I'm Corporal Jessica Provencher from Rouyn-Noranda, Abitibi-Témiscamingue -
an Electrical Generating Systems Technician based at 8 Wing Trenton, Ontario.
In the Canadian Armed Forces, the strength of the military often depends on electrical power.
Electrical Generating Systems Technicians - or EGS Techs for short -
make sure that the current never stops flowing.
It's crucial to mission success - and to the safety of Canadian Armed Forces members.
You're the person to go to when they need power.
That's what keeps the base going, that's what keeps the operation going.
We can be anywhere when they need us -
in the field, in exercise, on deployment - when you can't tap to the grid.
In the Regular Force or the Reserves, EGS Techs are the hands-on experts
who know everything about the machinery that converts mechanical power into electrical voltage.
I ended up being an Electrical Generating Systems Technician
because I had an electrical background before I joined the military,
and when I got told that this was part-electrical, part-mechanical, I was very interested.
EGS Techs are responsible for the installation, operation, and maintenance
of anything from generator sets, to uninterruptible power supplies,
frequency converters, and motor generators.
On a day-to-day basis, they spend their time doing preventative maintenance
on the generators to ensure that they're fully operational.
Because if the lights go out, the power needs to come back on.
Sometimes you encounter problems, you get called up to fix a generator -
it could be a mechanical problem, or it can also be an electrical problem.
So it's a very wide range of problems you have to troubleshoot.
What I like most about this job is definitely after you fix a generator.
Because usually, when you get called up, nobody has power.
So you have to fix this in a time-sensitive manner,
you've got to put all your skills forward, work as a team
and get it done - and it's very rewarding.
You finish the job and everybody else is happy.
On completion of their military and occupational training,
Electrical Generating Systems Technicians get posted
to an Army, Navy or Air Force base in Canada.
I got posted to Winnipeg at first, and over there you're working with a journeyman -
there's always someone with you.
You start slowly, doing oil changes, checks on a generator,
learning how to do the checks on a generator,
and eventually, a trouble comes up and you're working with your journeyman to fix it
and that's how you keep going and learning.
EGS Techs are an important part of the Construction Engineering division
of the Canadian Armed Forces, working alongside Electrical Distribution Techs,
Drafting and Survey Techs, Construction Techs,
Plumbing and Heating Techs, Mechanical and Refrigeration Techs
as well as Water, Fuels and Environment Techs
to support Canadian Armed Forces operations here at home and overseas.
You're the first person on the ground, you have to plan where you're going to put the generators,
you have to come up with a solution for powering the whole exercise camp,
you have to work with other trades as well.
It's a really big challenge, you work as a team.
You know, you need to figure out how you're going to build that camp.
The highlight of my career would be when I was deployed and the generator went down.
It's very stressful 'cause you never know what went wrong.
You just get the call and you have to run up to that generator and fix it
while everybody's looking at you because they can't continue their job until you're done yours.
Once you complete that, you feel proud.