Chaplain’s ATV stands out

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This article was published 10/05/2024 (607 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Capt. Sam Agustin had two dreams growing up.

One was to be in the armed forces and the other was to be a chaplain, and he has accomplished both at Canadian Forces Base Shilo.

Agustin has been part of the chaplain team with 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (2PPCLI) at CFB Shilo since 2021.

Soldiers seeking counselling come to see Agustin in his office, and he also responds to locations on the base when a distress call comes in.

But it’s Agustin’s mode of transportation that stops people in their tracks, he says, and most often de-escalates a situation and brings a sense of calm.

“I’ve used this vehicle as a tool to help people open up,” Agustin said. “If a soldier is going through a trying time and I’m called, I respond on my ATV wearing my helmet. And if it’s in the middle of winter, the soldier will look at me and say, ‘snowmobile?’ and I’ll answer, ‘no, ATV with tracks,’ and I’ll usually get, ‘oh cool.’

“So, it helps disarm the situation a little bit and makes the soldier go, ‘oh, he’s relatable,’ and then the ATV becomes a conversation piece,” said Agustin, who is also known on base as Padre, the Spanish word for father and is a term of endearment.

Agustin’s ATV is a 2015 Can-Am Outlander with an 800cc engine. He bought the all-terrain vehicle in 2020 from a dealership in northern Ontario when he was posted at 22 Wing/Canadian Forces Base North Bay.

Rubber tracks are housed in a solid steel frame, which helps to repel snow, mud and other debris. The flexible tracks curve slightly toward the inside.

The bearing housing has outer seals and stainless-steel sleeves, while the idler and mid-roller wheels are sealed with an elastomeric outer band. Elastomeric is a material that lets the rubber regain its original shape after a heavy load is removed.

Agustin said it’s great to drive.

“I have incredible traction, torque and stability when I’m on dirt, sand, mud and snow,” he said.

“Last winter, when we had a big snow dump, so I ended up pulling out a bunch of folks who were stuck, and another person who was almost in the ditch because they slid off the icy road.

“And I went out to Sewell Lake in February when the troops were doing cold water immersion training and I drove right onto the surface — so it was great morale for the troops.

The training area of CFB Shilo covers almost 40,000 hectares, which is an area approximately 15 by 30 kilometres. If a distress call comes in from a location far from the centre of the base, Agustin said the ATV can get him to off-road places much quicker than a traditional vehicle.

“I got the vehicle because it just so happens that I enjoy the outdoors,” Agustin said. “And the town I, my wife and our first child lived in — in northern Ontario — allowed ATVs and snowmobiles to be driven on the main highway and roads. So, it just made sense,” he said.

Besides Agustin’s ATV-on-tracks that helps breaks the ice with soldiers and gives him “street cred,” he added, it’s the knowledge on base that he served time in Afghanistan and because of it, suffered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

He was diagnosed, he said, after several members of the military died while he was stationed there, including five Canadians who were killed on Dec. 30, 2009. The armoured vehicle they were in was struck by an improvised explosive device in the city of Kandahar.

Four soldiers and one news reporter died in the blast.

“We had to do recovery on that tour. And that had a big impact on us when we had five killed, Sgt. Miok, Sgt. Taylor, Cpl. McCormack, Pte. Chidley and the civilian reporter, Michelle Lang,” Agustin said.

“That shook all of us up, that was very hard for all of us.

“And that’s where the transition into chaplaincy came in. But I wanted to be a soldier first, just so I could experience it, to know what the troops have gone through.”

Even though Agustin said he has an open-door policy, he knows that many people may be hesitant to speak with him. And that’s why he added, he believes in random acts of kindness, and his ATV is a perfect way to deliver them.

“In Afghanistan, I was part of a team called Civil Military Cooperation, or CIMIC. And there was a saying — try to win the hearts and minds of the local populace.

“And I liked the idea of doing that but trying to do it in a tangible way through random acts of kindness — because it becomes contagious.

“I’m not a fair-weather rider, you know, so I ended up installing a plow blade on the ATV and again — used it as an additional tool.

“During times of heavy snow dumps, if some of my neighbours were away on deployment, I would sneak around and clean driveways, or hit the parking lots in the middle of the night.

“And no matter the weather — snow or rain — I’ll be on the ATV visiting the troops in the field when I can,” said Agustin.

Agustin may soon swap out the tracks with tires because it’s better on gas, he said. But before that happens, he added, he’ll have to give the last few rides to his two children — a five-year-old son and three-year-old daughter, who love riding on it.

“I ordered children’s helmets, and they think it’s wild as I take them through the puddles,” he said.

And once the summer tires are on his ATV, Agustin added, he may join the Westman ATV Association for more of their trail rides.

“We call it the Camp Hughes trail. So, we’ll meet up at Spruce Woods Provincial Park, ride together in a little convoy, and we’ll make it out to camp.”

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