Born in China and raised in Richmond, 27-year-old Master Cpl. Cong Liu is, in many ways, a typical reservist at the Sherman Armoury, located at the corner of No. 4 Road and Alderbridge Way.
“I went right into the army,” said the McRoberts secondary graduate, who works as a warranty claims technician for Finning Canada by day and moonlights as a Canadian Armed Forces reservist by night.
Liu has spent the better part of the past decade committed to the Canadian military in various capacities. With numerous temporary full-time contracts under his belt to become an army vehicle technician, at one point Liu spent three months in Afghanistan fixing vehicles “inside the wire.”
His one venture “outside the wire” (beyond the base) and into Kandahar was uneventful, but eye-opening nonetheless.
It was “hot, stinky and loud,” but the “people were nice,” explained Liu.
Sherman Armoury, complete with an armoured tank on the front lawn, is home to 12 Company of 39 Service Battalion — a unit of B.C.’s 39 Brigade Group. The battalion serves to train about 130 reservists on an ongoing, part-time basis and has about 30 full-time troops stationed at the facility, which includes a 55-hectare forest behind it that is sporadically used for outdoor exercises.
The battalion’s stated purpose is to provide the Canadian military with a competent reserve force for support services during domestic emergencies and international military and expeditionary operations, when required. Reserves learn to become specialists in support services, such as transportation logistics, radio communications, cooking and mechanics. Liu, a veteran reservist, teaches other reservists, all of whom get trained to operate the standard-issue C7A2 rifle.
“Reservists are augmentation for regular forces,” explained Capt. Timothy Wong.
“So, feeding people is very important. Without that logistics support, they aren’t going anywhere,” said Wong.
Reservists with specialized support skills are particularly important during domestic emergencies.
“Every domestic operation is not fighting. If there’s a national emergency, it’s not the guys with the guns. . . We’re here to help people,” added Wong.
Reservists, such as the ones stationed in Richmond, can be called upon to help in natural disasters, such as major forest fires and floods.
Richmond residents ought not breathe too much easier for having the armoury so close to home, because in the event of the most likely emergency this city will face — a flood — the battalion would be under water and emergency military operations would likely be organized out of its sister unit in Chilliwack.
However, if a major earthquake shook Lulu Island and it didn’t result in major flooding, the armoury could act as a logistics hub. Importantly, the armoury is supplied with radio equipment, should cell phone networks be destroyed.
Reservists are also called upon to provide preventative safety measures across Canada, such as avalanche control.
Inside the armoury’s mechanics hangar can be found a number of full-time soldiers who keep a fleet of transportation vehicles and military equipment up to snuff.
The vehicles and equipment are moved around units in B.C. and Alberta, according to needs.
Sgt. Dominic Drapeau specializes in maintaining howitzers (canons) and on the day the Richmond News visited the armoury, he was ensuring the components of a 105-mm C3 Howitzer were in good condition for the next time it’s sent out to a mountain pass for avalanche control.
Many full-time staff members at the armoury are merely stationed temporarily in Richmond, as opposed to living in the city permanently. For instance, Drapeau was born in Quebec and spent about a decade stationed in Edmonton. He was transferred to Richmond earlier this year. Troops have to find their own living arrangements, something Drapeau said he found difficult.
Meanwhile, reservists, such as Liu, are typically from Richmond, according to Wong.
In many cases, such as Liu’s, reservists double-up their day jobs and their military contributions.
For instance, Cpl. Steven Lo, a Vancouver resident and caterer by profession, signed up to become a reservist cook for the army.
During military operations, troops get hungry, and it’s at the armoury where reservists, such as Lo, learn to cook large meals for the masses.
“It feels good to help the community,” said Lo, who added he not only contributes to the battalion but also takes away skills for his catering job by using the armoury’s large-scale kitchen.
Reservists get paid a salary for the hours they commit to the battalion, however they are not obligated to deploy to an operation unless they voluntarily sign a contract that can range in length of time. Liu, for instance, signed his contract to deploy to Afghanistan and spent nine additional months training full-time at CFB Edmonton, the closest army base to Richmond (B.C. has none).
Wong said, because most of the battalion’s reservists are from Richmond, about 75 per cent of them are visible minorities — mostly ethnic Chinese. This makes 12 Company unique, said Wong, as it can serve to remind the community not just about the Canadian army but more specifically the contributions Chinese-Canadians provided to Canada in the Second World War, despite widespread discrimination.
“We weren’t considered Canadians then. World War Two changed that. We got the right to vote. For us, that’s why this unit is very important demographic-wise in Richmond. A lot of people served here,” said Wong.
He hopes the entire community comes to Richmond’s annual Remembrance Day ceremony at city hall on Friday.
The ceremony is rehearsed each year within the walls of the armoury, as reservists and staff prepare to put their best foot forward for the city.
At the armoury last week, veteran reservists could be seen training newer ones the intricate details of standing guard at the cenotaph.
Other preparations included uniform inspections, drill practices and transportation logistics.
“Remembrance Day is a day to remember the soldier’s sacrifice for our freedom. This is the most important day, I think, as a soldier — that we pay respect to them and what they did for us,” said Lt. Tammy Ng, the battalion’s public relations officer.
Notably, following the ceremony, the public is invited to visit the armoury to meet the troops and learn from the many war artifacts on display throughout the building.
