Soldier + M16 walking around MRU?

[Yakbutter]

I think it would be weird if you saw this at any other place in the city, but since it was pretty much right beside a military base I think you can assume he's either coming or going from it, no big deal.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

Originally Posted by Canuck-Hater

Because its dangerous, and I think people should be notified before such training exercises happen outside of the barracks.

What's the dangerous part? Seriously.

[worth]

Also, all soldiers are issued a specific rifle. It has a serial number and each soldier needs to remember his serial. Rifles are under strict security. That soldier can only be issued that rifle when Stores gives it to him. There is no way for a random soldier to just grab their rifle out of a cupboard and go. If he has a rifle on him, someone gave it to him, meaning the quartermaster gave it to him.

I'm not sure if any rifles are kept at 41 CBG or ASU Calgary. I've never seen any there, but I didn't spend a ton of time there either. In my opinion it is not likely that this soldier came from 41 CBG. It is more likely this soldier was from Mewata. There aren't many training exercises run from 41 CBG. It is a headquarters and support unit. It's where you pick up your uniform, it's not a combat soldiers barracks.

41 Canadian Brigade Group organizes all of Alberta's reservists.

[Northendzone]

was the para-military operative yelling "Currahee - 3 miles up, 3 miles down"?

if he was, I would guess he was really lost.

[Cheerio]

I used to go to Master's Academy which is across Crowchild from MRU, and I saw army dudes walking around with rifles all the time and I don't think any of the students ever thought anything of it

[Paladium]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

was the para-military operative yelling "Currahee - 3 miles up, 3 miles down"?

if he was, I would guess he was really lost.

Probably pretty old too - and I am assuming he isn't a fan of spaghetti

[Jimmy Stang]

I have worked on the Currie Barracks for a few years now. I see army guys all of the time in the surrounding area. Sometimes they're doing exercises in full gear, and sometimes they're shopping at the Safeway in Garrison Woods.

Despite most of the old hangars being torn down, there are still a lot of businesses operating in the buildings on the base. Particularly in the barrack buildings around the parade square, as well as some private schools. There's definitely a lot going on there still.

[Rathji]

I know the Cadet stuff runs out of the ASU one or 2 nights a week. No guns involved, though.

[Hack&Lube]

Can we please stop calling it a machine gun?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Can we please stop calling it a machine gun?

Why? What do you have against machine guns? If a guy is walking around with a machine gun then I think we should be sure that people know its a machine gun.

"See that guy over there? Which one, the one with the machine gun? Yeah, isnt that a spectacular machine gun...."

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Locke

Why? What do you have against machine guns? If a guy is walking around with a machine gun then I think we should be sure that people know its a machine gun.

"See that guy over there? Which one, the one with the machine gun? Yeah, isnt that a spectacular machine gun...."

Because it's like me walking around with a fork and you saying:

"See that guy over there? Which one, the one with the spoon? Yeah, isnt that a spectacular spoon...."

That's how media and easily panicked people sensationalize guns, by calling everything a machine gun when they are not machine guns.

[Diverce]

Originally Posted by Cheerio

I used to go to Master's Academy which is across Crowchild from MRU, and I saw army dudes walking around with rifles all the time and I don't think any of the students ever thought anything of it

I went to Bishop Carroll and would see it all the time, and we thought nothing of it. They used to come to our school all the time too.

[Diverce]

Originally Posted by worth

I believe Freedom of the city is more of a ceremonial term. St. Julien's is a big part of the Calgary Highlanders tradition and it is taken very seriously. That is why, rain or shine, snow or 100km/h wind, on one Saturday in April, streets will be shut down and soldiers will march through downtown Calgary.

And I can tell you it is a pretty cool experience.

I don't think freedom of the city has anything to do with the regular exercises that the different regiments do in the city. The city, the Police and the Army Regiments here have an understanding and work together in this regard. Canadian troops have free mobility to move around the city, they are not restricted to a building.

If you are at a downtown bar on rememberance day, St. Juliens or a few other Military holidays, there is a decent chance you might run into a soldier in full dress uniform.

The Calgary Highlanders meet every Wednesday night at 7:00pm at Mewata. If you want to see what happens, you can go down there and try to catch a glimpse. They do a lot of different things. Sometimes, you may not see them at all as they are doing classroom work or other things like that, but a lot of times they will be doing parade practice, cleaning weapons, doing PT etc.

