encre_vol21_no3_anglais

IN THE NRDs
Life in the Reserve
Watch out, recruiters, the Lindstrom brothers
are in town!
By Daniel Rancourt, Servir Newspaper
There is Master Seaman Lindstrom, Corporal Lindstrom,
Leading Seaman Lindstrom and Ordinary Seaman
Lindstrom. No, these aren’t promotions in the career of
a service member. We’re talking about brothers, Marc, 24,
Charles, 25, Nicolas, 22, and Christopher, 17, all Lindstroms, of
course!
Marc was the first one to climb on board HMCS JOLLIET, the
Naval Reserve Division in Sept-Îles, in June 2004. In 2005,
Charles followed and then Nicolas, in 2006, bringing other
friends with them. “It set off a chain reaction and around 50% of
the members at JOLLIET are part of our network of friends,”
remarked Marc. “I just got back from an exercise in Esquimalt
where I ran into two of my friends from Sept-Îles,” said Nicolas.
When the three oldest brothers came to Montréal to study, they
became boatswains at HMCS DONNACONA. When Charles
went to Bishop’s University in Lennoxville, Que., he joined the
Army’s 714 Communications Squadron and was transferred to
the 34 Communications Regiment where he has been working as
a radio operator since coming back to Montréal.
Christopher, who finished his recruit course in Borden in 2011,
is also a boatswain at HMCS DONNACONA. “It’s a trip,” he
said, “to get paid to live the military adventure. It’s even more fun
than I thought it would be.” The Lindstrom brothers are sports
fanatics: hunting, fishing, camping, snowmobiling, riding quads,
motocross, ski, snowboarding, hockey and basketball. Three of
the brothers even play rugby!
The Lindstrom family
The boys’ grandfather, Carl, came from Finland to join his brother
in 1954 to work on the railroad connecting Sept-Îles with
Schefferville and Labrador City. Later, his son Kenneth went to
study in Montréal, where he married Madeleine Caron. Both
accountants, they had their four sons and then, in 1995, the family
moved back to Sept-Îles.
Charles got a Bachelor’s degree with a double major in administration
and economics and has been working for ArcelorMittal
since March 2010. After studying mechanical engineering at
Concordia University, Marc went back to Sept-Îles where he
works as an engineer for the mining company IOC, while still
working as Divisional Petty Officer for the boatswains at HMCS
JOLLIET. Nicolas is currently studying business finance at
Concordia and also takes flying lessons. Finally, Christopher,
the youngest of the clan, is studying at Champlain College in
Saint Lambert and wants to go on to study pharmacology at
university.
14 LINK Vol. 21, No. 3, November 2012
Nicolas, Charles and Christopher Lindstrom in front of the huge Canadian flag in their apartment.
“This way, we don’t have to repaint the wall!” said one of them.
(Photo by Servir.)
Every Tuesday evening and two weekends a month, the
Lindstrom brothers fulfill their obligations as reservists. “But if we
want to, we can carry out other tasks and get more involved,”
said Nicolas. Christopher visits veterans at the Sainte-Anne-de-
Bellevue Hospital while Charles takes care of the recruits at the
34 Communications Regiment.
Advantages and benefits
The Lindstrom brothers are well aware that they have been able
to study and do other things thanks to their involvement in the
Reserve. “The Reserve gives us $2 000 a year for our studies,”
said Nicolas. “There is a lot of collaboration between the
Canadian Forces and teaching establishments. Both organizations
have a good understanding of each other’s requirements and
needs, which gives us a lot of flexibility. We can often postpone
a school exam or even, for example, write the exam under the
supervision of an officer.”
Afghanistan, Haiti and Montérégie
At the end of his studies, in May 2008, Cpl Charles Lindstrom
was put in charge of communications with the 5 Military Police
Company and participated in Roto 7 in Afghanistan, from March
to October 2009. After three months at the Kandahar Airfield, he
mentored Afghan police officers at a police sub-station in Deh-e-
Bagh, and later in Kandahar City. “I loved it and was sad to come
home,” he said. As soon as he came back, he participated in