Yarmouth, NS, Canada
Andre Boudreau
Current Location: South Ohio, Yarmouth County, NS, Canada
My United Nations Tour was from Nov 1975 to May 1976 with the United Nations Emergency Force Middle East (UNEFME), and was stationed in Ismailia, Egypt situated on the west bank of the Suez Canal.
In the spring of 1975, the military was looking for Reservists to fill positions on UN Tours to alleviate the pressure on the Regular Force. Our unit, the 84th Independent Field Battery in Yarmouth, NS, was asked for members to volunteer. I was chosen and began the screening process which included medical, dental and immunizations.
Because we were Reservists, we had to complete training before deploying. In September, I traveled to CFB Gagetown to be trained with the other Reservists from the Maritimes who would be on the tour. The training involved weapons training, First Aid, and refresher training. Canada provided the Logistics Battalion for UNEFME, so training also included supply procedures, and I had to work in all the different supply sections on the Base.
After the training was completed, we were sent home for leave and, in early November, we started the long trip to Ismailia, first from home to CFB Trenton, ON, then on to CFB Lahr, West Germany by Canadian Forces aircraft, a Boeing 707. The final leg was from Lahr to Cairo, then by UN bus to Ismailia.
My job when I arrived was the clerk for the Company Sergeant-Major, and the Commanding Officer’s driver. I was responsible for maintaining the duties and Leave Records for the Company, and I also preformed general duties in the Supply Compound. For the second part of my tour, I was the second in charge of the Ration Section where I had the opportunity to go into the markets to issue fresh rations to the different contingents.
For a young soldier from a small fishing village this was a great experience and a eye opener on how poor some people are. It gave me the opportunity to see Israel, Lebanon, Syria, the Holy Land, the Pyramids, the Sphinx, sail on the Suez Canal and cross it on an Egyptian Army Pontoon Bridge.
Some of the things I remember are Remembrance Day, standing in front of the headstone of a British Air Force Sgt buried in a British War Cemetery; taking a camel ride at the Pyramids and the attendant wanting me to pay to get off when the ride was over; and watching workers building a road by moving gravel in baskets on their heads.
One day we had to destroy expired and contaminated rations. Soldiers from the Polish Contingent first dug a hole in the desert before we could start unloading the rations. A large group of Egyptians started to gather and come towards us, and by the time we started driving away, they were starting to climb onto the truck, so we had to go get some armed security guards. When we returned, the crowd started to return, but they held back once they saw the Armed Guards. We unloaded and burned the rations and canned goods. Once this was done, we had it buried. The next day we went to look at it and the locals had dug up and taken what they could. When you have very little, you will eat what you can.
This was my only UN Tour in my 40-year military career, and the only Christmas I spent away from home. It was a positive experience and convinced me to join the Regular Army. On this tour I made lifelong friends that I am still in contact with today.
Biography
André was born in Yarmouth, NS. He grew up in a small Acadian Village where Fishing was the main industry. He didn't want to be a fisherman, so he joined the Canadian Forces on 3 July 1972 as an Artilleryman in the Reserves and transferred to the Regular Force in May 1977
During his time with the Artillery, he completed tours in Germany and a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping tour in Egypt. He was posted to the Artillery School, then to Range Control in Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Gagetown, and while there he completed his Combat Leaders Course and Sergeant qualifying course. Posted to CFB Shilo in 1981, he served with the Royal Canadian Artillery Battle School and with 3rd Regiment of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery.
In January 1985, André left the Guns to join the Engineers as a Construction Engineer (CE) Technician (Survey and Drafting). He completed his new trade’s training in July 1985, and reverted to Corporal from Sergeant. His first posting was to 1 Construction Engineering Unit (1 CEU) at CFB Winnipeg. There he applied his new trade working on drawings for large projects in Canadian Forces Station Alert and around the world. When not in the office he was away from home surveying runways and Radar Sites throughout Canada, including the Arctic.
In September 1987, he was off to Canadian Forces School of Mechanical Engineering (CFSME) for his next level of trades training and, in the summer of 1988, was posted to CFB Baden Soellingen, West Germany. In 1989, he was promoted to Master Corporal, but was then over ranked for his position, so in 1990 he was posted to the CE Section in CFB Cornwallis. In 1991 he was promoted Sgt and posted to CE CFB Gagetown, where he supervised the Drafting Office. In 1993, and again in 1995, he attended his next level qualification courses.
In 1995 he was posted to 1 CEU Moncton, where he spent the next five years on survey jobs in locations like Dundurn, Borden, Petawawa, Valcartier, Alert, and Eureka, to mention a few. During this five-year period, he also completed two six-month tours of Bosnia with the Works and Design Company in Sarajevo and as a member Technical Assistance Visit to Macedonia in support of the first rotation of Canadian troops to Kosovo (KFOR).
Promoted to Warrant Officer in 1999, he was posted to CE at 14 Wing Greenwood in 2000 and deployed to Alert as the Production Superintendent from Feb to Aug 2000. In 2002, he was promoted to Master Warrant Officer (MWO) and posted to CE CFB Halifax where he held several jobs such as Operations MWO, Contacts Officer, and the Naval Construction Troop Officer. In the fall of 2004, he deployed on OP UNISON to the Southern U.S. after Hurricane Katrina. Getting there was the big adventure with a six-day sail on HMCS Toronto.
André was posted to CFSME as the Construction Engineering Training Squadron Sergeant-Major in July 2006. On promotion to Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) in 2008, he was posted to Ottawa working for the Assistant Deputy Minister (Infrastructure and Environment).
In July 2009, he became the first Chaplain Branch CWO and, in 2011, he moved to Canadian Operational Support Command, Engineer Group. André and his wife Beverly retired to South Ohio, Yarmouth County in 2012.
Christmas Day 1975.
Enjoying the sun after work, 1976.