Joining the army in Canada is something that many Chinese people are interested in. Military service is also an honor to fulfill the obligations of the country. Everyone has heard that the treatment of being a soldier is good, and there are not many opportunities to go to the battlefield, which is relatively safe. Being a soldier in Canada is completely different from being in China. How do Canadian soldiers live? From the stories of several Chinese soldiers, a corner of the mystery of military camp life can be unveiled.
Liu Cong displayed the commendation certificate issued by the military, the military uniform ceremonial medal and other items
Liu Cong (center) recently returned from the front line in Afghanistan, and his parents went to the airport to greet him
Baptism of Fire Experience honor and responsibility
Originally from Chengdu, China, Liu Cong immigrated to Canada with his parents at the age of 10 and settled in Liezhiwen. Liu Cong, who set up his ambition to join the military from a young age, applied to join the army after graduating from middle school at the age of 16, and became a Canadian reserve soldier a year later. On June 8, 2010, after seven months of intensive training, he became a regular soldier and arrived in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan, on a military mission, working as an army mechanical maintenance technician, mainly responsible for repairing armored vehicles, tanks and other combat vehicles.
After completing nearly half a year's military mission, Liu Cong withdrew from Afghanistan to Canada in early November 2011. According to the resolution of the Canadian Parliament, Canadian troops were withdrawn from July 2011 until december. Therefore, Liu Cong is also a Canadian soldier who is close to the final withdrawal.
Liu Cong, a corporal of the Canadian Army, said that half a year of battlefield life is always shrouded in tension and pressure, and the most dangerous time was when Taliban terrorists fired rockets, which exploded only 15 meters away, almost killing him and his comrades on the battlefield.
Liu Cong's father and grandfather both had military experience. He came from a military family. Liu Cong said that before the expedition, he was ready to die, and the battlefield made him mature, and he deeply realized the true meaning of honor, responsibility and obligation.
Liu Cong and his comrades-in-arms who returned home from completing their mission recently took a special military plane and flew from Kandahar to the Mediterranean Cyprus camp for 3 days to rest. Fly back to Canada. This is a military practice to provide a transition period for military personnel who have just left the battlefield to adapt to the transition back to a peaceful life.
Liu Cong told reporters that when he withdrew from Afghanistan, he and his companions were tasked with inspecting, cleaning and repairing all kinds of combat vehicles used by the army, and then transporting them back to Canada in batches. In the past six months, Liu Cong has participated in the maintenance of a large number of chariots, including 111 LAV3 light armed combat vehicles; 38 Bison chariots; 10 Coyotes chariots.
Barracks are attacked every day
Liu Cong is not the most dangerous front-line combatant in Afghanistan, working in the barracks to repair chariots on weekdays, although he does not have to leave the barracks, he still feels that his life is always in danger. The biggest danger, he said, was that Taliban militants fired old-of-the-first Soviet rockets from the surrounding barracks, receiving on average daily attacks. The military has set up a tight alarm system for the barracks, and when there is a rocket attack, the barracks will sound the alarm, warning everyone to take shelter. But rocket attacks are often very sudden, sometimes exploding in military barracks before the alarm sounds.
Liu Cong said that the closest he was to death was a few weeks before he left Afghanistan, he had just pulled a repaired chariot to the parking lot to park, and when he drove a car back to the maintenance warehouse with his comrades-in-arms, a deafening loud noise suddenly sounded in the back, Liu Cong said that at that time, he immediately felt a double tinnitus and headache, and when he subconsciously looked back, a white smoke and a huge dust mist rose about 15 meters away, and soon the alarm sounded, and later confirmed that it was a rocket attack by Taliban elements.
Stay alert during sleep
After the attack, the military doctor immediately performed physical examinations on Liu Cong and his comrades-in-arms such as hearing and brain to confirm that there were no injuries.
Liu Cong said that since deciding to sign up for Afghanistan, as a soldier, he clearly knows the significance of going to the front and is ready to face death. A former soldier who arrived in Afghanistan was trained in Chilliwack, BC, where a soldier trained with Mr. Liu was recently killed by a Taliban suicide bomb along with several U.S. troops. Liu Cong said that he had seen this white soldier many times, and when he thought of such a young life, he suddenly disappeared, truly felt the cruelty of war, and also experienced the honor and dedication of soldiers to defend their families and country.
