My First Time in the Front Seat

Lt Mike Dullege
22 October 2010

 

OC B’s note: Lt Dullege, apparently a subject known to the Edmonton Police, establishes and organizes a half day of advanced driving instruction by the EPS for four of B Sqn’s soldiers on 15 October 2010.

 

While ramping up the maintenance and other preparatory steps to deploy to the field for Ex STEELE SABER, B Sqn had the exciting opportunity to participate in the Edmonton Police Department’s Advanced Driver’s Circuit on Friday the 15th of October, on the runway behind our unit lines. After a quick briefing by the OPI Lt Mike Dullege (consisting mainly of, “do you guys know how to drive a car?”), Lt Dullege and four troops made their way to the runway, unsure of what we were really getting into.

 

We arrived and met our guide A/Sgt Scott Anthony, who gave us a brief as to what was being taught and why. It was then time to strap in for the first ride. Having been one of the chief instructors for some time, Sgt Anthony blew through the course very quickly; quickly enough to key-in on the expectations and jitters we already had. After going through the course twice it was time for history to be made and for the Strathconas to crew command, legitimately, a police cruiser. After climbing into the front seat and getting a quick brief (including a stern warning that the going rate for infractions was one beer per pylon hit on the course), Cpl Levesque set the tone with the first white knuckle sprint about the circuit. One by one each soldier got his turn to “put on a clinic” of how to drive the circuit. Tpr Richer-Vizeau was pretty excited that he only hit one cone and spent the next 20 minutes telling people about it. Tprs Taylor and Larcher-Pelland became famous for smacking the drivers’ side mirror off of objects as they raced through the technical part of the chase.

 

Later in the morning, B Sqn OC Maj Mike Onieu and SSM Tony Mayfield came out to thank the EPS on behalf of the Regiment and managed to finagle their way into the cruiser for a quick lesson. Some words were exchanged but nothing could tempt Maj Onieu into bringing his Porsche into the fray.

 

At the end of the day the soldiers had a great time working with the police and pushing the car to its limits. Of note: The Crown Victoria can take a lot more than it looks like. The soldiers were good. So good that the “beer per struck cone” cost us pretty minimally by the end of the morning. Having learned a bit about the agility of a police cruiser to manoeuvre deftly around obstacles, we look forward to bringing the EPS back to the Regiment to trial a different kind of driving circuit in a Leopard tank.