Master Warrant Officer Ryan Gallagher spoke candidly about his experience of serving in the Canadian Armed Forces at the Tecumseth and West Gwillimbury Historical Society meeting recently.
Members of the society and the public received a deeper understanding of the logistics of supporting soldiers in a combat zone, and the mental and emotional toil experienced by both those serving and their families.
Although only 41, Gallagher’s talk was titled 24 Years of Reflection. He grew up in Barrie and joined the armed forces as a reserve infantry soldier with the Grey and Simcoe Foresters at the age of 16. In 2001, he completed his transfer into the regular forces as a mobile support officer.
Gallagher was deployed to Afghanistan three times for a total of 562 days, and earlier this year he went to Egypt in support of Operation Calumet. He is currently the company sergeant major for the transport training cadre at the logistics training centre in CFB Borden.
He began by saying, “It’s my privilege and honour to be standing in front of all of you. This is the second year that I’ve done this consecutively, but throughout my career I’ve had the opportunity ... where we were out in the local community.”
He went on to say that “as a steward of the institution of the profession of arms, one of my key responsibilities is actually accountability to the Canadian public.”
Although he’s approaching his 25th year of service, and eligible for retirement, he’s “not sick and tired of what (he does) yet.”
He used humour to offset some of the distress of recounting trauma he experienced in the field, and at home. He was first deployed to Afghanistan when his son was three months old. He had no familiarity of the country he was sent to. Part of the trauma involved watching what some of his fellow soldiers endured and watching others die, either in their jobs or due to suicide.
He explained what he does, saying, “I am a mobile support equipment operator. What does that mean? I’m a truck driver. Real big, fancy job title to say I’m a truck driver.”
As the talk went on, the audience got more of a sense of how an operation in a combat zone is supported by truck drivers and those who organize provisions to be sent on the truck. In a war zone, it is necessary to have a route whereby essentials such as food, water, and fuel, as well as other basics, can be transported from a safe zone to a combat area.
Gallagher’s presentation brought the ‘idea’ of war to a greater sense of reality both from a logistics point of view and a personal one.
Society meetings are held in the Tec-We-Gwill Women’s Institute Hall in Newton Robinson, 4380 Line 10, at 7:30 p.m. Meetings are free for members and $5 for guests. Everyone is welcome to attend and no reservations are required.
Memberships are $35 for a family and $20 for individuals. For more info, contact Mark Burchell at [email protected] or 705-458-8964.
