Change of command for artillery reserves

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This article was published 01/10/2024 (614 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There is a new commander of reserve soldiers in the 38 Artillery Tactical Group, made up of troops from Brandon, Portage la Prairie, Regina and Yorkton, Sask., and Kenora, Ont.

The transfer ceremony was held Sunday morning at the Brandon Armoury — the group’s headquarters — to recognize Lt.-Col. Christopher Terrio as the new commanding officer.

“I love the army, this is my 25th year,” Terrio said. “I also enjoy working with the soldiers — leading them, advocating for them and making sure they can be trained and ready to do what the army asks them to do and what Canada asks them to do.”

During his quarter-century in uniform, Terrio has served in Afghanistan and Ukraine. In the last seven years, he has been commanding officer in Winnipeg and Saskatoon and an instructor at the Canadian Army Command and Staff College in Kingston, Ont.

When he was transferred to the reserves, Terrio oversaw Operation Vector, which supported the federal, provincial and territorial governments distributing the COVID-19 vaccines.

As a Canadian Forces member and now in charge of the ATG, Terrio said it’s important to advocate for the soldiers because of their unique position as volunteers, which can sometimes get overlooked and go unappreciated by the community at large.

“The full-time army — the regular force — they are selected, right? So, if your unit is deploying, it’s ‘you need to go to Latvia to support NATO.’ The army says, ‘We need you to do these things.’

“For our soldiers, it’s who wants to go. So, everyone from our unit who goes, volunteers to go because they believe in the mission. They believe in serving Canada,” Terrio said.

“So, for the community, it’s just providing them that support so that they don’t have to worry about their home, they feel like what they’re doing matters. They feel like they have the support of the community when they volunteer to go serve Canada overseas.”

Included in the change of command ceremony was a demonstration by soldiers using a C3 Howitzer artillery weapon, the 26th Field Regiment pipes and drums, the troops on parade, and outgoing commander Lt.-Col. Mark Wilson handing over the sword of command.

Wilson, who was born and raised in Brandon, is a 27-year member of the Canadian Forces and has overseen the 120 soldiers from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario at Brandon Armoury for the past four years.

On Wilson’s uniform are six medals — one is for his 2007 tour in Afghanistan and two others represent the Queen’s platinum and diamond jubilees.

Wilson pointed to the other medals. “This is for Iraq when I was there in 2017 fighting ISIS, and the next one is for my 22-year service, and the last one is the U.S military service medal that I got while I was in Iraq working with the Americans.”

When asked what stands out as one of his proudest moments being commanding officer of the reserve artillery soldiers, he said: “The most rewarding, 100 per cent, is training the next generation of soldiers for operations.”

The artillery training is conducted at CFB Shilo, where there are 100 square kilometres of practice area, Wilson said.

“Shilo has infantry, the Second Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, and we are the artillery,” he said.

“We fire rounds in support of them. The C3 Howitzer gun that we have can shoot 18 kilometres. So, as the infantry is going up, and they need help, we shoot for them.

“So, there’s a sense of purpose, and a sense of duty to the Crown and the nation.”

In addition to deployment to Latvia, Wilson said, reservists from 38 ATG have been dispatched to Cyprus, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Within Canada, one of the longest running operations is called Palaci, which is supporting the Canadian Forces and Parks Canada to control avalanches in Rogers Pass, B.C., with local soldiers deployed on a three-month rotation.

Like the reservist soldiers under their command, Terrio and Wilson have full-time jobs outside the Forces.

Now that he is no longer commanding officer, Wilson said he is not sure yet what his future role with the army will be, but he will continue teaching high school in Winkler.

“My day job,” said Terrio, “is working for the Department of National Defence on the public service side. I live in Winnipeg, so I am on the road quite a bit travelling the Prairies.

“But this job, I enjoy everything about it,” Terrio added. “I volunteered to be here, and I’ll be here. I have no plans of retiring anytime soon. What gets me out of bed is just to be part of this team and to serve Canada.”

» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com

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