Ceremonial Guard
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The Ceremonial Guard is an ad hoc military unit in the Canadian Armed Forces with elements drawn from two militia regiments of Foot Guards: The Governor General's Foot Guards from Ottawa and the Canadian Grenadier Guards from Montreal. Every summer, the Ceremonial Guard performs the Changing of the Guard ceremony on Parliament Hill and posts sentries at Rideau Hall, the residence of the Governor General of Canada.
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[edit] Unit Composition
Collectively, the troops assembled from the two contributing regiments, as well as augmentees from other units throughout Land Force Central Area and Québec's 34 Brigade form two companies of the Ceremonial Guard. 1 company, CG is comprised of soldiers wearing the uniform and parading the colours of the Governor General's Foot Guards. 2 company, CG has a similar composition, but wears the uniform and carries the colours of the Canadian Grenadier Guards. Each company includes two platoons of soldiers, each platoon divided into two 'divisions' of soldiers generally numbering between 20-25 rank and file plus leadership. The two divisions are further subdivided into two sections for administrative purposes, however all daily activities are carried out at at least the division level. The nomenclature of 'division' for such a small formed body of troops is unique to the Ceremonial Guard.
The Ceremonial Guard maintains no Regimental Colour nor battle honour of its own as it is not a permanent unit in the Canadian Forces' order of battle. The only colours flown in the ceremonies are those of the two regiments involved.
The Ceremonial Guard also maintains its own regimental band and pipers that form a separate company, as well as a fourth company for administration and support personnel. Musicians are drawn from military units and colleges or universities from across Canada and applicants must first pass an audition to be considered. The band of the ceremonial guard is widely regarded as a superb musical organization, hence the national level application process.
Ceremonial Guard exists with a full composition only from early July to the end fo August. During the rest of the year a small administrative corps remains to prepare for next year's public duties season, and beginning in early may the unit will stand up partially to allow for the conduct of Basic Military Qualification and Primary Leadership Qualification courses.
[edit] 2006 Addendum
Critical shortages of available personnel in leadership ranks throughout the Canadian Forces resulted in serious organizational changes for the Ceremonial Guard. Rather than having two companies each of two platoons, one platoon of 2 company was struck from the unit order for the summer, and the remaining platoon was amalgamated into 1 company. 3 platoon still wears the uniform of the Canadian Grenadier Guards, and whenever the New Guard is comprised of C.G.G. personnel the colours of the C.G.G. are flown on parade.
[edit] Public Duties
The primary and most visible function of the Ceremonial Guard is, as mentioned, the Changing Of the Guard on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, the national capital of Canada. The Changing of the Guard is a parade representing the changing of the guards posted at Rideau Hall, the official residence of the Governor General of Canada. A full company of two platoons is employed in daily public duties, with both divisions of one platoon parading as the 'new guard' - those to take over duties at Rideau Hall - and the other platoon of the company split, one division parading as 'old guard', and the other performing sentry duties at Rideau Hall for the day.
[edit] Changing Of The Guard
The parade begins with the Drum Major, followed by the band, an officer carrying the Regimental Colours, the old guard, and finally the two divisions of the 'new guard'. Turning North onto Queen Elizabeth Dr., the parade continues underneath the Laurier Ave. bridge and then turns left onto the ramp leading onto Laurier Avenue (Ottawa). By this point two 'change arms' commands have been given. The officer commanding (OC) commands: "In succession, by division, change arms." At this moment the division commanders call, in succession from 1st, to 2nd, to the old guard, to put their weapons in to their opposite hands.
The parade then continues with a right turn onto Elgin St. where an 'eyes right' command is given to acknowledge the Aboriginal War monument in Confederation Park. After two more 'change arms' the 'eyes left' is given to salute the National War Memorial (Canada) at Elgin Street (Ottawa) and Wellington Street (Ottawa). The parade then 'wheels' onto Wellington where another 'change arms' is given before the parade arrives on Parliament Hill precisely at 10:00am.
The parade marches on to the east lawn of Parliament, with the band centered at the northernmost edge of the lawn and facing south. The old guard marches to the west side of the east lawn and faces the east block, while the new guard marches to the east side of the lawn and faces west towards the old guard. After the Old and New guards are formed from three ranks into two, and independently dressed off for proper alignment the two sergeants of the guard - commanders of the two divisions of new guard - advance to be inspected by the company sergeant-major. Following inspection, the number two division sergeant marches to his position while the number one division sergeant stands still. The new guard is then given the order "Get on parade", at which point they advance to the tune of "The British Grenadiers" from the band, and form up dressed off the sergeants of the guard. The new guard's persons and weapons are inspected by the company commander, and they are stood at ease.
