AAFC Camp
Basic Camp
On Thursday, the 14th of July, twenty-two recruits boarded a bus to Dallas Brooks Park in Beaconsfield to attend our first winter bivouac. Winter bivouac was a new experience for all of us, and a very positive one! The 3-day camp allowed us to transfer the skills we learnt in the classroom to the field. We all had a great time participating in all the activities, from building improvised shelters to cooking two-minute noodles on Hexi-stoves.
This camp provided the recruits with multiple team building opportunities, bivouac also helped us get to know each other. Since we were spending all day together and sleeping in the same tents, we were able to build relationships and make long lasting friends.
Our resilience was tested during the mud run, when we were required to leopard crawl up a hill after walking through a freezing river.
One highlight from the three day trip was our Camouflage and Concealment lesson. We were given cam paint (basically face paint, but for the military) and were instructed on how to properly apply it, to give the face a 2d appearance. After we had finished with that, we were given some old uniform that was more suited to blending in with our environment. We then proceeded to play a high-stakes game of hide and seek in the surrounding bush, which we all really enjoyed.
Another highlight was the fire picket. We took turns waking up to watch over the campfire, and even though we lost a little sleep it was worth it to toast marshmallows and chat with each other.
The winter bivouac provided us with the opportunity to form stronger bonds, experience new things and have fun!
Thank you to all the staff and NCOs’ who helped run such an amazing and memorable winter bivouac.
- CDT Lam, CDT Gerner, CDT Whitfield
Survival Camp
On Thursday 14th of July 414 squadron had a Survival bivouac for 2nd and 3rd year cadets in the squadron. This Bivouac required us to use the knowledge learnt in survival class and put it to practical use. We as groups built shelters and assisting with activities for the 1st years. We also cooked food and shared fun stories around the fire over night and got to sleep under the stars in our natural shelters. The experience was very new and something you can’t normally experience. Although it was difficult at times, overall, it was a really amazing opportunity to get to know our classmates and built necessary life skills. It was awesome and we would definitely recommend this experience to everyone!
- CSGT Kharade
