CAF Story | A desire to serve
Video / March 15, 2024
Transcript
Events last year in Europe really made me reconsider my place in the community and in this country, and I really wanted an opportunity to help out where I could.
And I and I knew that I could, so I took the step.
I'm second Lieutenant Cara Little currently posted to One Wing in Kingston ON.
Before I was in the military, I was a licensed funeral director and embalmer.
I worked out of Nova Scotia and Winnipeg and what drew me to the funeral industry was the ability to serve my community, but also to work with others from all different faiths and backgrounds.
So my time in the funeral industry is absolutely treasured.
I made a lot of great memories, made a lot of, met a lot of great people.
I've had some experiences that a lot of people haven't had.
Well, I really got to help people when they were at their worst.
There's nothing worse than when you're grieving and when your family is in an emergency situation.
So I really got to walk families through that struggle and help them as best I could.
So after eight years in the funeral industry, I did feel like I reached a certain plateau.
My family could see that I was ready for a challenge and I was ready for something bigger.
I come from a a very large family background.
Both of my grandfathers served in the Second World War, my father served in the Navy and I'm from a blended family.
So of the six of us kids, five of us have served my two sisters, their husbands, my stepbrother and my other stepbrother also served in the reserves.
And I wanted to make my family proud and make myself proud.
And I could see the lifestyle that the the military could offer, and I wanted that for myself.
So I was one of the oldest military members in my platoon during Bmoq.
It was really tough, but I didn't join the military for an easy go.
I wanted the challenge.
I wanted military training.
I just leaned into my training and trusted my staff.
But now being on the other side and in this exercise I'm I'm totally immersed in this new community, in this new culture and I love it.
So as a duty officer for the Royal Canadian Air Force at Maple Resolve, I'm communicating between pilots and the rest of our team. Every morning I'm responsible for the morning brief and I'm briefing the LCol and the rest of the majors and the team.
I'm certainly used to high stress, high emergency situations.
The helicopters may have to get involved and that's where I come in.
I have to communicate between us at headquarters and the helicopters out in the airfield and make sure that they make it out to the point of injury.
Our goal is to get the soldier out of the field and get them the healthcare that they need.
I'm incredibly grateful that I took the opportunity to join the Air Force because of the people that I've met and the opportunities that I've had.
I feel like as long as I'm open to possibilities, opportunities are going to come my way and it's because I joined the military.