Liu Cong revealed that the Kandahar military camp is located on the battlefield, and the commander of the unit ordered that although they are maintenance technicians, the C-7A2 automatic rifle with the loaded bullet must be placed next to them so that the enemy can fight immediately when they attack. Half a year of living in the battlefield enabled him to form the ability to remain alert in his sleep.
Conceal the fact that both parents signed up for the front line
Liu Cong's father and grandfather both served in the Chinese army, and he aspired to join the army from an early age. After graduating from high school in Canada, he applied to join the army, and signed up to go to Afghanistan to conceal his parents from secretly carrying out it, so as to achieve "raw rice and cook mature rice", so that his parents could not stop it. Liu Cong's father said that as a father, he was of course worried about the safety of his only child, but he supported him to be loyal to the country.
Liu Cong has always believed that the soldiers who have been on the battlefield are the real soldiers, and once joined the Canadian army that welcomed them back from Afghanistan, and their proud smiles made Liu Cong very envious, so he decided to go to the front.
Liu Cong secretly began to prepare, using his free time to study, and in January last year, he obtained the Canadian Army Mechanical Repair Level 4 certificate, meeting the requirements of the front line. Liu Cong said that his parents did not stop him from joining the army, but he was not sure whether they could let themselves go to the battlefield, so he simply secretly signed up and accepted an interview, and finally got a place to go to Kandahar.
Liu Cong's father, Liu Jiang, had been a special soldier in an independent division in Xinjiang, China for 3 years before immigrating, and had received strict field survival and combat training. Liu Cong's grandfather, who served in the Platon Army garrison in Tibet for nearly 10 years, was engaged in vehicle and ordnance repair like Liu Cong.
Liu Jiang said that he understood the sense of honor of the soldiers the most, and when he picked up his son at the airport, liu cong, was only a Chinese among the dozens of soldiers, and he was proud of being a father, and felt that since the Chinese had become Canadians, they would serve the country. Liu Jiang said that he has always supported his son's entry into the army, and although he was a little worried after learning that he secretly signed up for the front, he still chose to support. Liu Cong's mother was more opposed to her son going to the front, but after the persuasion of father and son, she could only agree.
Drink coffee for fitness and stress relief
Liu Cong said that soldiers are not ordinary employees, in the battlefield to work and live in extraordinary conditions, in addition to enduring the psychological pressure of death and injury at any time, but also to face overloaded work, working 18 hours a day is a common thing. He said that one of the ways to reduce stress is to go to the gym to stay active, and in addition, he often goes to the Tim Hortons fast food chain in the barracks to drink coffee and sit down.
Before Liu Cong went to the battlefield, he signed a one-year contract with the military, from a reserve soldier to a regular soldier, and then transferred back to the reserve army after the expiration of the contract. When working as a reserve army in Canada, Liu Cong had to set aside 4 half-days a month and two full-day days a weekend to be called to training at any time. His average daily salary at the time was $77.8, up from $1,700 at the highest monthly salary.
The monthly salary on the battlefield is more than 6,000
Liu Cong's monthly salary in Afghanistan is 6,200 yuan, and in addition to deducting military pensions and employment insurance (EI), income does not have to pay income tax, which is also a state reward for frontline soldiers.
Liu Cong said that the working hours in the barracks were to work for 7 consecutive days before there was a half-day break. Work at least 7.5 hours a day and more than 18 hours.
When he first arrived in Kandahar, Liu Cong rested in the big tent (and then turned into a fixed board room), and the sound of aircraft bombing and gunfire was non-stop all night, which was difficult to sleep at first, and later he got used to being loud and sleeping. The food in the barracks was good, with meat, fish, eggs, fresh vegetables and fruits, and hot bathing, but to prevent disease and poisoning by the enemy, everyone in the barracks drank bottled water.
Mr. Liu said the military issued a 30-minute phone card a month for servicemen to contact their families in Canada. Internet access is available in the barracks, but it is slow.