At our Friday, November 10th meeting we had a guest speaker:
Chief Warrant Officer Gerry Fraser CD
Gerry had a wonderful presentation titled "The Life of a Canadian Solider". He walked us through his career, from enlisting, training, soldiering, leading, commanding, going from regular armed forces to reserves, and eventually retirement. He briefly mentioned the highlights and low tides of his time serving our country. A very timely presentation. It does not seem enough to just say "Thank You for Your Service" to the wonderful men and women who step up and serve in our Canadian Military. Peace Keepers here and afar. They do our flag proud.
Chief Warrant Officer Gerry Fraser joined the Canadian Military on March 11, 1991. Upon completion of basic recruit training in Cornwallis Nova Scotia, CWO Fraser was posted to the PPCLI Battle school in Wainwright Alberta, on
completion he was posted to the 3 rd Battalion PPCLI in the fall of 1991 at Work Point Barracks in Victoria BC. A year later CWO Fraser completed his basic para course and was posted to the Canadian Airborne Regiment (CAR) where he
served with 2 Commando for two and a half years. With the disbandment of the Canadian Airborne Regiment(CAR), CWO Fraser was posted to Edmonton AB where he remained until 2012. In 2012 he was posted to The Royal Hamilton
Light Infantry(RHLI) as the Full Time Unit Cadre (FTUC) Operations WO and in 2016 CWO Fraser retired from the regular forces and transferred to the RHLI. He was promoted to Sergeant in 2009, Warrant Officer in 2012 and Master
Warrant Officer in Nov of 2017. CWO Fraser has considerable operational experience in Canada and overseas. He deployed to Croatia in October 1992 with the United Nations Protection Force. In 1997 and again in 2000 CWO Fraser deployed to Bosnia under the Stabalization Force (SFOR). He has deployed to Afghanistan on 4 separate occasions, 2002, 2004, 2008 and 2011-12. CWO Fraser deployed on several Domestic Operations including, EX Reliant
Nordique in Halls Beach NWT in 1991. In 1997 he deployed to the floods in Manitoba as well as the wild wildfires in Salmon Arm BC. Most recently he was employed on OP LASER as the DSM for 31 TBG CWO Fraser has held key company appointments within the RHLI, including serving as the fulltime Operations Warrant Officer, as well as company sergeant-major in both B Company in Hamilton and D Company in Burlington. In October of 2020 he was appointed as the Regimental Sergeant Major of the RHLI and retired from the CF in Sept 2022, with 32 years of service. He is a recipient of the Canadian Forces Decoration (CD) as well as the Southwest Asia Service medal with bar, General Campaign Star with 3 bars, Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal, Sacrifice Medal, UN Protection Force Medal for Former Yugoslavia, NATO Medal for Former Yugoslavia x2, Queen Elizabeth 11’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, Alberta Centennial Medal, Commander in Chief Unit Commendation for OP Apollo (Afghanistan), Command Commendation in 2012 for OP Attention (Afghanistan) and the Memorial Cross.
In his civilian life, CWO Fraser (Ret) is retired and is currently a fulltime stay at home dad catching up on family life. CWO Fraser is married to his wife Rhonda, and they have three lovely daughters Rayanna, Kennedy, and Charley and two boys Liam and Aidan.
completion he was posted to the 3 rd Battalion PPCLI in the fall of 1991 at Work Point Barracks in Victoria BC. A year later CWO Fraser completed his basic para course and was posted to the Canadian Airborne Regiment (CAR) where he
served with 2 Commando for two and a half years. With the disbandment of the Canadian Airborne Regiment(CAR), CWO Fraser was posted to Edmonton AB where he remained until 2012. In 2012 he was posted to The Royal Hamilton
Light Infantry(RHLI) as the Full Time Unit Cadre (FTUC) Operations WO and in 2016 CWO Fraser retired from the regular forces and transferred to the RHLI. He was promoted to Sergeant in 2009, Warrant Officer in 2012 and Master
Warrant Officer in Nov of 2017. CWO Fraser has considerable operational experience in Canada and overseas. He deployed to Croatia in October 1992 with the United Nations Protection Force. In 1997 and again in 2000 CWO Fraser deployed to Bosnia under the Stabalization Force (SFOR). He has deployed to Afghanistan on 4 separate occasions, 2002, 2004, 2008 and 2011-12. CWO Fraser deployed on several Domestic Operations including, EX Reliant
Nordique in Halls Beach NWT in 1991. In 1997 he deployed to the floods in Manitoba as well as the wild wildfires in Salmon Arm BC. Most recently he was employed on OP LASER as the DSM for 31 TBG CWO Fraser has held key company appointments within the RHLI, including serving as the fulltime Operations Warrant Officer, as well as company sergeant-major in both B Company in Hamilton and D Company in Burlington. In October of 2020 he was appointed as the Regimental Sergeant Major of the RHLI and retired from the CF in Sept 2022, with 32 years of service. He is a recipient of the Canadian Forces Decoration (CD) as well as the Southwest Asia Service medal with bar, General Campaign Star with 3 bars, Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal, Sacrifice Medal, UN Protection Force Medal for Former Yugoslavia, NATO Medal for Former Yugoslavia x2, Queen Elizabeth 11’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, Alberta Centennial Medal, Commander in Chief Unit Commendation for OP Apollo (Afghanistan), Command Commendation in 2012 for OP Attention (Afghanistan) and the Memorial Cross.
In his civilian life, CWO Fraser (Ret) is retired and is currently a fulltime stay at home dad catching up on family life. CWO Fraser is married to his wife Rhonda, and they have three lovely daughters Rayanna, Kennedy, and Charley and two boys Liam and Aidan.
