CAF Story | Reaching new heights
Video / November 6, 2024
Transcript
Being asked to be part of the National Sentry Program was very, very honoring for me.
I was able to get a different perspective and see a sense of what it actually meant to serve your country and to have that service before self mentality. Because when you're learning about the program and you're learning about all the men and women who never returned home and the sacrifices that they made in order for us to live the life that we do live. Having that front and centre kind of drives that point home and it was a perspective shift for a lot of us.
24 years ago, my father stood guard when they repatriated the remains of the Unknown Soldier from France back to Canada. Getting to watch my father stand guard for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier unbeknownst to me at the time, would be one of the greatest moments that I would connect to our journey so far. Standing guard 20-some-odd years later was a pretty indescribable feeling to follow in his footsteps. He was there almost every day, watching with his own sense of pride, gave me pride that will sit with me for the rest of my life.
My name is Corporal Jennifer Bailey and I am an aerospace control operator.
(Corporal Bailey was promoted to Master Corporal since filming.)
I joined the forces when I was about 25, 26 and I really needed a challenge and I started looking at how prideful my father was and he served for 38 years. I thought to myself, you know, maybe I'll take the plunge and see if it's for me. I work in the control tower. I'm in charge of controlling all of the movement on the airfield. So all of our air assets on the ground, all of the maintenance that happens on the airfield, I control all of that via radio.
The job itself has constantly challenged me. You are in this environment where, you know, human lives are involved, multimillion dollar aircraft are involved. And to make sure that everything moves around the way it's supposed to, everyone is kept safe. When there are human lives involved, that level of risk kind of puts things in perspective for you. Thunder 337. Winds 270 at 6. Clear to land runway 2-4.
I did teach myself how to paint. Ironically, it was around the same time I decided to join the military. Painting and my current job in the forces do kind of correlate. So being able to have that creative mind gives me the ability at work to see the bigger picture and to maintain situational awareness, to pick up on those potential risks and to move with the flow of the day the same way that you would when you oil paint. The skills kind of even out. So being able to do that at home while I paint helps me adapt to situations while I'm at work.
I have deployed to Sinai, Egypt. I was able to do the Sentry Program. I actually joined the military as a medic. When I first got into the military, after, you know, realizing there were more avenues than I was aware of, I decided to change trades. Aerospace control was my second choice. So I decided to take the plunge and it was the best decision I ever made.