Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Lizette LeBlanc
Lizette LeBlanc ~ From Here to Afghanistan
by Margaret (Maggie)Harriman
Lizette LeBlanc is the first Regular Force, Non-Reserve, female in Canada to ever become a Master Corporal in our Canadian Armed Forces.
Lizette is from Salisury, New Brunswick, and those of you who were a part of the Salisbury Air Cadet Squadron from 1992 until six year ago would remember her as Lisette Lewis. Until she joined the military in 2000, she had always gone by her step-father’s name, (Dexter) Lewis. When she enlisted, she found out it had never been officially changed from LeBlanc.
Lizette LeBlanc became passionate about the military when she checked out Air Cadets out one night with a friend. She was eleven.
“My joining Cadets was actually a fluke,” she said in a recent interview. “One of my friends, Peter McGill, couldn’t hang out with me one night because he was busy; he had to go to Cadets. He said, “Come and see.” I did, and that was it! I thought it was awesome. I loved it. But they wouldn’t let me officially join until I was twelve.”
Lizette attended school in Salisbury for a brief time, but because her first language was French, she found it to be too much English for her at that time, and she attended French schools in Moncton, graduating from Mattieu Martin with honours in her final semester.
Lizette never had a question about what she wanted to do – have a career in the Canadian Armed Forces – but it was a year after graduation before she joined up. During that year, 1999, she became part of the Canada Games in Corner Brook, Newfoundland.
“It was fantastic; one of the most amazing things ever.”
Prior to the Canada Games, Lisette had successfully participated in air rifle competitions for Cadets International, and while she did not represent the Cadets at the Canada Games, it was during her time with Cadets, while competing nationally in a biathlon (skiing and shooting), that a scout for the Canada Games saw her.
“So I was one of the lucky few who got asked to come and try out, and I ended up making the cut”, she said. “I had a really excellent time. My shooting was bang on. (She grinned.) I did better shooting standing up, even though in Cadets I always did my shooting laying down. The coaches couldn’t understand it, because it’s so much easier to shoot lying down.”
Lizette, now going on her sixth year in the Canadian Armed Forces, has just signed up for another 14 years. (She can retire at 39.) She is stationed in Shilo, Manitoba, and is with Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry – Bravo Company. When asked why she chose infantry, she replied, “Because they told me there weren’t very many females in it, and females couldn’t do it. I am so driven, I wanted to know why. ‘Why are you telling me that? Why are you telling me this is a man’s job? Why? I want to know.’ And here I am today a Master Corporal. It’s obviously not just a man’s job anymore,” she said with a broad grin.
But the army was right when they told her there not many females in infantry; just how few astonished Lisette.
“The female ratio is ridiculous! she said. There are 3 females (two more joined recently) in my battalion and 300 guys; all the other females there are either cooks or clerks.”
Since joining the military, Lisette has trained in BC, Alberta (Wainwright), Quebec (St. Jacques), California (Mojave Desert where temperatures are 37 – 40 degrees C during the day, and infantry must each carry 80 lbs of weaponry and supplies), Bosnia, and Croatia. On January 25, 2006, Lisette was among the troops that left for Afghanistan.
“When you’re in places like Bosnia and Croatia, you’re in the middle of everything, including the poverty. That stint (Bosnia) was not mission-specific; it was peace-keeping, so we rebuilt houses, gave out food and clothes. It was not out of the ordinary to see a one-room house, 8’ X 8’, that had 3 kids, 2 cats, 2 dogs, and no food, no bathroom. In the winter their bathroom is in the house. They pick a corner of the house and that’s their washroom area. And then they scoop it and shovel it outside.”
“But you’re not in that situation every day. You move around. You look for people who need help; you visit coffee shops, taking various routes, and you’re trained to notice things. Most people were very kind. They understood why we were there. We actually had a family make us a meal; a lot of ladies would make us tea or coffee. Children just loved us because they picked our pockets for candy all the time. For the most part, teenagers and young people – they’re all like us.”
“The most difficult situation in Bosnia was the language barrier. Even though we take language classes, we can only learn so much so fast, so in foreign countries the language barrier is the greatest problem, especially when you don’t have an interpreter with you. Simple words, like hollering ‘Don’t move!’ to someone who is standing in a mine field. They don’t understand you, and they think you’re being hostile, and the interpreter is taking too long to come to you to explain things to them.”