Following the inspection of the new guard, the old guard is inspected. After this inspection, the sergeants of the guard and division seconds in command are ordered to 'take post'- the sergeant of the guard marches from the right flank to directly behind the guard, while the second in command marches from the left flank to the right. The parade is then called to the present arms for the marching on of the regimental colours. With the colours marched on, the new guard advances at the slow march, ceremonially 'taking up the ground' from the old guard. The old guard and new guard salute each other at present arms, and the national anthem O Canada is played. Following this, the old guard commander presents the ceremonial key to Rideau Hall to the new guard commander. The parade is then formed into three ranks and marched off at the slow march, transitioning into the quick march. The order of march differs only in that the old guard is now at the rear, instead of between the band and new guard. The parade returns to Cartier Square where the colours are marched off, and the parade is dismissed and transported back to Carleton University.
The parade is also accompanied by members of the regiment dressed in standard summer dress uniforms, assembled out of personnel that are surplus to the day's parade requirements. These personnel are known as Hill Vice and assist in crowd control.
Due to construction in the downtown Ottawa core, the parade route that the procession follows has changed in recent years. In the summer of 1999, the parade left from the (now former) War Museum on Sussex Dr. But in recent years the parade has returned to its original route and has left from the Cartier Square Drill Hall (on Queen Elizabeth Drive beside City Hall), the home of the Governor General's Foot Guards and the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa.
[edit] Sentry Duty
The other highly visible public duty of the Ceremonial Guard is sentry duty at Rideau Hall. The sentries are ceremonial in nature only and do not generally perform actual guard duty, however all are trained military personnel and procedures and orders do exist for the Ceremonial Guard to adopt an armed night guard of Rideau Hall should sufficient security threats arise. This has not happened in the past, and would only occur if there was a grave risk along the lines of terrorist assault or political insurrection. It is to be noted, however, that in either of these situations the Guard would likely be disbanded with personnel returning to home units for aid to the civil power duties.
The sentries are posted daily from 9:00AM EST to 5:00PM EST, every hour on the hour. At 9:00 AM the posting corporal - generally a corporal from the junior leadership but sometimes a corporal from the ranks - marches out accompanied by the four sentries, two escorts, and a bagpiper. The corporal, sentries, and escorts are all dressed in full scarlet uniforms and carry rifles with bayonets fixed. The party marches to the Sussex drive gate of Rideau Hall where the first two sentries are posted and read their duties. The party then marches to Rideau Hall itself where the two remaining sentries are posted and read their duties. Generally the sentries at Rideau Hall are adjacent to the main entrance, but construction in the summer of 2006 has forced these sentries to be relocated slightly down the main drive, just before the fountain at the end of the driveway, roughly thirty meters from where they normally are.
Every hour, a posting corporal marches out with four new sentries. The process is the same as the initial posting, except that the old sentries then fall in with the party and are marched back. At 5:00PM, the posting corporal and two escorts bring in the last sentry shift following the same process.
Throughout the day Rideau Hall will be visited by the Officer Commanding of the parade and the Company Sergeant-Major. They will generally elect to observe a relief of the sentries, and sometimes the officer commanding will take a report from the sentries on duty. The guard sergeant for Rideau Hall may also elect to do rounds to check on both of the sentry posts.
[edit] Recruiting
Traditionally, Ceremonial Guard has been a powerful recruiting force for the contributing regiments, particularly the Governor General's Foot Guards. Recruiting for the Ceremonial Guard is done by each of the contributing units. All recruits are enrolled as primary reservists in the Canadian Forces, a part time military commitment. Many reservists are students at high school, college, or university levels. Recruits are sworn into the Canadian Forces and recite the following oath of allegiance:
I, (name of recruit), do solemnly and sincerely swear that I shall remain faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, her heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God.
or in French:
Je, (nom du soldat), jure d'être fidèle et de comporte sincère allegéance à Sa Majesté la Reine Elisabeth II, reine du Canada, ses héritiers et successeurs en conformité à la loi. Ainsi Dieu me soit en aide.
After undergoing primary fitness evaluations and medical checks, the first order of business is to complete the Basic Military Qualification (BMQ) requirements that all members of the Canadian Forces (musicians included) must undergo. Ceremonial Guard administered BMQ usually takes place at Connaught Ranges outside of Ottawa. Highlights of the training include basic military skills such as navigation skills, teamwork building exercises, parade drill, general familiarisation with the army way-of-life, learning how to fire the Diemaco C7 service rifle, as well as other basic military skills.
Once successfully completed, recruits then join the rest of the regiment and start their period of intensive drill where they learn all of the necessary drill movements required to perform the Changing the Guard ceremony.
[edit] Military Training
While ceremonial duties are the primary focus of the unit, the unit also conducts military training at various levels for the members of the rank and file assembled for the regiment.
