope neither the owner nor the MP is concerned about it)

Canadian War Museum

We had a trip to Ottawa once as part of CFLRS recruits to visit the Canadian War Museum. It was not such a pleasant trip but it was mandatory. So I tagged along! It was not pleasant because at the end I realized we had to answer a number of stupid questions in a format! Questions such as " How many tanks were available to Canadian Armed Forces at the end of WWII? " (One thousand exclamation marks). How is that going to help me in my military career?! You know what the answer is: This shows whether you were paying attention to detail or not! It means that even in a trip which is planned for relaxation and enjoyment, supposedly, they still want to torture people! Of course I didn't spend even one single minute on the question and got them all from other guys when we returned!

As per the museum I have to say that it was not bad. Quite similar to The Military Museums in Calgary only bigger and newer because it's only a few hundred meters away from Parliament Hill and gets good funds from the Government! 

I tried to see as many things as possible but it takes more time than it seems specially if you plan to read all of the signs and stories because the museum covers everywhere that Canada has been involved as a military force except for Afghanistan which will be soon added. 

The museum, as usual, has a gift shop and cafe. Gift shop, obviously, has good items but all expensive, which is not a surprise. The cafe has a same story. I guess I paid more than $2 for a cup of coffee which surprisingly was not bad. The other items as expensive as usual, which is made of course for Canadians who mostly, or generally spend $1.6 for every $1 they make! 

Our lunch was the disgusting military lunch box which comprises of a damn sandwich is probably made 2 years and half ago(!), a number of sugary, filled-with-preservatives snacks, disgusting Genetically Modified(!) small carrots and a few more disgusting things that I don't even remember. 

I'm not sure what the admission is but it's free for military persons with a limited number of family members but honestly who wants to see a military museum rather a military person! Most of the visitors at the time we were there looked like they were had something with military. The admission is around $17. You can spend the whole day there if you're interested in Canadian military history. At the end I would like to add this that they have a bookstore too. It is located at the back somewhere and that was a little surprise to me because Canadians are good readers but I guess that wasn't not the case there because they located the bookshop in the back with barely anyone going there while people were all in the cafe stuffing themselves with healthy(!) usual Western style food. Perhaps no one needed to feed his or brain at the time!

(Photo: V1 and V2 missiles had significant destruction to London in the last year of WWII. This one is a preliminary model of V1 which was supposed to be manned. You can see the cockpit at the left side of the picture. The navigator was supposed to jump out shortly before the missile reaches its target, which minimum chance of survival. The Germans later corrected their design and made the unmanned one and targeted London and Antwerp as much as I know. There's a whole history of rocket development in Germany and the US if someone is interested)

CFLRS Notes (26): The Second FORCE Test

The FORCE Test should be performed by the recruits for the second in week 8 of their training to see if they have improved or not. I have to admit that my improvement was even a surprise to myself. All the PT sessions and hard work paid. 

For those ones who don't know FORCE Test comprises of 4 exercises: 

1- Rushes of 20 m.: In this test the person runs between marked distances of 10 meters and every time he or she has to touches the line with his front foot first and then touches behind the line with both hands. 

2- Sandbag Lift: The person has to lift sandbags of 20 Kg which are put aside in a distance of 1.25 m., to height of 1 m. for 30 times in a specified time.

3- Loaded Shuffles: In this test the person has first take a sandbag of 20 Kg to the other side (I guess 20 m.) and return it, only while walking and then drops it and runs the same distance. This should be repeated twice.

4- Sandbag Drag: This, which feels the hardest one, is dragging a dummy made of four 20 Kg sandbags. The person has to carry one with his or her hand, increasing the weight to 100 Kg.

My time for the first part was 00:33 min. while the fastest person in the group got 00:29. It was possible for me to get closer to that. My time for the second part was 00:57 which was not bad at all. I don't recall the 3rd and 4th times but I was told by the examiners that I declined on the forth test. Overall I fall under Silver section with only 20 points from Gold which is a significant improvement from the first one. 

(Photo: This 4-section picture shows the starting positions of all 4 sections of the test)

CFLRS Notes (25): The Optical Sight Story

Recruits normally get to their lockers on the main floor before going back to their section to get their stored stuff. They might do that a few times during the day. Once we all went to the lockers to get our exercise stuff before going back to our rooms. I laid down my rifle close to me and opened my locker while I had an eye on it. Recruits are not supposed to have their rifles more than an arm away from them. I realized someone put her rifle next to mine to open her locker. She showed her displeasure by saying: Whose rifle is this?! I paid no attention and carried on with my own business. I noticed that she finished and left before me but forgot her Optical Sight! I was waiting for her to come back because normally sane people(!) would immediately realize that something is missing on the rifle. She didn't! 

I grabbed it and put it in my pocket. It's unbelievable that someone climbs up 7 floors without looking at her rifle even once or feeling, with any other sense, that it's missing! What a dumb! Is that how you're going to serve the CAF?! You're a disgrace to any armed forces! 

We went back to the rooms and headed down, again, this time for supper. At the table I discussed the situation with a number of guys and they all suggested me to return the item to the gal. I truly didn't want to return that because I believe someone as careless as her should be punished, no matter how big the penalty would be, for her incompetency. 

We went back to get ready for the night and there she was coming to me practically begging to return the Optical Sight to her! She mentioned that she had, quoting, bad people in her previous(!) platoon. I didn't know what she meant by that. I asked her to tell me the item's serial number but she stated that she didn't know that! I then wrote down the serial number in my notebook and attempted to take a photo of the Sight but that didn't mean anything because the serial number cannot be read. It could be my own item! I finally handed it to her and advised her to be more careful. She thanked and left. What an idiot!

