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Stories of veteran service and sacrifice straight from the people driving today’s most important veterans causes and veterans organizations around the world. The show shines a spotlight on their inspiring projects making a real difference for veterans and their families, and along the way we'll hear the stories that drive them to do their best every day as they work to support veterans and their memory.
00:00:06:06 - 00:00:30:21
Speaker 1
Hello and welcome to Story Behind the Stone, a show where we talk service, sacrifice and story. I'm so pleased to welcome to the show today. Mr. Alexander Landry, a defence and security professional at Babcock Canada working with government and industry, who continues his service as a military engineer officer. With over a decade of leadership experience across domestic operations, NATO assignments, national emergency management and institutional coordination.
00:00:30:23 - 00:00:33:04
Speaker 1
Alexander, it's such a pleasure to welcome you to the show today.
00:00:33:10 - 00:00:36:13
Speaker 2
I think it's really great to be here. I really appreciate you and your team having me on.
00:00:36:13 - 00:00:43:10
Speaker 1
For our listeners, if you could give a brief overview of your military service and what motivated you to enter service in the first place?
00:00:43:15 - 00:01:03:21
Speaker 2
Yeah, of course, I'm just coming up on 14 years of military service, 13 of which were with the Regular Force, so full time. And in the past year, actually, I've been a primary reservist here in the Ottawa area. My family has a long history of military service, going up to my great grandfather and beyond to service in the Second World War, my grandfather having served in the Middle East.
00:01:03:23 - 00:01:31:13
Speaker 2
My father with, two tours in Afghanistan. So when, when the time came to start looking at universities and of course, like full on professions, the military was my first pick. So I went to the Royal Military College in, 2012 and from there, after graduation, spent some time finishing up training as a military engineer officer, spend some time in Wawa at, the famous two Combat Engineer Regiment, did a stint over in Ukraine for eight months, followed by some domestic responses here for flooding in Ottawa, which we're starting to see again seven years later.
00:01:31:18 - 00:01:45:09
Speaker 2
As, as we're being filmed right now and then spent some time at the engineer school before going over for that, overseas NATO assignment for three years in that Turkey at, over in the Middle East before coming home and, wrapping up my service in Ottawa before transitioning to the defense industry.
00:01:45:15 - 00:01:51:17
Speaker 1
How was your service experience kind of informing the work that you're doing today across so many different organizations and roles?
00:01:51:19 - 00:01:52:10
Speaker 2
What I was.
00:01:52:10 - 00:01:52:23
Speaker 1
Going.
00:01:52:23 - 00:02:11:12
Speaker 2
Through and wrapping up my first regimental tour, I would say around the 2019 timeframe, I really started seeing the interconnection of military service and Canadian society. And of course, like having been at the Royal Military College, you see that, and I had had a fairly large volunteer footprint when I was in high school, but that kind of faded while I was completing my studies.
00:02:11:12 - 00:02:37:11
Speaker 2
And then my first, regimental tour in 2019, just before I, moved out to New Brunswick to go to the engineering school, I had the chance to go on a the domestic operation to support flooding here in the Ottawa area. And just seeing all these various volunteer organizations that were supporting the community and really just people showing up to help each other in their time of need, it was a reminder of the importance of, you know, community involvement, volunteerism, being involved in organizations that are of people, for people.
00:02:37:11 - 00:02:54:06
Speaker 2
So it's spawned a little bit of encouragement, I think a little bit of a fire back in my belly. And I got very involved with places like Saint John Ambulance and the Journal of Emergency Management at the time, and that's just grown organically over time, in various ways, both within the public safety realm, but also with the military defense and security realm as well.
00:02:54:07 - 00:02:57:19
Speaker 1
You mentioned your family service. What do you think they would think of what you're doing today.
00:02:57:21 - 00:03:17:08
Speaker 2
For my dad? I ask him quite often, like how he feels. And, you know, I'd say he's pretty happy that I'm involved specifically with the alma mater at the Royal Military College, with the alumni Association. When I think back to my grandfather, who did pass in the 2013 timeframe, just as I was getting started, I do actually remember visiting him in the hospital just a few months before he did pass, and he mentioned he was very proud of what I was doing.
00:03:17:10 - 00:03:34:10
Speaker 2
And he was very excited to introduce me to a lot of the other, the patients that were at the hospital at the time. I was actually in uniform. So I just come over from the college, it was at the tail end of first year, beginning a second year, if I'm not mistaken. I knew at that point that I'd made a really good decision, was pretty proud to be kind of fulfilling that ideal that my family had, and just continuing on that service.
