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Certain sections of the Canadian army are desperate for recruits.
That’s why the Canadian Army Reserve held a job fair on the weekend at the Sgt. Hugh Cairns VC Armoury in Saskatoon.
One area of high demand is chefs.
Joseph Kichula is a chef in the army and he says the armed forces don’t have many other chefs.
“Right now I’m the only reserve cook in all of Saskatchewan,” said Kichula. “Even in the brigade, I’m the highest-ranking cook right now and we have six out of the entire brigade that are like cooks.”
Kichula works in a mobile kitchen trailer that is equipped with grills and storage and which works off propane.
Kichula says the cooks can prepare food for thousands of troops.
“We can feed anywhere between 50 to 3,000 people,” he said. “We do steak dinners sometimes.”
Kichula’s favourite meal he made was a prime rib with mashed whipped potatoes.
The most rewarding thing for Kichula, though, is the smile on the faces of the troops.
“That’s probably the best part, honestly,” he said, “just seeing everyone’s happy face once they get to eat the hot food after being outside.”
Connor Pettigrew is with the North Saskatchewan Regiment and he was at the job fair to help explain what his unit does.
Pettigrew said getting into the infantry unit is not as hard as some may think.
“Obviously there is that challenge that is inherent to just being in the military or just devoting yourself to any career,” said Pettigrew. “You do your basic training (and) after that we have our trades school — or DP1 is what we call it — (and) it’s about seven weeks.”
Pettigrew believes this type of job fair is really important when it comes to army recruitment numbers.
“It’s really easy to forget what we do and why we do it,” said Pettigrew. “So to be able to bring people in for us to talk about what we do, it reminds us why we’re here and as well for people who maybe just don’t know kind of what goes on in this building.”
Anyone between the ages of 16 and 57 is able to sign up.
Eric Desnoyers, a second lieutenant, explained why people should join the army.
“I think there is a sense of teamwork and camaraderie,” said Desnoyers. “You don’t get that in the civilian world where you show up to your job and you go home after it. This is a lifestyle.”
Desnoyers adds that anyone who wears the green uniform automatically has a connection with others that wear the same uniform.