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<v ->Today we're meeting Master
Corporal Luc Poirier, an Ammunition</v>

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Technician in the Canadian Armed

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Forces. Hey, Luc. - Hi, how's it going?

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Welcome to CFAD Angus.
<v ->Thanks.</v>

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First off, what does an
Ammunition Technician do?

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<v ->Well, we're the experts in
receiving, storing, shipping,</v>

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destructing, maintaining,
and repairing all the

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ammunition in the Canadian Armed Forces.

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<v ->And are there any secondary duties?</v>

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<v ->Yeah, so we have to do
our regular ammo tech duty,</v>

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which consists of giving
ammo to local units

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and also being there for when
contractors come, we have

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to escort them around
the place.

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And also, we do EOD duty,
which basically means

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that we dispose of all the unexploded

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ordnances around the local area.

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<v ->So what is this place?</v>

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<v ->So right now, you're in our</v>

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ammunition processing building.

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So what we do here is we maintain, repair,

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and do specialised inspection
of our ammo when needed.

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<v ->So can you tell us what
kind of training it takes</v>

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to become an Ammunition Technician?

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<v ->Absolutely. So after basic training,</v>

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you'll get posted immediately
to an ammunition facility

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where you'll get some on-hand experience.

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After that, you do your first course.

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Once that's completed,
you do two years of

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on-the-job experience where you visit every

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section in your, in your depot.

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And once that gets done after that,

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you'll go on your second course,

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and once that's done, you're good.

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Fully qualified ammo tech.

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<v ->And where else would you
work if you were on base?</v>

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<v ->So, well, actually,
this is a good timing.</v>

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I have to go pick up some
paperwork at our transit facility.

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So come out with me and
I'll show you around there.

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Welcome to our ammo transit facility.

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<v ->Hey, thanks. What's so
special about this building?</v>

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<v ->So what's special here is
basically the work that we do.</v>

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So this building here
specifically is where we issue,

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receive, and ship all of our ammunition.

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And also, another cool fact
about this building, actually,

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is all of our phone lines
and electrical panels,

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as you see here, are completely sealed.

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The reason for that is
because when we work

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with exposed propellant or ammunition,

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we don't want sparks flying,
lighting the whole place up.

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So, like, as the phone here

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and the electrical box,
it's all sealed up.

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<v ->Yeah, that's a pretty funky phone.</v>

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So what made you choose to
become an Ammunition Technician?

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<v ->So for me, obviously, the thought</v>

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of blowing stuff up was pretty cool.

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But getting to do some
stuff I've never done

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before, like drive trucks,
forklifts, handle ammunition

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and explosives, actually manually myself,

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and also doing some EOD
duty, getting to interact

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with the police and the local population

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and other places around the world and

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where I'm from was a pretty
cool, was a pretty cool thing.

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<v ->And what's something you
think most people don't realise</v>

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about the day-to-day work
of an Ammunition Technician?

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<v ->So our job is very technical.</v>

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We deal with publications from
everything, from every piece

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of ammo we have, all the way
up to our disposal methods.

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So that's our safety net.

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So every time we deal with
anything, we have to go

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through our publications to
see what we're dealing with.

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But we also have a good
amount of hands-on work.

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So when we actually come at a depot,

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it's a pretty good mix of 50-50.

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<v ->Okay. Now let's play a little
bit of this-or-that. - Sure.</v>

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<v ->Explosions or precision work?</v>

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<v ->Precision work is cool,
but has to be explosions.</v>

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<v ->Working solo or in a team?</v>

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<v ->Working solo can be fun for some people.</v>

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I personally like working in a team.

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<v ->Tech gadgets or hands-on tools?</v>

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<v ->Hands-on tools,
they're all right, that's</v>

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what we've always used, but
tech gadgets is where it's at.

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<v ->Range or base?</v>

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<v ->The base can be fun. It's
your typical 9-to-5</v>

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work, but I always love going on

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the range and just blowing stuff up.

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<v ->Okay. And what's the best
part about being in the Forces?</v>

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<v ->For me personally, I
think it's the balance.</v>

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You have really good job security.

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The medical benefits are,
are through the roof.

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You have so many benefits,
discounts everywhere.

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It's really hard to complain. You can't

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find anything like this anywhere else.

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<v ->That's amazing. So this
is really impressive,</v>

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but is there somewhere
bigger you could show us?

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<v ->Absolutely. You wanna see
something bigger? I got you.</v>

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We're gonna go to our magazine,
which is right next door.

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Let's go. So what do you think?

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<v ->Now this is very impressive.</v>
<v ->It's pretty cool, right?</v>

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<v ->Yeah, it really is. So
what's the craziest piece</v>

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of ammo you've worked with?

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<v ->Well, I've actually had a chance</v>

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to work on some Evolved Sea Sparrow
Missiles when I went on a

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tasking back in British Columbia.

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<v ->Have you deployed before?</v>

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<v ->I've never deployed on operation.</v>

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However, I have gone on taskings overseas.

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I've gone to places like Fiji, Australia,

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New Caledonia, and Hawaii as well.

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<v ->Oh, wow. Those are some
bucket-list destinations.</v>

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What other kinds of interesting
career possibilities are

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there for Ammunition Technicians?

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<v ->Well, we get a chance, like
all the other trades, to work</v>

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with, at CANSOFCOM, right,
with the Special Forces.

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We also have an advanced EOD
course that happens in Florida,

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and we also have an IEDD course
that happens in Gagetown.

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<v ->Okay, this is the last
question for today, Luc.</v>

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Why should someone consider
becoming an Ammunition

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Technician in the Forces?

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<v ->Well, if you're like me, we have a mix</v>

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of hands-on work and
technical work as well.

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It's something I like
to do, and we get a lot

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of great opportunities

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and we get to do some really cool stuff.

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So if I love it, you'll love it too.

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Well, guys, it's been
great chatting today.

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I gotta get back to work though,
so thanks for coming out.

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<v ->Thanks so much, Luc.</v>