Forces.ca presents

The Meeting, Episode 1.

Singer-celebrity Tara Oram

meets Lieutenant Michelle Baranovski at a bar.

- Michelle?
- Hi, Tara!

- Hi! I'm Tara. Nice to meet you.

- I'm so excited to meet you.
- Goodness, it's good to be here.

I hope you're prepared.
I am going to

pick your brain
about the military for women,

just to get some information.
- Yeah.

- So, what exactly is your job title,
or your role?

- So, I'm a logistics officer
in the Royal Canadian Navy.

- I'm sorry, what is
a logistics officer?

- A logistics officer is someone
who works in the area

of management, of supply,

finance, administration,
food services.

So, sort of the logistics
of a ship.

And right now I work
just in finance.

- I would think that,
being in the military, you're,

you know,
out in the front lines,

you're in infantry,
but that isn't the case.

You're in an office.
- Yeah, that's one of the most

exciting things about the Canadian
Forces, is that there are

so many jobs, and almost any job
you can think of

in the civilian world...
- Right.

- ...there's an equivalent job
in the Canadian Forces.

- Really?
Thank you so much.

Well, cheers.
- Cheers.

- To great conversation.
And I hope you don't mind me asking

a tonne of questions.
- No, not at all.

- When you signed up,
any misconceptions

that you had, or any worries
that you had?

- I went to the recruiting centre
and asked

a lot of questions.

Like a lot of people, I think I watched
a lot of movies that were very

infantry-army, and so that, I think,
is a reason a lot of people assume

that that's what everyone's job is
in the Canadian Forces,

but there are so many options,
and it was really exciting

to see them all and to

sort of decide which one would be
the best fit for me.

- And what made you want
to join the military?

- Well, I joined the reserves when
I first joined the Canadian Forces,

which is, like, a part-time job...
- OK.

- ...while I was still in university,
and actually that's one of the reasons

that I wanted to join,
was they paid half my tuition

while I was in university.
- That's awesome.

- And once I finished school,
I just loved it so much,

I decided to join full time, so then
I got posted to the west coast,

out to Victoria, BC,
and I was out there for four years,

and then I just got posted
to Ottawa last year.

- Wow, that's really brave.

Such a young girl, and doing all this.
That's so awesome!

- It's so much fun.

- So, when you signed up,
how did your parents feel?

Were they a little worried, or...?
- Yeah, definitely.

- I mean, knowing now that there are
so many different jobs, like...

- Um, my parents were
a little concerned when I first joined.

- Normal.
- Yeah, totally normal,

and I think the more I taught them
about the job that I chose in logistics

and the fact that I was going Navy,
I think it calmed them a bit,

and my job is mainly clerical
right now, so...

- So, you enjoy it?
- I love my job, yeah.

- That's amazing. Good for you.
- I'm really excited to meet you.

You're, like, a famous
country music singer.

- Michelle...
- And I heard that you went overseas

to Afghanistan to sing for the troops.
- I did. Uh, two Thanksgivings.

I actually spent one
in Kandahar;

just recently,
we went to Kuwait.

And, you know, that's why I'm here
today – because I'm so interested

in the military.
- I hope I can help.

- Ah, well, I'm starving.
You want to grab some lunch

to pick your brain some more?
- That sounds great.

- Awesome. Chit-chat some more.
- Sounds good.

I'm hungry. Are you?
- I'm starving. Oh, perfect, thank you.

I loved how you put that
right in front of me.

- Wow, look at all those veggies.
That's fantastic.

- Michelle, I think my main question
is, if I were to join,

do I have to go do a written test,
or, like, a physical test?

- You would go to a Canadian Forces
recruiting centre

and do the Canadian Forces
aptitude test.

Basically, this test determines

which occupation would be
the best suited for you.

- And what about
the physical test?

- First of all, you would have
to pass a medical test.

- Oh, OK.
- A little different

than a physical test. A Canadian
Forces medical officer would assess

that you're healthy enough
to join.

But most people actually ask
about boot camp.

Boot camp is about three months
long, and--

- Three months?
- Yeah, yeah.

But it's so much fun.
It's a combination

of physical training
and academic training. You learn

all about the Canadian Forces,
and, uh,

there is an annual physical test
that we need to pass.

- OK, what's that called?

- It's called the Force Test.
- The Force Test.

- Do you exercise?
- Uh, yeah, watch.

I'd like to do the FFF. It's called
the French Fry Fitness, and it goes

like this. And then I'm gonna
put it back down.

And I do that several times a day.
That's my workout.

Do you think I have what it takes?
I'd love to try.

Might want to give 'er a gander
here, Michelle.

- I'll tell you what.
How about I start training you,

and we put you through
that Force Test?

- Where do we start?
- Um...

- Go easy on me, Michelle.
I mean, seriously.

- Well, I really like wall climbing,
so how about

tomorrow we meet at
the wall climbing gym at 9 o'clock?

- Sweet. I'll see you tomorrow night,
9 o'clock.

- No, tomorrow MORNING
at 9 o'clock.

- Nine AM?
- Nine AM.

- OK, it's a deal.
- See you on the wall.

- See you on the wall.

This was The Meeting, Episode 1,

presented by Forces.ca:

The Canadian Armed Forces. Forces.ca/women, Forces.ca/femmes,

1-800,856-8488.
The Government of Canada.