Lt.-Col. Jesse Van Eijk takes over command of 2PPCLI
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/06/2021 (1742 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry’s new commanding officer says he is honoured and excited to be taking over the historied battalion
“The culture of this unit is fantastic, they’re very positive, professionals,” Lt.-Col. Jesse Van Eijk said by phone on Friday.
Van Eijk took over command of the battalion, which is located at Canadian Forces Base Shilo, from Lt.-Col. Michael Reekie earlier this week.
The 2PPCLI was the first unit Van Eijk said he asked to serve with upon completing infantry officer training in 2005.
He previously served in Edmonton, where he was Chief of Staff of 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group. The new role will be more about leadership, he said, and decision making.
“Working for the brigade for three years was a fantastic setup to coming to the battalion because I’m really well versed in what the brigade is doing, what the battalion has done for the last three years,” he said.
“I had the opportunity to watch the battalion train soldiers and am incredibly impressed with the level they’ve achieved. … That’s only amplified having worked with them from the brigade level.”
Van Eijk was born in British Columbia, but grew up in Saskatchewan and spent the majority of his career in Alberta.
He also served in Afghanistan in 2008 and more recently Poland as part of Operation REASSURANCE.
“As a very young officer in Afghanistan I certainly learned a lot about leadership under pretty stressful conditions, learned a ton from my senior non-commissioned officers and I continue to learn from them,” he said.
The mission in Poland was “less of a dynamic mission” and was spent training with NATO partners.
“The focus really changes from the nuts and bolts to maneuvering soldiers and vehicles on the ground to making sure you have everything to support them from food, water, ammunition … all the kinds of things you might not expect until you have to move across borders in pretty tight terrain,” he said.
Looking forward, he said the plan is to keep the Shilo-based battalion ready to serve if called upon, such as it was to help in the fight against COVID-19 in northern Manitoba communities.
“We’re ready to go,” he said. “If called upon we’ll make sure our equipment is well maintained and our soldiers are well trained, and we’ll be ready to go.”
CFB Shilo public affairs officer Lori Truscott said Reekie is taking on a new job in Ottawa at strategic joint staff.
Reekie took over command of 2PPCLI in February 2019 after previously being stationed there from 2005 to 2008 and from 2012 to 2014.
Under Reekie’s command, 2PPCLI soldiers were deployed to Latvia as part of Operation REASSURANCE and to northern Manitoba as part of the fight against COVID-19 in northern and First Nations communities.
» dmay@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @DrewMay_