Geernaert aims to make a difference
Bill Geernaert stands on his tank in Afghanistan.
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Some people talk about making a difference. Bill Geernaert has walked it.
Geernaert is currently in the Canadian army. He has been stationed in Afghanistan but is home now that his rotation is done.
The first contingents of Canadian troops arrived in Afghanistan around January 2002. Canadian troops were redeployed to Kandahar in 2006 and took a larger role there. There are currently around 2,500 to 3,000 Canadian Forces in Afghanistan.
Bill grew up in Fort St. James and went to school here. Geernaert graduated in 1994. After graduation Bill did what a lot of young people do here.
“I went to work in the bush road building and logging,” he said. “(I worked) in Alberta in the gas industry and here until 2007.”
Geernaert has a long history of military life in his family.
“My dad and grandfather were both in the army,” he said. “Every generation (of my family) has been in the military since the Crimean War.”
In 2007 Bill made a decision to do something that few of us have ever contemplated or wanted to make. Bill, who has three children with his wife, Jenny, made the decision to join the Canadian Army, knowing full well that he could be deployed to Afghanistan.
“I went there with the intentions of making a difference,” he said. “I wanted to see their people have a lot of the same rights that we do here. I have a family of my own and it would be nice to see that their wives are able to walk around in public and (that their) kids could get a good education. I wanted to try to make a difference for everybody.”
Joining the army is not like the movies.
Geernaert went through basic training, which is very intensive. You start your day very early in the morning. There are a lot of sit-ups, push-ups, chin-ups, and a lot of running. There is drill practice and you learn about weapons. You are orientated to learn how to live in very tough conditions.
The army is not for the lazy. Bill is a perfect example of a good soldier. He is anything but lazy, and he carries an air of respect and obedience.
Bill took a trade while in training.
“You go through basic training and then you do the trades part,” he said. “Then you go to the regiments after that. (Training) was from August to May and then I saw the regiment.”
Bill stayed in regiment in Edmonton for a year. He is part of the Lord Strathcona’s Horse, (Royal Canadians). They are an armoured regiment.
Geernaert was sent to Afghanistan this year.
“I was deployed to Afghanistan in May of 2009 as a replacement soldier,” he said.
Due to centuries of fighting and constant battles, the rest of the world has left behind Afghanistan. On top of the dangerous nature of the country, Bill had to get used to the climate and the culture of another land far away from the bush he grew up in.
“It was hot and extremely dry,” he said. “It was all new. I was like anyone else that sees something for the first time, I was just curious. The country looked like the moon. The rocks look like they came from the moon. I went over as a gunner in a tank.”
There is no such thing as a typical day in Afghanistan.
“We get up and you make sure that everything is in working order because if it is time to move you don’t want to be broken down,” Bill said. “(We do) typical soldier stuff. You check and then you check again. We do the preventative maintenance, the little things, and we have mechanics if you have a problem with your motor.”
Most jobs have their own issues, but not everyone has a job where there is a real chance of not seeing another day.
“I was injured August 4,” he said. “We hit an IED (Improvised Explosive Device).”
Bill is home now, away from the fighting and the uncertainty that life in Afghanistan brings to a soldier. There are not many people who would choose to do what Bill did, and hopefully the people of Afghanistan appreciate the sacrifice that he was willing to make on their behalf, and our own.
This is the first in what I hope to be a series of local individuals who are currently in the military. Currently there are around seven people serving in the military in various capacities.
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