Tim L
Way back in 1996, I decided to join the Canadian Forces and met some really great people, not the least of which was this beauty, Jaret Schemerhorn. It was a pretty nerve wracking experience getting out of basic training in Shilo, Manitoba that summer and then integrating into my new unit in the Royal Canadian Artillery, but guys like Jaret made it easy. Recently, I met up with Jaret at a local bar and hung out for a while and it was just like old times even though I hadn’t seen the guy in forever. In fact, it had been about 20 years, not since Jaret and I last worked among the frozen hills at CFB Wainright calling in Battery artillery rounds on winter exercises in the early 2000’s. Jaret was the FOO tech, the member responsible for assisting the officer as a forward observer adjusting the rounds to target and then firing for effect and I was the lowly radio man.
Even after I left, Jaret continued on with the unit and, although it was great while it lasted, he was getting too beat up with the constant time in the field. Jaret told me he did over 120 days in a year while out in Gagetown New Brunswick, which is an unbelievable amount of time, trust me. Being out in the cold, damp weather and laying on frozen ground all day and night takes it’s toll, and while it’s super fun blowing things up with High Explosive Artillery rounds, eventually enough becomes enough. We all ask ourselves at certain points if we’re content to keep on or not. We all know when that time is and it just becomes a matter of figuring out where you want to go. Change came in the form a transfer to Geotech, the members of the military that create maps for the many applications a machine like the Canadian Forces needs. This relatively small, yet highly technical unit, creates topographical or imagery maps for a wide variety of personnel and uses. Jaret told me that he’s created maps as large as 200ft by 200ft and also as small as one that was intended to go on a soldiers wrist.
Jaret served Canada as a veteran of multiple tours in Afghanistan, spending time in Kandahar City in ’06 and ’07. More recently he has gone over to Latvia to support OP Reassurance like many of our soldiers have over the last 10 years or so. Jaret’s leadership and ability to work with other institutions like the government and the RCMP earned him high praise and led to the awarding of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee medal in 2022. If you hadn’t heard of it, it’s an award commemorating Queen Elizabeth’s 70th year. It’s given to a wide variety, yet a select group, of Canadians to publicly acknowledge their work and dedication in making the world a better place.
Jaret has chosen The Veterans Association as the recipient of all pledges and donations for November and December 2023 so let’s open up our hearts and our wallets and see how much we can raise for this very noble organization. To read more about it just hit this link: http://www.veteransassociation.ca or make a donation here: https://thestreetsinitiative.org/edmontonians-love-donating/
