There was nothing basic about the training that occurred at Canadian Forces Base Trenton on Tuesday.
“It was fun,” says Emmaneulle Daoust, one of the course cadets.
“The first jump is definitely a bit of a rush.”
Daoust is one of almost 50 cadets taking part in the parachute course.
“My (Regimental Sergeant Major) did it, and I kind of decided that looks cool,” she says.
“Then I talked about it with some people and they were like, ‘No you’re crazy, you shouldn’t do that’.”
Tuesday marked the second day of jumping for these cadets, with officers watching and evaluating their performance.
“They need to have a strong body position, tight position, bending at at least 45 degrees from the waist, feet need to be together to make sure when they get into that relative wind they don’t start spinning around and have complications when their canopy opens,” says Warrant Officer Matthieu Blanchet.
The training will culminate in a test where each cadet will have to jump out of an airplane and parachute to safety.
“The goal of parachuting is to drop a mass of personnel behind enemy lines to be able to perform military operation,” says Jeremie Gauvreau, commander of the Advanced Warfare Centre.
While Daoust is excited, she does have some reservations.
“I don’t particularly like heights,” she says. “But it’s OK, should be a good experience.”
Daoust says she intends to use this as a jumping-off point to join the infantry in the fall.
“Hopefully one day go full-time in the military and join the regular force,” she adds.
But regardless of what the future holds, it isn’t too much a leap to say this is an experience these cadets won’t soon forget.
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