If you are interested in joining, it might be a good idea to go down and see what is going on to see if it is right for you. There are a lot of good people there.

If you run into soldiers doing an exercise in the city and they look buys to you, don't bother talking to them. They are trying to work. They're just like you in that they don't like to be bothered when their trying to get something done. But if the soldiers don't seem to be do an exercise, by all means approach them and start talking. Most will be more than happy to talk to you and explain what they are doing.

It's kind of difficult to alert the public to exercises going on. It's not like the Army has thousands of dollars set aside to run newspaper ads or anything. They could probably do it through Twitter or Facebook, but again, the military has never been quite up to the new tech and these people have day jobs as well. Generally the exercises being run in Calgary are on the extremely small scale. They are done during weeknights, and are done just to keep the soldiers in that state of mind. These are reservists soldiers were are talking about. They train once per week at Mewata, and it's not like they have a huge area to do this training. You can't stay couped up in Mewata every time. Once per month weekend training is done and that is generally on base in Wainwright or Edmonton or other crown land around Alberta. This is where they would be using blanks and/or live ammunition.



And just a general FYI, in military terms, this is a gun (Howitzer 777):

Spoiler!

This is a rifle (C7):

Spoiler!

This is a Light Machine Gun (C9):

Spoiler!

This is a General Purpose Machine Gun (C6):

Spoiler!

And this is a knife

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Because it's like me walking around with a fork and you saying:

"See that guy over there? Which one, the one with the spoon? Yeah, isnt that a spectacular spoon...."

That's how media and easily panicked people sensationalize guns, by calling everything a machine gun when they are not machine guns.

I am a non-military, firearm ignorant layperson.

When I see this:



And read this:

The C7 series of firearms is driven by the same direct impingement gas system as the M16 series. Like the M16A1, the C7 has both semi-automatic and fully automatic fire modes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Canada_C7_rifle

It has a fully automatic fire mode and it looks like a machine gun. Okay, so not technically correct, but I think beyond that is getting nitpicky.

Same as; "Its not an M16 its a C7!!!"

The Colt Canada C7 rifle is a service rifle variation of the M16 rifle that is manufactured by Diemaco/Colt Canada, a subsidiary of Colt's Manufacturing Company after 2005, and used by the Canadian Forces

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Canada_C7_rifle

I guess my point is: Close Enough.

[Byrns]

Originally Posted by Locke

I am a non-military, firearm ignorant layperson.

When I see this:



And read this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Canada_C7_rifle

It has a fully automatic fire mode and it looks like a machine gun. Okay, so not technically correct, but I think beyond that is getting nitpicky.

Same as; "Its not an M16 its a C7!!!"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Canada_C7_rifle

I guess my point is: Close Enough.

Do you mind if someone confuses you for an American? It's close enough.

[Komskies]

Originally Posted by Diverce

I went to Bishop Carroll and would see it all the time, and we thought nothing of it. They used to come to our school all the time too.

I went to Bishop Carroll, but I didn't see them very often because I spent most of my time not at school.

[Magnum PEI]

Originally Posted by Locke

I am a non-military, firearm ignorant layperson.

When I see this:



And read this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Canada_C7_rifle

It has a fully automatic fire mode and it looks like a machine gun. Okay, so not technically correct, but I think beyond that is getting nitpicky.

Same as; "Its not an M16 its a C7!!!"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Canada_C7_rifle

I guess my point is: Close Enough.

I actually thought they were the same weapon, just with a different designation in Canada, until I looked it up after seeing this thread.


If the soldier wasnt wearing a Canadian uniform it would be difficult to say for sure what weapon he had.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Locke

It has a fully automatic fire mode and it looks like a machine gun. Okay, so not technically correct, but I think beyond that is getting nitpicky.

In the same way arguing that a Kenworth semi truck is different from a Fiat 500 would be nitpicky.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

In the same way arguing that a Kenworth semi truck is different from a Fiat 500 would be nitpicky.

While I agree with you, the problem is that most people don't understand guns. So to the majority of people, guns only come in these general forms:

Cowboy gun, handgun, hunting rifle, machine gun, single person big gun (like the c6), cannon, truck mounted sized, airplane sized, howitzer.

Asking your average person to discerne much beyond that won't get you very far, I've found.

[HPLovecraft]

Originally Posted by Byrns

Do you mind if someone confuses you for an American? It's close enough.

Does the C7 rifle mind if someone confuses it with an M16?