I feel good, like,
we're saving people.
Hi, my name is
Cpl. Ashley Cameron.
I am an Air Operations
Support Technician
at 424 Transport and Rescue
Squadron in Trenton, Ontario.
I come from a village in
Perth-Andover, New Brunswick.
What led me to become
an Air Operations Support
Technician was,
I was originally in Cold
Lake before this.
I had applied for Supply Tech
and that was how I found out
about this position.
Being the first AOS Tech
in Trenton has been a challenge,
paving the route for more people
to come into the trade.
I guess it was just
essentially difficult
because they don't create
a brand new trade very often.
My job allows me
to contribute to the RCAF
through part-time service
by supporting
Maintenance Technicians
in their primary roles
of maintaining an aircraft
and participating in servicing
an elementary tasks.
Some of the work that I do
at 9 Hangar
would be parking an aircraft,
which is marshalling an aircraft
into its parking spot,
starting an aircraft,
standing in front of the plane,
talking to the pilot,
making sure their engines
are running properly.
AOS Techs have a variety
of different roles
within the trade.
Along with supporting
maintenance crews,
some AOS Techs can become
a qualified spotter
to search while on training or
real Search and Rescue missions.
This trade will consist
of three different strands:
Search and Rescue support,
maintenance support and
Wing Auxiliary Security Force.
SAR support is going
to consist
of helping out the
Search and Rescue Technicians,
picking them up
wherever they may land,
helping them pack parachutes.
Any type of support
they really require,
we'll be there to help them out.
Working alongside maintainers
is very rewarding.
It allows me to learn
many different aspects
of maintaining an aircraft.
For me, the best time of the day
is when the plane lands
and I work with my crew to get
it ready for the next mission.
We are also involved
with airfield security,
which could include
guarding aircraft,
conducting ground patrols
or ensuring positive
identification of personnel
entering the airfield.
One of the amazing aspects
of being a part-time reservist
is you can have
a civilian career as well.
For example, I'm a barber
and I have my own barber shop
near the base.
So, I think I have
the best of both worlds.
I definitely look forward to it.
I'm excited to see
where it goes from here.
Being there from the beginning,
I'm excited to see it evolve
and all it all turns out
in the end.
They like the help
because there's a lot going on.