[edit] Courses
Basic Military Qualification and Primary Leadership Qualification courses are generally completed under the Ceremonial Guard organization prior to the commencement of the public duties season. During public duties, some members are loaded as required or as available onto Soldier Qualification, DP1 Infantry, and DP2A Infantry Platoon Support Weapons courses. The conduct of courses during the public duties season places some extra work load on the soldiers involved, however it adds an incentive for units to allocate personnel to the Ceremonial Guard for the summer, as they stand to have troops returned with additional qualifications and training. Courses are supported logistically and administratively by 33 and 34 brigades, of Ontario and Québec respectively.
[edit] IBTS
The chain of command of ceremonial guard has also decreed that the rank and file of the guard will complete as much of possible of their annual Individual Battle Task Standards certification. This is an annual process for all combat arms personnel to reaffirm their proficiency in basic soldiering skills such as weapons handling on all platoon and individual weapons, communications, navigation, and first aid. Typically the junior leadership of the unit will run the soldiers through brief refreshers on all applicable material, so that members of the Guard can be returned to their home units with an important - and time consuming - part of their annual training already checked off. This lessens the burden on units who contribute personnel to Ceremonial Guard.
[edit] Other
Other training has been conducted in previous years, including military driver training, Small Arms Training System operator courses, rappelling, tactical field training exercises, and similar endeavours, however time, resources, and an already heavy workload have precluded most of this from happening in the 2006 work season.
[edit] Extra Functions
In addition to the Changing of the Guard, the Ceremonial Guard also takes part in the annual Governor General's inspection in late June, the Canada Day celebration on 1 July, the "Fortissimo" Sunset Ceremony that takes place in mid-late August on Parliament Hill, and the annual Trooping Of The Colours. The band of the Ceremonial Guard has many engagements outside of public duties, including featuring prominently in the annual Nova Scotia International Tattoo.
During the 2006 public duties season the Canadian Forces Army Gun Race was also placed under the administration of the Ceremonial Guard. This is an event in which two competing teams must fire, disassemble, move, reassemble, and fire a man portable mountain howitzer gun across a distance of fifteen metres using an overhead winch. The presentation is enjoyed by crowds, and the Gun Race travels across Canada to perform at various events.
[edit] Guard Life
Members of the Guard, as mentioned previously, are almost entirely reservists in the Canadian Forces. A limited number of the senior leadership are regular force infantry personnel either attached to contributing regiments or to the Guard itself.
As a military organization, the Guard observes military discipline and daily life. For the first three weeks- usually starting early June, Monday to Friday weeks are worked for the 'intensive drill' period- preparatory drill practice to get troops ready to conduct public duties. Once public duties commence, the troops generally work a four days on, four days off schedule. Due to the previously mentioned compression of the unit for the summer of 2006, however, the guards are instead working a six days on, three days off cycle up until mid August, at which point roughly two to three weeks are worked straight to prepare for Fortissimo and the Trooping of the colours, while still performing public duties.
On a typical day of public duties, a soldier will generally awaken in time to eat breakfast at roughly 6:30AM. By 7:30, the division working at Rideau Hall is on the bus and has departed. The troops on parade form up at 8:00AM and practice drill for up to an hour before departing for Cartier Square Drill Hall. After the parade there is usually the better part of and hour until lunch at noon. The afternoon will vary. Some days it is relatively empty, while other days are occupied with IBTS training. When a course is being run the course usually trains in the afternoon.
As members of a military unit guards are expected to keep fit. Physical training is sometimes conducted in the afternoon in lieu of before breakfast, at the discretion of the platoon chain of command. Prior to the 2006 season daily physical training as a platoon was the standard, however with the increased work load caused by the amalgamation of the two companies for summer 2006, more PT has been 'on your own time' as the troops are able to fit it in around duties. The view held by the chain of command is that the work load is already heavy enough that additional duty would be a burden that could ruin the edge that the guard is pushed to late in the summer season.
The guard lives in the Grenville and Russell houses of Carleton University, and takes advantage of all university meal and recreation facilities. The guards eat in the residence commons mean facility. The university is largely empty of students during the summer, and the Grenville/Russell complex is occupied solely by the military during the summer. Carleton University is convenient to downtown Ottawa as well as Hull across the Québec border, so there are ample sources of recreation and entertainment when not on duty. During the summer months the Oasis grill is open in downstairs residence commons and acts as a substitute junior ranks and sergeants and warrants'mess for the guard. Fresh cooked food and beer is available, plus a pool table and big screen T.V. Oasis is favoured for its convenience and proximity to the barracks. Two Tim Hortons locations are also present on campus, and a number of bars, restaurants, and theatres are all within ten minutes of Carleton. public transportation affords easy access to the rest of Ottawa.
During blocks of leave many guards return to their homes in Ottawa, or in the case of the C.G.G. or augmentees from other units, to their home towns. Because leave is allocated by platoon, the first few nights of leave are typical times for the guards to have nights out as a platoon or division.
Ceremonial Guard is generally viewed as fairly long hours while working, but with enjoyable downtime and good camaraderie while off duty. The welfare of the soldiers is looked after by the chain of command, and morale is generally pretty high.
