Montréal, QC, Canada
Sylvain Boulian
Current Location: Dieppe, NB, Canada
In 1978, while I was with the CCUNEFME group in Egypt, from May to November, we were in Camp El Gala, Ismailia, approximately 115 km, south of Cairo. Our Commanding Officer tasked our Engineering group to head out to a Canadian Telecommunication post in the desert. This post was in Wadi Reina, Egypt, which was only 50 minutes from our Canadian camp, in the Sinai Peninsula.
To get there from the camp, we took a ferry that took us across the Suez Canal, under the surveillance and protection from the UN Polish Police. After crossing the canal, we arrived on the Sinai Peninsula. The desert temperature was horrid with gust of winds. Once we got to the post, our mission was to construct washroom facilities for our Canadian military members. Approximately halfway to the destination, we overheard on the military communication radio that a terrible sandstorm was coming very rapidly towards us. A few minutes later, we could hardly see the asphalt on the road as it was rapidly being covered by sand. We could see the bigger sandstorm arriving rapidly. We made a quick decision to get out of our small jeep and cover all crevasses, nooks and crannies with duct/gun tape, where sand could affect our air intakes and covered all cracks with tape to prevent sand to get in.
The storm lasted approximately 10 minutes, sometimes at a very violent speed. After the storm passed, we radio to the camp to advise that we were ok, but no connection was made. As we were waiting for the storm to pass, we looked around our vehicle as mounds of sand formed around our vehicle. After removing the tape from the inside of the jeep, we went outside the vehicle and noticed that because the sand was moved around, we could see piles of military mines close to the road. We again tried to contact our camp to check in, when suddenly we heard a very loud noise coming from the front of our jeep. There was a sand plow clearing the road of sand. We stopped the vehicle and told the driver that we were close to a land mine field. He then contacted someone by radio.
After clearing out our jeep from sand, we continued to the post station safely. The following day, our team met with the reminder of our team and started building the shower facility. On the first couple of shovels in the sand, we came across a nest of scorpions. Hundreds came out of that nest. We were certainly scared of these little but deadly beasts and did not know what to do as we didn’t receive any training when faced in this situation.
We continued with our construction project. While we were at that post, we had the opportunity to meet other UN Soldiers. Most of them were from Indonesia but some came from Ghana. Luckily, I had brought my guitar and got together with the foreign UN soldier, singing songs from Canadian singers. A few days later, once our project was completed, we returned to the camp, bypassing the area where we saw the military mines and saw that they had been picked up. During that time in that project, the temperature reached +40oC, of which we were getting used to. We were all glad to return to our camp.
Biography
I was born in Montréal, QC. My career in uniform started when I joined the Sea Cadets at age 13, until I joined the CAF when I turned 17 years old. My dad had to vouch for me at that young age. He was very proud, as he was himself an RCAF World War II veteran. It was easy for me to adapt to this new life in uniform with my experience in cadets, when I arrived at basic training in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC. After graduation, I had to join the Basic English language course at the Language School for two months, and then English language advance training for another two months, in preparation for my trade course, which started in September 1973, lasting for six months. My original trade was Structural Technician and later became a Construction Manager. I was then posted to CFB Cold Lake for five and a half years. During that time, I went to CFS Alert for a major construction project, followed by more courses.
After getting married in 1977, I received a tasking for my first UN mission. The location was Egypt, under the UNEFME, Operation Danaca. Other postings were, CFB Montréal, CFB Edmonton and CFB Lahr. I was then selected a second time to be part of a UN deployment in Croatia/Bosnia Op Harmony in 1995. I retired in 1997 from the CAF after 25 years of service.
During my life, on a couple of occasions, I was back in uniform as a Canadian Corps of Commissioners security agent, deployed to the Canadian Space Agency, Revenue Canada, CSIS and Calgary Police Services.
I continued with my trade experience with the Calgary Catholic School District for 15 years as a Project Manager and retired for a second time. At the same time, I rejoined the CAF as a Cadet Instructor Cadre with the RCN for another 10 years, reaching the Commanding Officer’s position.
We moved to Ottawa in 2015, where I continued working as a project manager for the Francophone School district for a year and then later worked for the Museum of Nature as the Facility Officer for the next 4 years. Looking for retirement, as I never went to the east cost provinces, we moved to Dieppe, NB, where I recently reside, to continue exploring our beautiful Canada.
During my life, the CAF helped me to become a full knowledgeable Canadian, having traveled across our country and gained excellent experience in becoming a good leader.
I have joined numerous groups as volunteer, with participations such as, a hockey coach, a soccer coach, a PTA President, webmaster for veterans’ organizations, presenter with The Memory Project and still connected and glad to be with helping the multiple veterans’ associations. My recent projects are now as a guitar instructor with the VETS organization and a member of the Care and Support Advocacy Group and the Veterans Affair Canada.
Sandstorm.
Me in Camp El Gala, Ismailia, Egypt, May 1978.