WEAPONS TECHNICIAN – LAND

ANGERMAN: If it goes bang or boom, it’s my business.

I’m Master Corporal Tim Angerman from Huron Park, Ontario. I’m a Weapons Technician posted to the Canadian Forces School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering in Borden.

And I’m Corporal Michael Hogan from Goderich, Ontario, Weapons Technician - Land, with 5 Service Battalion in Valcartier, Quebec.

TITLE :
WEAPONS TECHNICIAN – LAND

ANGERMAN: We’re the guys behind the scenes for the most part, but without us, you can’t win. We’re the guys that check the weapons out, make sure they’re good to go before the combat arms go into battle. And when they have breakdown during the battle or after the battle, we’re the ones that fix them again and keep them running. Without us, they can’t fight.

HOGAN: It’s a job that requires intense concentration at the work bench, but there’s a great feeling of teamwork, too and a real feeling of satisfaction to take home every day.

You can go from pistols, rifles, machine guns – that was my interest. Then you go to heavy artillery and tanks and so you could touch everything.

ANGERMAN: This is the place where Weapons Techs spend most of their time on the job -- the shop floor. The equipment here is the best in the world. Great conditions to practice your trade and to keep learning new skills.

HOGAN: Right now, they’re working on a turret gun for a Coyote armoured vehicle, a 25 mm canon that can fire 200 rounds per minute.

ANGERMAN: If you’re thinking about joining the Regular Force or the Reserves as a Weapons Technician, you might be a lot like me. I looked at a lot of different trades, but Weapons Tech seemed to be the best fit for me -- and a lot more exciting than what my friends were doing in civilian life.

I always had this sort of calling towards my country. Somehow, that’s what got me into the army cadets and then from there, it just progressed, a natural progression to the Forces itself. Being in the Forces is a way that one person as part of a team can end up being a hero to accomplish whatever the goal may be, just like the guys did in World War II.

HOGAN: What impressed me was that you get paid from Day One even while you’re training and your pension starts on Day One as well.

You know you just can’t beat the security in the army and the camaraderie. You know, all my friends are still in the army. And you can go back year after year, you can go back twenty years after. All my friends are still here.

ANGERMAN: It’s important to remember that Weapons Techs are soldiers, too. We’ve got the same basic military qualifications as the infantry and other combat units.

We train for overseas missions. We train to do our job in a combat zone and that’s the best part of it is when you actually get to put everything you’ve trained to do. Everything you thought you were going to do, you actually get to go do it.

HOGAN: That’s where you get a chance to, you know, to prove to yourself that that’s you know, what you’ve done all that training for and you’re there and you do it and you just, you just don’t get any better than that.

As a Weapons Technician, after Basic Military Qualification, you’ll get eight months of specialized education at the Canadian Forces School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering at CFB Borden in Ontario. That’s where you’ll learn how all these weapons work: the electronic, hydraulic and explosive systems inside them, how to maintain, repair and test-fire guns, rockets and grenade launchers and a lot of other skills – everything from fixing locks and scales to the Army’s portable stoves.

ANGERMAN: When that course is completed, you head to a Canadian Forces base for a year and a half of on-the-job training. It’s like a civilian apprenticeship at full pay with plenty of opportunities after that for intermediate and advanced courses in things like the latest air transportable heavy artillery, crew served anti-tank and area support weaponry, high-security containers and anti-aircraft guns.

HOGAN: You’re always picking up something new and getting paid while you learn.

ANGERMAN: It’s a big responsibility. Every time I finish work on a weapon, I ask myself, “Would I allow my grandmother to fire this weapon?” and if I can answer yes to that, then I let it go out to the user.

HOGAN: You know every single time that these guys are going out, they’re going to be using their weapons in a real-time situation. And they’re using the equipment that you are going to inspect, that you are going to tell them that it is going to work.

If I work on a gun, it’s gonna work every time. That’s a great feeling and this is a great job.

ANGERMAN: I guess one of the best things about being a Weapons Tech is the thanks we get from the soldiers we support. They know how important our job is to keeping them in the fight.

We’re all part of that. It’s like the gears in a machine and when you come home, you can pat yourself on the back knowing that, you know, you were a part of that team.

TITLE:
WEAPONS TECHNICIAN – LAND