00:03:34:10 - 00:03:37:05
Speaker 2
And like a long lineage, both of my, my mom, my dad's side.
00:03:37:07 - 00:03:43:00
Speaker 1
That's really neat that you had that moment. And especially in uniform, it must be something really special to reflect back on.
00:03:43:03 - 00:03:58:11
Speaker 2
I think so too. And I should mention, of course, my brother too is still in military service full time. So the fact that, we've just kind of continued that lineage and, and working within the space in terms of service and giving back in the defense industry, it is fulfilling the day to day and knowing that we can connect over something like that to from a family basis.
00:03:58:15 - 00:04:05:04
Speaker 1
I think about the outsized impact that your family's had per capita. You are over serving. I think for your family, it's incredible.
00:04:05:08 - 00:04:17:04
Speaker 2
It's good. It's big time, too. It's our defense moment. The inflection point, as has been mentioned, both by our political and our, military leaders. So it's always encouraging to see, families giving back, being in full time service or as reservists as well.
00:04:17:04 - 00:04:21:08
Speaker 1
You're involved in the engineering association. I believe. What does that work mean to you?
00:04:21:10 - 00:04:39:00
Speaker 2
Yeah. That's correct. So the key Military Engineer Association, one of various associations and institutions that looks to give back to its members, this one's, you know, 20 plus years in terms of, like, providing affinity programs and just being, a networking community beyond the actual service and, the community itself within kind of like the defense space.
00:04:39:00 - 00:05:09:23
Speaker 2
And so it's members that have kind of gotten together that are providing that support to various the veterans, like no longer serving members of the military engineer community, but also ongoing service. So it's really one thing we advertise in terms of the advocacy we can provide as part of, like the Conference of Defense Associations, but also beyond in terms of giving back for events supporting like buy local charities, but also providing via one of our programs called Sappers in Need, where if there is members of the engineer community or the engineer family, that might be an assist, you know, a moment of distress or like an emergency of some sort.
00:05:09:23 - 00:05:19:03
Speaker 2
We can provide financial or just support to these members and really just give back and kind of cover off before the actual system itself kicks in gear to actually support these members.
00:05:19:04 - 00:05:25:08
Speaker 1
Is there a particular story of a sapper that you've helped? And also, if you could share what Sapper means for those of us that are familiar?
00:05:25:08 - 00:05:39:16
Speaker 2
Yeah, of course, of Sapper, interesting term. So it's, comes from the idea, the very old ideals of laying a sop. So during a siege, soldiers would go out and essentially establish, at, like, the base of a wall, like the explosive charges. It would kind of blow a hole and then allow the soldiers to go inside the city.
00:05:39:16 - 00:05:55:23
Speaker 2
So Sapper is the designation we give to like our, our trained privates in the actual engineer family. So similar how there might be like rifleman or gunner. For the artillery. We have our designation, which is sapper, which we find is very interesting and, it's definitely one that is very endearing to us to hear. And obviously in the States they have like the badge sniper.
00:05:55:23 - 00:06:23:18
Speaker 2
Right. So it's one of the tabs that can be actually earned with in America. It's kind of like one of those specialties. And we do send actually members on the course and they can be tabbed as well. So interesting that you have that kind of dynamic among the allies. And we, we use that, deals of sapper prospector stories in that like a lot of them that have come through specifically since I've been on the executive, we've seen a couple members that have had perhaps like houses burned down or members that have gone like sick and have gone into long term care and beyond, just like the financial support that we can offer has the
00:06:23:18 - 00:06:38:14
Speaker 2
association, I think one of the bigger pieces is just being able to reach out to the member, especially if they're not in or serving, and just remind them that the families there to support them. The engineer community kind of doesn't go away beyond like the Facebook groups and just the engagement they might have day to day with people in their immediate family or immediate friends.
00:06:38:14 - 00:06:42:17
Speaker 2
When one of our own is in distress and need, definitely the engineer family comes together to support them.
00:06:42:22 - 00:06:48:14
Speaker 1
Alexandra, I want to turn the lens back to your military deployment in Ukraine. How did this change your view on international policy.
00:06:48:16 - 00:07:17:06
Speaker 2
Going over to Ukraine was my first time leaving the country beyond, I think, going to like Disney World when I was, in high school, actually, with my, with my family. So it was an eye opening experience in terms of seeing different aspects of society, like beyond North America and just understanding how people live, engaging with different cultures, of course, and learning about this, but also having the opportunity to take our Canadian values and help support a country that had asked us to come in and provide kind of the security, capacity building aspects.
