Cormier, Jayden: my Afghanistan experiences (March 9, 2016)
ABSTRACT: Military Oral History Project Interview Summary Narrator: Cormier, Master Corporal Jayden, 1989- Title: Canada in Afghanistan: Counter Insurgency, Counter IED, and Development Interviewer: Interviewed by Josie Gray. Extent 1 sound recording (WMA File) 1:24:26 – 39,990 KB Interview Date and Location 9 March 2016, Victoria BC. Synopsis: 00:28 – 1:24 – Description of when and why he joined the Canadian Forces. 1:24 – 2:05 – Description of why he volunteered to go to Afghanistan. 2:05 – 4:12 – Work up training and particular position as a rifleman. 4:12 – 5:17 – Instruction in Afghan culture and religion. 5:20 – 7:03 – Initial arrival in Kandahar Airfield, orientation, and first few days. 7:03 – 7:45 – Sections would rotate between Camp Nathan Smith, FOBs, and the Palace in Kandahar City. 7:47 – 11:45 – First few days at Camp Nathan Smith, process of people ripping in and out, doing security shifts in the towers, orientation. 11:45 – 13:15 – Description of his position as part of the Force Protection Company for the PRT. 13:20 – 15:45 – Equipment, weapons, vehicles, and maintenance. 15:45 – 16:47 – Providing security for reconstruction officers, not directly assisting them. 17:00 – 18:00 – Times they were attacked such as the Sarposa Prison Break and a suicide bombing at a Dog Fight on February 17. Often assigned as a quick reaction force that was ready to respond to emergencies. 18:05 – 22:40 – Worked with Afghan National Police (ANP) quite regularly and the Blue Hackle security company which was assigned to the Palace. Some cultural differences that arose when trying to work with Afghan forces. 22:40 – 25:40 – Interaction with local people indirectly. One day every few weeks Afghans could come to the camp to make damage claims, get health care, or look for a job. Interacting with kids at the Sarposa Prison. 25:40 – 28:40 – Description of an average day at Camp Nathan Smith and a convoy out to an Afghan outpost. Description about what you do when you encounter an area that might have an IED like a culvert. 28:40 – 29:50 – Dismounted presence patrols when stationed at FOBs. 30:15 – 32:07 – Strategies used to reduce the threat of IEDs and attacks but they were very common. Camp Nathan Smith was quite secure. 32:07 – 35:30 – The Sarposa Prison Break and the following three-day push. 35:37 – 37:58 – HLTA, 23 days off at some point during the deployment. Cormier chose to go to Europe with brother and friends. 37:58 – 41:25 – The units that make up the Force Protection Company. Cormier was in 1VP Bravo Company 4 Platoon 3 Section. If people were unavailable, people had to shift around in their sections to fill the gaps; HLTA made that more difficult. 42:12 – 44:30 – A memory of his first time standing security in a tower. 44:33 – 46:37 – Part of an entire platoon of reservists that had been put in a regular force company, which isn’t normal. But it helped with coping and adjusting after coming home. 48:50 – 50:48 – Description of the first time he saw an IED go off. Only minor injuries but made him realize that he could possibly die in Afghanistan. 51:31 – 55:05 – Description of First Aid training and training to assist company medics. Focus on blasts and bullets and “sustainable first aid.” What happens if someone or multiple people are injured and need to get to the hospital. 55:15 – 57:35 – Description of Operation Electric Avenue: moving a large generator across Kandahar Province. Also the various development projects that he provided security for. 57:41 – 1:00:37 – Description of down time and the facilities available at Camp Nathan Smith: gym, hockey arena, outside eating area, lounge, an emergency fire reservoir that people swam in. Description of how sections would rotate. 1:00:42 – 1:04:15 – Promoted to corporal. Importance of being able to communicate through radios. Taught that “everyone is a sensor” and important for individual soldiers to collect information and pass it up the line. 1:04:21 – 1:06:24 – He was a part of Operation Timus Prime but does not remember it. Comments on how that whole life became easy and normal. 1:06:28 – 1:07:35 – Preparing to go home and decompression in Cyprus. 1:07:35 – 1:12:00 – Issues and benefits that come with a new set of troops coming in every six months. The importance of building trust and relationships on the ground which is often hurt by the 6-month turnaround. However, long tours have psychological effects on coalition soldiers and many burn out. 1:12:12 – 1:17:07 – Description of adjusting after coming home from Afghanistan and getting involved in teaching. 1:17:07 – 1:22:20 – Cormier’s final conclusions regarding his deployment and his belief that it is important for the Canadian Forces to engage with the Canadian public so they understand the bigger picture and what Canada was doing in Afghanistan. Subject Keywords Canadian Forces (CF); Nanaimo; reserves; Canadian Scottish; Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT); humanitarian aid; training; Afghanistan; Edmonton; Force Protection Company; driver training; rifleman; infantry; convoy; CF-130 Hercules; Kandahar Airfield (KAF); RSOM; Camp Nathan Smith; Forward Operating Base (FOB); Kandahar; Palace; Van Doos; Pashtu; reconstruction; development; security; Afghan National Police (ANP); Afghan National Army (ANA); C7 rifle; grenades; RG-31 Nyala; LAV; Improvised Explosive Device (IED); Sarposa Prison Break; Dog Fight; suicide bombing; Blue Hackle; Afghan culture; OMLT; POMLET; Tazkira; spider drill; Taliban; insurgents; HLTA; Tim Horton’s; 1VP; EOD; reservist; First Aid; tactical combat casualty care (TCCC); tourniquet; quick clot; Israeli Bandage; sustainable first aid; hospital; Operation Electric Avenue; swimming pool, hockey arena; bomb dog; “Everyone is a sensor”; OP Timus Prime; Decompression; Cyprus; teaching; peace keeping.
An interview/narrative of Jayden Cormier's experiences in Afghanistan. Master Corporal Cormier served with the Canadian Forces. Interview took place on March 9, 2016.
Interviewee: Cormier, Jayden, 1989-
Rank: Master Corporal.
Interviewer: Gray, Josie
- In Collection:
- 1 sound recording (MP3)
- 33, 66
- 48.4359, -123.35155
- Original sound recording (WMA) also available.
- Canadian Military Oral History Collection
- CJ_835
- Special Collections Finding Aid: https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/military-oral-history-collection
- May 18, 2016
- Digital sound recording in .mp3 format at 128 kbps. Recorded in digital format by interviewer, technical and cataloguing metadata provided by JF and JP. Interview recorded in digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2016. Migration metadata by KD and MT.
- Rights
- This interview has been posted with the understanding that it may be used for research purposes only. Should the interviewee or their heirs have any objections to this interview being accessible on the Internet, it will be removed promptly. Contact UVic Special Collections for permission if using for other than research purposes: speccoll@uvic.ca
- DOI
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