It’s hard to know how to feel about being in a place like Abaco Island, Bahamas. For me, it was definitely a place of contrasts. From beautiful sunsets to total and complete destruction of everything. My plan was to be at ground zero on the first wave but I couldn’t make that happen, so instead I prepared myself to be on the second wave of volunteers. What set in quickly for me when I got on the ground was the realization that everything people have, can be taken in an instant, and there really isn’t anything you can do about it at the time.
When the second wave got on the ground, we built upon the excellent work done by our first wave. They established a FOB, for us to work from, and from there we moved out into the community of Marsh Harbour.. We began doing Rapid Damage Assessments, and creating work orders, doing route clearance work. We were fighting into the chaos, fighting to help create order out of disorder.
As a Strike Team leader, your watching your team, to make sure they are ok, eating, drinking, staying safe and working safely. So you sometimes look past your own discomfort to ensure your team is functional, and cared for. You try to be the first one up and that last one to shut it down at the end of the day. So it wasn’t until I got home after my deployment to Abaco that I started to process some of the things I saw and did. I did have a sense of guilt that I was no longer at the tip of the spear. I had a sense of guilt and futility when I went to a grocery store to buy supplies for a late Thanksgiving dinner I was going to have with my wife. I felt embarrassed that I was going to a store that had so much food, when I just left a place where they had literally nothing. I also had a feeling that the Mission was not complete and when was the earliest I could go back. I was not surprised at some of the feelings, but some caught me totally by surprise.
Upon reflection of my time on Abaco, one of the things that will stay with me for the rest of my life and that gives me the greatest sense of pride, is the fact that I was allowed to help lead an inspiring group of Canadians. Most of them had never been on a Deployment before let alone a deployment to a Cat. 5 Hurricane. I was humbled by their willingness to volunteer for difficult tasks, and their willingness to find solutions to difficult problems. It was their subdued determination, and a sense of purpose that made it an absolute pleasure to work with each and everyone of them. They are, what Team Rubicon Canada is all about.
E004
I have undergone a few changes in my life in the past couple of months that leave me reflecting on what the next steps will be for me in my adventure of life. I have left the army after nearly 30 years. Although it was part time career, if one can call it that, it still took up a great deal of my life. Couple this with having a full time job, being a father and husband, and add to all of this another nearly full time job of being a Union activist, my plate was nearly full. I have also relegated to the past my activities with respect to the union to the younger and more energetic crowd. My children for the most part are now grown up and for the most part are making all of their own decisions. So needless to say I am faced with a dilemma that all parents, and people of my generation face, what the hell am I going to do now.
My military mind tells me that (as well as my wife) with any successful operation, it starts with a good solid plan. So I guess we need to at least start creating a plan, if what I’m thinking about is going to have any chance of success. With anything like this there is a lot of apprehension a lot of things will have to happen, like the liquidation of assets, to generating capital to make any of this even possible is also a big question. In reality any journey starts with a first step. My first step in even making this idea a reality will be to regain my Dutch citizenship. Even if I never return to Holland our Europe for that matter, regaining my Dutch citizenship is also a personal goal that I have wanted for quite some time. The Dutch rules on citizenship have changed considerably over the last couple of years, so this option may not even be possible any longer.
Foot Steps into the Wind ... 