00:07:17:06 - 00:07:36:16
Speaker 2
Right. So I was over there providing engineer specific training, but beyond that, there was also just the camaraderie that was felt between this partner nation. At the time, we were working kind of like hand in hand to help grow their organic capabilities. And on the side, we were also, of course, learning from them in terms of what things that are going on in Eastern Europe, what different cultures look like.
00:07:36:18 - 00:07:57:19
Speaker 2
So in terms of coming home and my ideals of what the international community looked like after that, of course, as we've seen over the past few years, like the developments reinforced like some significant ideals and values of liberalism, and there the need for international cooperation. And I think it was one of the things that spurred me to later take that, NATO posting and go overseas and work in Turkey for three years.
00:07:57:19 - 00:08:00:09
Speaker 1
The operation that you were on was UN Operation Unifier.
00:08:00:13 - 00:08:28:04
Speaker 2
That's correct. So we were in bed specifically with the Joint Military Training Group for Ukraine. So the we were working with hand in hand with Americans, Polish allies, and we actually had a couple SWE Swedes and Danes that were supportive with us. So it was definitely like a multinational context all there to support, the Ukrainian armed forces, coming through that would be essentially doing rotations of 60 days plus to get various small team training aspects, be it in like demolitions, engineering operations or even just like, specialty infantry tactics or medical training.
00:08:28:05 - 00:08:34:15
Speaker 1
You mentioned NATO and working there for three years. What were some of the challenges that you encountered working within NATO command?
00:08:34:15 - 00:08:52:11
Speaker 2
Similar challenges, I would say that I had working like in Ukraine the first time. So it's good to kind of have that foundation. It's definitely the interoperability and just kind of the clash of cultures being in NATO itself. And of course, the engineering division where I was working for for those three years had, upwards of 6 or 7 different nationalities that were working towards the same goals.
00:08:52:13 - 00:09:09:21
Speaker 2
So we talk different languages, although we all kind of like leaned back on English and French as like NATO's official languages. But of course, at the same time, there's like the different languages of doctrine that we might have. So although there is interoperability in terms of what we're looking to do, there's maybe different ways of doing things from an engineer specific aspect.
00:09:09:21 - 00:09:37:13
Speaker 2
So things like bridges, right. Different ways of doing explosives, maybe safety distances that might exist when using demolitions and whatnot. At the end of the day, though, I think that we overcame those frictions by a common purpose. And especially post 2022 when we saw, the invasion of Ukraine and things really started ramping up in terms of NATO support towards, like responding to that illegal aggression that helped us overcome the friction because we had that common purpose, the common goal of mutually supporting a partner nation, but also ramping up our own deterrence activities as an alliance.
00:09:37:17 - 00:09:44:14
Speaker 1
Was there any particular learning that sticks out to you from your time? There was a bridge techniques. Was it explosives? What was the surprise for you?
00:09:44:16 - 00:10:09:19
Speaker 2
Definitely getting an opportunity to go to the eastern flank a couple times and see, defensive positions and kind of like those actual for land forces positions. So as an example, when I went to was in Romania, where the, the French multinational brigade was established, you know, the situation of looking at the ground and seeing the terrain that if ever we did have, like push came to shove and we were in the open conflict knowing that that would be like the defensive ground we'd be working within.
00:10:09:21 - 00:10:29:22
Speaker 2
That was a bit jarring. Right? It was a return to the idea because previously, in my NATO, time, like especially in the early years, I had done some, some tours, like in Europe and seen like battlefields in Belgium, you know, similar like bonds were the current supreme headquarters for Allied Powers. Europe is. And you see these battlefields in these spaces that were important, like 100 years ago during the First World War and then the Second World War.
00:10:30:02 - 00:10:47:14
Speaker 2
And you think to yourself, like the history that was made here, but also like the sacrifice, right? And just knowing that now looking in these spaces in like Romania or like the different areas like on the eastern flank, the future sacrifice that that may occur, God willing, will not. But also just like the ground that will be contested specifically, it's very, I think, jarring.
00:10:47:14 - 00:10:51:13
Speaker 2
It's a very, like, emotionally stirring experience to stand on the ground and actually look at it.
00:10:51:17 - 00:11:05:01
Speaker 1
One thing that's sticking out to me as you're talking is recent headlines. President Zelensky talking about how they're now taking ground with autonomous systems, robotic armies. Did you think that we would get here at that fast? Is that a surprise to you?
