When he called and asked for assistance, it didn’t take me long to consent. My acquaintance, Warren Ralph, needed a guest to perform the duties of the Reviewing Officer at a ceremony recognizing young people in his military cadet corps. I said I had no experience. But Ralph said it was easy. They would lead me through it.
“But I’ve never been the Reviewing Officer before,” I said.
“Piece of cake,” Capt. Ralph said. “All you have to do is walk through the ranks of the cadets with the Parade Commander at your side.”
After I put the phone down, my imagination conjured up images of what I might have to do in my temporary role as Reviewing Officer striding through the ranks of young impressionable soldiers. I’d seen those encounters before on TV, where the Queen or a visiting dignitary is invited to walk past long lines of soldiers who are looking straight ahead at ramrod stiff attention and the dignitary tries to engage them. I’d often wondered what was said between the rank and file soldiers and the Reviewing Officer. Now I was about to find out.
The first thing I did, however, was to study the history of the regiment whose troops I was to review last Sunday, May 29. These young cadets – mostly teenagers from the 337 Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps – were members of a rather storied organization called The Queen’s York Rangers.
Founded more than 250 years ago by Major Robert Rogers, the Rangers provided British forces in the New World with access to the frontier, in the Seven Years War between Britain and France. As I read the regiment’s 18th century history, I suddenly recalled an image of actor Spencer Tracey wading through frontier swamps in the 1940 movie Northwest Passage (later they turned it into a TV series too). It was the showbiz version of Maj. Rogers on the New Hampshire frontier. But that was Hollywood. And The Rangers and their modern-day cadets are very real.
When I arrived at the North York arena that would serve as The Rangers’ reviewing space, the young men and women were rehearsing the event; indeed senior officers had already handed out some of the awards to deserving cadets. They’d received merit badges, rank promotions and recognition from the Royal Canadian Legion and others for years of service.
That’s when I met the Parade Commander, who, I was promised, would shortly lead me through the official review. Chief Warrant Officer Bianca Lee, was all of five-foot-five-inches tall, slender and not what one might expect in a parade commander. Yet wielding her ceremonial sword and bedecked in an array of medals, this 17-year-old cadet appeared very much in control. She was also the Regimental Sergeant Major. Then, when I was marched to the edge of the parade square, RSM Lee strode toward me, drew her sword, saluted me and asked my permission to join her in a review of the cadets.
“Permission granted,” I adlibbed. And we were off.
Photo courtesy Madeleine Nelson.
I later learned that Bianca Lee, like so many cadets, gives up evenings and free time each week to train, practise parade drills and conduct simulated military operations. Earlier this spring, their adult Commanding Officer Keon Lee told me the cadets faced the prospect of an overnight camp set-up during a spring snowstorm. “I’m proud to say, despite the expected discomfort, every one of the cadets volunteered to carry out the camping operation,” Lee said.
At one end of the lined-up troops, RSM Lee handed me off to one of three troop leaders to lead me through an inspection of the ranks. For me, that meant trying to converse with a cadet or two. I asked one about the components of The Queen’s Rangers cap badge. I asked another about the significance of the red berets they wore; it’s because their unit wore the insignia of military police. But then I had some fun.
“So just how bad was the notorious spring snowstorm camp site?”
I got a smile in return. And the young cadet relaxed a bit.
After the inspection, I was asked to speak to the cadets for a few minutes. I noted that the group didn’t appear to have a motto. I offered one. I suggested, like those who’d gone before them – soldiers in colonial times and modern times – there was devotion to the regiment, dedication to the tasks they faced, and a sense of duty to their community.
When my work was done, I got compliments from the adult members of the regiment. But I really wanted to know if the cadets got something out of it. It wasn’t long before young Bianca Lee marched up to me.
“I appreciated your remarks, sir,” she said in formal, but honest tone. “It really connected with the cadets.”
No Reviewing Officer could have asked for a greater compliment.
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