150 Indigenous youths graduate from Bold Eagle training program
EDMONTON Landess Albert has marched a mile in her mother’s shoes by completing the same Indigenous military training program she did decades earlier.
The 16-year-old from Sweetgrass First Nation Saskatchewan is one of roughly 150 graduates who this week completed the Bold Eagle summer training and employment program, hosted by the Canadian Armed Forces.
It’s the same program Albert’s mother completed about 20 years ago.
“I thought I would give a try and do it, too,” said the teen at Bold Eagle’s Thursday graduation ceremony at CFB Wainwright, about 200 kilometres southeast of Edmonton.
“I feel really proud. Now I know how she felt when she graduated. It feels great.”
Now in its 30th year, the program offers Indigenous youth 16 years or older living from Thunder Bay, Ont., to the West Coast a chance to learn first-hand about military life.
Albert added that she’s also interested in learning what military life is like as she considers that as a career option. As it stands now, she believes that might be the case.
“You can literally do anything if you put your mind to it,” she added. “It’s the biggest take-away I have from this trip.”
Fellow graduate Alex Laing had a similar interest in learning about the military so he decided to join the program as well. The 17-yearold from Nelson, B.C., said it was an opportunity he won’t forget.
“It’s a really good experience for young Aboriginal people to come and see what it is like in the army, to see if that’s the career path they wish to choose,” he said. “I definitively recommend it. I was always kind of interested in the army so I’m kind of dipping my toes in and seeing what it’s all about. I’m glad I did it.”
The biggest lesson Laing learned is working as part of a team. That proved especially useful when it comes to military inspections and everything needs to be tidied up. He said 40 extra hands on deck really gets the job done quickly.
The six-week Bold Eagle course combines Indigenous traditions with basic training. At the start of the course, enrolment was close to 227 but not everyone was able to make it.
Laing said he simply took it one day and one meal at a time.
“People think about the end goal but I just took it one step at a time and tried to appreciate what I was doing and live in the moment,” he added.
This year marked one of the largest graduating classes in the program’s 30-year history.
Capt. Oliver Edwards, who acted as Chaplain for the Bold Eagles, said the decision was made to offer the program to more youth to mark three decades.
“They have done a fantastic job leading these men and women,” he said. “These are young people coming in and really not having any kind of military experience before. They’ve taken them from brand new, green people and turned them into soldiers. It has been amazing to watch.”