00:11:05:01 - 00:11:21:15
Speaker 2
I definitely have always had a little bit of an inclination towards like the technological aspects, like it's an engineering background. So I thought like, yes, we would see, revolution in military affairs, kind of like for the development of technology. Did I think, you know, heading overseas as an example in 2021 that we'd cure this fast like that?
00:11:21:15 - 00:11:39:13
Speaker 2
We'd see kind of the ramp up of artificial intelligence, the use of drones, like, as perishable tools almost at this point. No, I don't think I would have seen it that considered at this fast. And definitely like contemporary militaries nowadays, are scrambling to see how they can integrate these technologies into their actual capabilities and like their actual doctrine itself.
00:11:39:13 - 00:11:52:12
Speaker 2
Right. So at the end of the day, they remain tools, I think is the important piece. And it'll be curious to see kind of like how that continues to evolve with the different theaters of conflict we're seeing right now beyond like Ukraine, but also like in the Middle East and potentially the Indo-Pacific.
00:11:52:16 - 00:12:04:00
Speaker 1
I think about your involvement with the Royal Military College. I can just imagine, you know, the chatter in the halls about headlines like this. How does the college adapt to warfare that's changing so quickly?
00:12:04:00 - 00:12:21:11
Speaker 2
Speaking to my college experience, I mean, just going in in 2012 myself, I remember hearing so many different things about how things were back in the 90s or the 80s when my dad was there hearing about like, curriculum development, the way kind of like culture was. Evidently there was a very significant culture shift to the beginnings of, while I was there between 2012 and 2016.
00:12:21:11 - 00:12:43:07
Speaker 2
And I've stayed very much in touch with my alma mater and the alumni association and even current cadets, I would say, and I speak to them. We've done some focus groups because we're trying to understand the value proposition we're offering is the alumni association and their reality has very much changed as well in terms of like the structure there, the learnings they're doing and the way they have different focus on different priorities for specific pillars, right within, the college itself.
00:12:43:07 - 00:12:59:05
Speaker 2
So have seen the change occur like the space of maybe 40 years and then even ten years, or even like the past five years. It's been fairly interesting, but at the same time, it's reassuring to know that the college, the institution itself doesn't reside in, like a silo. Right. Or it's an echo chamber just working on the peninsula itself.
00:12:59:07 - 00:13:25:08
Speaker 2
Because the college is a peninsula for the viewers that are not, fully aware of that. Kingston, Ontario. Beautiful place to visit, but it's good to know that it's still tied in with the wider society. Right. Like the defense research aspects in terms of like modern technologies, modern doctrine, modern policies, but also still having state of the art technology development in terms of the different programs it offers and academic, like nonmilitary academics that are still kind of driving forward in terms of those undergraduate and graduate programs.
00:13:25:13 - 00:13:39:06
Speaker 1
You also studied, King's College in London. What was the difference in your focus between King's College and the Royal Military College? You know, this really interesting background, military, international affairs, NATO. How does this all come together to shape your career path?
00:13:39:09 - 00:14:01:06
Speaker 2
Yeah, it's an interesting piece. And I really like to tell people that, you know, having been fairly competent with Stem in high school, when I, when I joined and did chemical engineering at the Royal Military College, I very quickly realized I didn't necessarily like the actual facets of engineering itself, like from an academic perspective. So I usually will tell people that, I did four years of engineering to realize I didn't want to be a long term like civil engineer.
00:14:01:06 - 00:14:25:08
Speaker 2
Beyond that, of course I did. I did an MBA, kind of like in the transit area, because I was trying to expand, understand project management better because that's a lot of what military engineering actually is, is looking at projects, infrastructure, developing programs. And when I was overseas and I was starting to be kind of more integrated and exposed to things like international relations, like the the politics of different nations, cultures and whatnot, it's where I realized I wanted to do something again and do some more learning.
00:14:25:12 - 00:14:38:17
Speaker 2
So I took DMA and International Relations from King's College London, and I would say it's one of the first degrees I did purely out of know love of the game, and the idea of being able to kind of be integrated in it, not the one I performed best. And of course, very high standards for marketing at King's College.
00:14:38:17 - 00:14:47:16
Speaker 2
And, I have a great respect for those that have gone through the entire British education system, but definitely the one I think I took the most away from and that I use, fairly often in my day to day.