Lizette must now try to communicate in Pashtu, a language used by the majority of Afghanis. At our interview in late December, she spoke of her feelings about going to Afghanistan in light of things that are happening there today.
“I’m nervous. I think it’s just fear of the unknown. I’ve got the normal, natural fear, like everyone else, but as far as trusting my skills – absolutely. I’m not scared in that aspect at all. It’s my job. I have excellent training, and this is what I’ve trained for.”
That training, and Lizette’s outstanding ability, resulted in her promotion to Master Corporal last December. Getting there wasn’t easy.
She was required to learn how to teach classes, properly give drill, study military law and ethics, teach people how to deal with different authorities, and how to charge someone and know what offences and rulings to use. There were 6 manuals in all, 5 of which were infantry-specific. Lizette chose to study most of them twice: once in French, so she could understand them well, and then in English, so she would know how to relay what she learned. Apart from this, her training for Master Corporal, included going out into the field for 2 months. Once there, scenarios were put into place to duplicate enemy combat situations. Lizette remembers it well.
“All of a sudden you hear, ‘Here’s the enemy attacking your position. You’re in charge.’ You have to set up your defenses, among many other things. You drive yourself for days; you have less food and much less sleep. But it’s good. You do all the things you can do, so you can gain faith in your own ability to lead others.”
Will the guys resent her promotion? Not according to Lizette.
“You know what? I just got promoted before I went on leave, so I don’t know. Actually, the guys I work with are pretty good. They’re more like brothers than anything else, and they’re very good like that. They know that, being a woman, you have to work a little bit harder to compare with the guys. They see that, and they understand it.”
While our Canadian Military gives equal pay for equal rank, money for the operation of our Canadian Forces at home is slow coming, and replacing obsolete basics sometimes takes years.
“I got in five years ago,” Lisette recalled, “and on the day I joined, I was told that new rucksacks (knapsacks) were coming. I’ve got the same rucksack as when I joined. But,” she added, “there’s definitely more money when you’re going on a mission, in order for you to do the job properly …..money for more bullets, more training, for more of everything, including new backpacks. It’s like: ‘This is your project, or your mission. You have six months to train. Here’s your allotment.’”
When asked what she did for entertainment overseas, Lizette answered,” Read a book. Write letters. Play pool. Work out in the gym. Your off-time is generally spent on the base, which is surrounded with security, but there are occasions when you may go out for a stint of time. We have American TV programs, and we can get Alberta and Manitoba radio stations.”
Lizette has no immediate plans to remuster into a different division, but she knows that 20 years in infantry would take its toll.
“I love what I’m doing now; it’s great! But I can’t see myself doing all 20 years in infantry. It’s hard on your body. Traffic Tech and Photo Tech both appeal to me, but I’m going to have to get my head into it before I decide.”
What does she miss about home? “Scenery! I live in Manitoba, and it’s flat. Shilo is about 2 hours from Winnipeg, and there’s no scenery but fields…wheat fields, corn fields…fields. I miss the mountains and clean rivers and the ocean. Oh, how I miss the ocean; the taste of the salt, the sound of the ocean.” Most of all, she misses family.
“I love family to death. Family is so fantastic, and that’s what makes home, home. This will always be home.”
When I asked Lisette if there was anything particular that she wanted to make sure was in this article, she said, “If people are thinking about joining, I want to tell them to join for the right reasons. Don’t join because you hear the money’s good, or you get to travel a lot. Join because it’s what you want to do, because that’s the only way you’re going to make it, only when you’re truly passionate about it, seeing it as something you can do and enjoy. There are a lot of people that come in, but they only make it through the 3-year contract.”
Lizette LeBlanc has a deep and sincere love for her career as a soldier. When one talks with Lizette about her military life, her enthusiasm is wrapped around every word she speaks. It’s an enthusiasm that leaves you with a feeling of renewed pride in our Canadian Armed Forces, and in Canada.
(Master Corporal Lizette LeBlanc is the daughter of Angie LeBlanc-Lewis, and the granddaughter of Claudette and Bob Lewis, Monteagle.)
Note: Since I interviewed Lizette in December, she has gone to Afghanistan. At present, Lizette is the only female Canadian Infantry officer there. She was recently the topic of news from Afghanistan on both Global TV Network and CTV.
Margaret (Maggie)Harriman is a teacher, tutor, and free-lance writer. She lives in Salisbury West, NB, and may be contacted by e-mail at maggiebim@yahoo.com or through this blog.