(Picture: C79 optical sight mounted on a C7A2 rifle)

CFLRS Notes (24): What the Valuable Time was Spent on

Everyone brags about how great their life will be after they join CAF; their benefits, salaries and most importantly, their pension. That's totally understandable. After years of misery, you, as a retired CAF member, would get a reasonable pension that you can manage the rest of life with less worry.

For me this is different. I have this great poem from one of the greatest which goes:

عمر گرانمایه در این صرف شد

تا چه خورم سیف و چه پوشم شتا

ای شکم خیره به نانی بساز

تا نکنی‌ پشت به خدمت دوتا

It means: 

The precious life was spent on what to wear this summer and to eat in winter. Oh the stubborn human being! Just accept whatever is available and you will have an easy life and won't have to bow to everyone. 

I know it's probably not the best interpretation but I hope it transfers the message. This great poem and many others is from the great Persian poet, Saadi Shirazi who was born around 1210 and two of the greatest poem books of the all time, Bustan and Golestan, both mean Garden of Flowers of different kinds and they really are garden of flowers which will never perish.  

I will go back to civilian life and do my best to get a job in my field. If I can't I will try to get a regular job and will live with that. That will not be the end of the world. It will be much better than going the misery of CAF life. Sorry CAF members, it's just not for me. You guys all enjoy your military lives and its benefits. 

(Photo: Tomb of Saadi, the great Persian Poet drawn by French architect Pascal Coste. He traveled to Iran during Qajar dynasty and drew pictures of many ancient places which today have significant value as a number of them do not exist)

CFLRS Notes (23): PRB

PBR, in CFLRS, stands for Performance Review Board and your file is reviewed and evaluated by such board after your performance is considered poor, such as mine. I failed a number of major and minor tests and I had to sit in front of the board comprising four members: The Division Commander, the Platoon Commander, one person from Standards and another person who seemed to be some sort of comforting and aid to the interviewee.

I was nervous and intimidated at the beginning but after entering the room and talking to them I felt much better. The fact is I found that military is not the working environment that I want to be in. The people that I named them above they all were sitting there and gazing at me senseless. No emotion, no reaction, no movement, nothing! I was using my hands and smiling during my conversation because that's how I've talked to people for years but no reaction was seen from them. I don't think someone like me with such a terrible performance would want to give this opportunity another chance. The Captain went through everything and asked me about the slightest flaw that is mentioned in my profile whether it was a legitimate one or not, in my view, of course. In military they never ask for your side of the story. As soon as someone goes and tells them something about you, it is automatically part of your profile.

I told them that I wanted to request Voluntary Release but I was told that it was a separate process and I had to wait for the decision of the board. I was directed outside by the supposedly aid guy and waited there for about 10 min. When I went back in the verdict(!) was delivered as: Re-coursed to week two. I was asked if I had any question. I said no, thanked the Captain and left after I was dismissed. 

I sighed after I came out because I was expecting them to be harsher on me. I'm even denied the chance of going to the NCM and I know I would have the same issues. It was the best. 

CFLRS Notes (22): The Fork Story

I've already written about the bad food that is served in CFLRS and how I have to avoid eating it. This story is partially related to that:

I got my food and sat at the table with a few platoon buddies. I grabbed my fork to start eating when I realized that the fork was dirty. Food or something was stuck to it! I rose my hand and said something like: That's what I don't like the food and everything else related to that here! And then after a moment of pause I threw the fork at the side! I still don't know why I did that. It was stupid but perhaps because I'm sick of the garbage the fed us there! As soon as I threw the fork and I still was looking right at in front of me, I heard someone went: What the F**k very loudly! I turned that way and realized that was my Sergeant from the previous platoon! I had missed him probably by an inch! If I had been faster in throwing the damn fork, I would not have been here to write this. I might have been charged or something like that! I felt very bad because he was a very nice gentleman, helped me during marching drill and everything. He also accompanied me when I was sent to the hospital (hôpital as the French call it!) in the town. I apologized to him several times and he left after he gave a dirty look which I deserved!

People all around were laughing and were pleased by the scene that I had made, unintentionally, of course! I explained to them that I had buttery fingers when I grabbed that fork and it simply flew off my hand when I rose my hand and my intention was only to show them that the fork was dirty. I guess I sold that very well. I saw later that Sergeant was talking to our staff and I thought I would be in trouble for that. At least I would get a Note to File for my unduly behaviour, I thought. I was ready to narrate the same story for my staff but nothing happened. I escaped a punishment! 

(Photo: For this post I selected an interesting fork design picture)

CFLRS Notes (21): Gas Chamber

One of the tests/activities during the second Farnham trip is practicing chemical attack protection simulation. This by far the stupidest and most ridiculous of all the subjects of basic training! I've already posted about the concept of CBRN and how it is looked at in CAF. This activity is the testing of that.
This is how it's, partially, performed and I have to stress here that I have no intention to reveal any military secret or similar. So I provide as less detail as possible.
You're waiting to enter a gas chamber. You're in full protective suit and your mask is attached to you. As soon as the instructor orders, you rush in to the room where another staff is awaiting you. You're supposed to take your mask on in a matter of seconds. As I entered I felt burning in my throat and my eyes! That, as I was informed later, was Tear Gas to simulate a situation that someone might have during a CBRN attack. I took my mask immediately and tried to put it on but according to the instructor it was not properly on. So he threw me out and I waited for my second chance! This time I went to another instructor which he seemed more lenient! This time I was able to pass and then I was sent to the next room to do practice some sort of cleaning and then we were sent out!
I forgot to mention that I saw a couple of French girls whom where not able to do the practice correctly the first time and they came out crying and cursing!
(Photo: The US Army has the same practice for their basic training as CAF as it's seen in this picture here. A recruit enters a gas chamber and has to react immediately while the instructors and examiners evaluate his or her performance)