00:14:47:18 - 00:14:51:16
Speaker 1
What was it like to be immersed in London? Tell me about your day to day at King's College.
00:14:51:17 - 00:15:12:22
Speaker 2
I actually did it as a part time learning. So King's College was a part time learning for me. So it was like the day, full day in terms of work, with NATO. And then I'd be doing kind of like in the evening, the actual research projects that were required for different course space work, leading up to the actual dissertation, like right at the end there, which I did on the Canada NATO relations was funny enough, though, because the dissertation was completed just at the end of 2024.
00:15:12:22 - 00:15:26:17
Speaker 2
So entering 25, where the whole NATO structure started getting reviewed, and we, of course, had the American election, I think most of what I wrote was no longer current in terms of like the shift towards hard power. We've seen return in NATO and in the wider international community.
00:15:26:17 - 00:15:35:09
Speaker 1
You're currently writing strategic analysis on topics like critical infrastructure, energy resilience. Tell us a little bit about what you're cooking up over the next few months.
00:15:35:09 - 00:16:03:15
Speaker 2
Definitely. So did a recent piece speaking to, Arctic sovereignty and the need for a security strategy overall here in Canada? I'm always looking as well at things like critical infrastructure and energy security, because there are pieces that I think I, kind of took as like little side projects. While I was with NATO, I did have the fortunate, ability to kind of join on with some of those projects that were going on, like the NATO operational energy concept, as well as climate security within the Doctrine and Terminology Panel for the Environmental Protection Working Group.
00:16:03:17 - 00:16:20:12
Speaker 2
I know it's a big word, solid to say that I was able to kind of go and do different aspects within the Alliance while I was there. So I've tried my best to stay current in many of these pieces, and once in a while I'll look to publish on topics specifically based on kind of like where we sit now and always provide that Canadian aspect.
00:16:20:12 - 00:16:41:17
Speaker 2
So Canadian defense and security and the sovereignty aspect right now is very important. It's it's leading, edge and one of the key pieces in the news. So it's great to provide insight. I think in terms of what's going on specifically still in the Alliance and how it applies to us here in North America, just so we kind of don't have that distance and the friction that I think can kind of be created sometimes when you consider, like the size of the ocean that separates us geographically.
00:16:41:17 - 00:16:47:20
Speaker 1
On NATO, on the alliance. Tell us a little bit about the concept of the green and northern stars, if you can. Yeah.
00:16:47:20 - 00:17:06:01
Speaker 2
So definitely the things I was doing, like I was saying, like the Arctic aspect of like the North Star and the Green Star at the time was, the climate security aspect. So prior to kind of everything going on with Ukraine, there was a big emphasis, on climate security. And Jens Stoltenberg, the previous secretary general, actually was one to say that climate change was going to be a defining challenge of our time.
00:17:06:02 - 00:17:29:22
Speaker 2
That's not to say it's gone away. Obviously, we still have everything going on in Ukraine and at large in the international community, which is kind of seen a refocus on the Middle East to some aspects, the Indo-Pacific, of course, but of course, Eastern Europe is that is the large piece, for the alliance right now. But in the background there's still a lot of great work going on in terms of energy security, looking at climate change and how it impacts, you know, the security aspects, be it human security or like resource scarcity.
00:17:29:22 - 00:17:50:07
Speaker 2
So when we kind of look at that, Canada's long played a large role in various topics like this, be it like by the United Nations, be it like foreign aid, be it using like and leveraging tools and institutions like Global Affairs Canada. So being able to kind of contribute to that, both doctrinally and from a policy perspective, has long been kind of like a project of mine, and I've been very interested in that space.
00:17:50:07 - 00:18:10:20
Speaker 2
It would be an understatement, I think, to say I'm quite happy to see now that Arctic sovereignty has come up to the forefront as one of the key defense issues right now for Canada. And if anything, it's one of the priorities for our military moving forward. So it's good to see that's finally kind of return to light. Having previously been so a little bit after, the Second World War, obviously during the Cold War, when the overflights from the Russians was, one of the key concerns.
00:18:10:20 - 00:18:19:04
Speaker 1
We've all seen the headlines around military spending increasing. How do you think Canada can most contribute meaningfully to NATO's defense posture?
00:18:19:04 - 00:18:35:15
Speaker 2
We've got the multinational brigade moving up to a division level in Latvia that we contribute to. We have long standing commitments within the command structure itself, and we've just had 2% so very excited about that. That was just in the past few weeks. But for the purpose, I think in the interest of the podcast, I think I'll say, something a little bit off track.
