Reflections of a Sault soldier

As Remembrance Day approaches, Lieutenant Colonel Eric Groulx, commanding officer of the 49th Field Artillery Regiment, has shared his thoughts with SooToday on being a Canadian soldier.   

Groulx joined the 49th in 1984, and rose through its ranks to become its commanding officer in 2002.

Groulx volunteered to go to Afghanistan with the Canadian Armed Forces in 2007.

"It didn't feel right for me to send soldiers there without going myself, and that's what motivated me to go, along with basic service to my country," Groulx said.

"By that point in time (2007) I'd had a few soldiers with the regiment who had deployed to Afghanistan, and I felt it necessary in my own mind to continue to lead the soldiers by providing an example by going on a tour of duty as well."

Going to war-torn Afghanistan, of course, involved being apart from his wife and three children for a few months.

"My family is very supportive…my wife is a very strong woman and very supportive of what I do and understands why I do it."  

After some extra training in Kingston, as well as Germany and Norway, Groulx arrived at the Canadian Armed Forces base in Kandahar December 31, 2007. 

Groulx's duties were to act as a liaison officer between the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF, the coalition of nations which banded together to oust the Taliban and establish democracy in Afghanistan) and Afghan army and police officials.

Though never directly involved in combat , Groulx recalled a Taliban attack on a parade in the Afghan capital of Kabul in 2008.

"A number of Taliban attacked the parade with rocket propelled grenades, machine guns and small arms, so it was fortunate I was in the army headquarters when this took place because I was able to help coordinate the Afghan army's reaction with ISAF's reaction."

Sharing intelligence and resources with Afghan allies was interesting work, but could also be tiring, Groulx said.

"It was exciting but there were extremely long days and nights…there was one stretch in particular, not seeing my bed for five days because the activity that was going on was so intense I couldn't leave it."

Groulx's first and longest tour of duty in Afghanistan ended in summer 2008, but he returned for shorter missions in 2009, 2010 and 2011, working with Afghan authorities.

"There was no 'front line' in Afghanistan, everywhere you go is a dangerous spot to go (when the war was going on)."

Travelling with an interpreter in an armoured Toyota SUV, Groulx said "there were random mortar and rocket attacks all the time, and I was in situations where some of them were closer than you would like them to be."

"To be perfectly honest it never occurred to me to be afraid…I had my weapons on me  and I had my interpreter who was an anti-terrorist squad police officer who was pretty switched on and well-trained to help me out quite a bit."

Groulx said he saw the damaged vehicles after Taliban attacks, visited soldiers in hospital and attended several ramp ceremonies for Canadian and Allied soldiers being sent home for burial.

Groulx said he was not acquainted with Master Corporal Scott Vernelli or Sergeant John Wayne Faught, both of Sault Ste. Marie, who lost their lives in the line of duty in Afghanistan in 2009 and 2010 respectively (though he did attend Faught's funeral).

Groulx, however, did have to deliver a death notification to a soldier's family in Sudbury. 

That soldier was Private Andrew Miller, an army medic killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Afghanistan June 26, 2010.

"You don't forget that.  It's a tough thing to do…you don't forget the family," Groulx said.

"To tell some Mom her boy has been killed, it's tough."

"I think it motivates you, makes you a bit stronger  and increases your resolve," Groulx said.

"I'm committed to serving this country through my services  to the Canadian Armed Forces as long as the Forces allow me to serve."

"It's not just a job, it's far, far more than that, it is a commitment to service to the country."

"When you see those who fall in service, it makes you want to stand in their place and carry on that challenge," Groulx said.

"The work they do for this country is so important, and you don't realize the importance of it until you see other parts of the world, and when you see how good we have it here (and what the Forces have fought to protect)."

"Kids (in Canada) can complain about not wanting to go to school today (but) don't know the reality of parts of the world where people have to risk their lives to go to school, hiding on the way there, picking routes where they won't be seen so they can get to that school, to get that education," Groulx said.

"When you compare Afghanistan before 2001 to today, it is not the same country…the number of people in school there today is higher.  Girls going to school in Afghanistan is something that didn't happen before, but now girls are in school (since the war in Afghanistan)."

Groulx also said it was interesting to see, since his first deployment in 2008, street lights on at night in Afghanistan, banks and businesses operating, along with more vehicular traffic.

Groulx said there has been another notable change as a result of the Afghanistan war.

"The big difference is that pre-Afghanistan, veterans were older men in blazers, and now we have war veterans in Sault Ste. Marie that are in their twenties.  So the face of what we think of as a veteran has now changed."

"The military family we have in the Sault is  a strong one, and we take care of our guys, " Groulx said.

"This community is just stellar in its support of our veterans and the Canadian Forces…the Remembrance Day ceremony we put on here in Sault Ste. Marie (at the Essar Centre) is probably second only to what we do in in Ottawa."

(PHOTO: Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Groulx, commanding officer, 49th Field Regiment. Darren Taylor/SooToday)