00:18:35:15 - 00:18:54:22
Speaker 2
And so I've been a long standing, stalwart of the idea of NATO's second article, which speaks to economic prosperity and security beyond just the defensive aspects of the alliance for articles four and five. So this article was one that the original drafters of the Washington Treaty and like the charters itself, were proponents of and it's colloquially termed the Canadian article.
00:18:54:22 - 00:19:19:09
Speaker 2
So article two, can be looked at and it actually speaks to the importance of having economic integration, working to share social and cultural values among the allied nations. And I think Canada can look to kind of continue pushing this. And as we saw with, the Prime Minister's speech at Davos, actually speaking to the idea of middle power and ship and the need for these like minded countries to gather together once more and continue sharing their democratic principles and our democratic values.
00:19:19:15 - 00:19:33:02
Speaker 2
It is through vehicles like NATO's article two. I think, that this can be done as we reestablish trade relations, economic inter linkages, and just continue mutually supporting each other in an increasingly fractious and dissonant global community.
00:19:33:06 - 00:19:43:05
Speaker 1
As someone involved in the RCMP Defense and Security Studies program, what are some challenges that you see in preparing the next generation of Canada's strategic thinkers?
00:19:43:05 - 00:20:07:04
Speaker 2
It's a very good question, and I think it's one that many of us in the academic space and even the practitioner space and looking to bridge the two, are constantly dealing with, so be it through like RCMP or, but also like ops, the Conference of Defense Associations Institute, you know, CGI, IPD there's so many different think tanks or associations that are, continuing to kind of push this narrative that, we need to do more in Canada for the next generation of strategic thinkers.
00:20:07:04 - 00:20:28:16
Speaker 2
I think the the key piece is going to be looking beyond and kind of breaking the mold in terms of like previously what we have thought and we've been constrained by almost to some degree over the past many decades. So evidently, like military capabilities in Canada have atrophied to some degree over the past few decades. I think this is inarguable at this point, and like our political and military leadership has been saying this now for the past couple of years.
00:20:28:16 - 00:20:54:09
Speaker 2
So as we look at this inflection point, we look to renew, to modernize, to rebuild. It's about establishing sovereign supply chains, about establishing sovereign capability and things here in Canada, and not necessarily returning to a norm that we've previously seen. So as we've kind of atrophied over this time, we need to reinvent ourselves in the current moment and not just be reinventing ourselves to prepare for the previous war or previous conflict engagements that we've been doing right.
00:20:54:09 - 00:21:18:19
Speaker 2
It's not to say that we shouldn't have historical contacts and look back to previous ways that we've done things. When we think of, like the CD house, the Mitchell Sharps, the various other leaders that have taken us on those tracks to making sure that we stay capable and competent in the national community. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't rely on those as kind of like guidelines, but definitely for the strategic thinkers, they need to be looking at the, you know, the novel ideas and the ones that are going to be sustainable over the long term.
00:21:18:19 - 00:21:45:00
Speaker 2
And not just kind of like the one trick ponies that get us from point A to point B, because the point B really is realistically when we look at it, although we do have projections and plans for things like 3.5% with NATO, 5% in the long term, we have to be continuing to project beyond that, because if you had asked me in 2008 if Ukraine was going to be invaded, I don't think many people would have told you that was going to be the case, especially when we look at things like the memorandum signed in the 90s, where there was promises that would no invasion would ever occur.
00:21:45:00 - 00:21:52:08
Speaker 1
Alex, I think back to when you started your studies in 2012. What does the curriculum look like in 2012 versus what it looks like today in 2026 for students?
00:21:52:08 - 00:22:19:06
Speaker 2
So coming in in 2012 to the military, we were really starting to see a focus on dispersed operations. Right? We were looking at, counterinsurgency. We were still seeing the latent effects, I think, of Afghanistan, that were occurring, and we were just starting to return to like the near peer peer level conflict where we're looking at large scale combat operations nowadays, anybody coming into the Canadian Army or the Canadian Armed Forces are starting to look at doctrinally and doing training specific to these large scale combat operations where it's peer on peer.
00:22:19:06 - 00:22:41:20
Speaker 2
So we're talking about the actual adversaries that are sovereign states, their state level armies, their state level like capabilities that have like actual air forces that are actually, you know, on par with what we currently have or maybe even more advanced, as well as navies that are able to actually project and sustain combat power, like across oceans, as opposed to just looking at single service insurgent operations or very small, limited militias.
00:22:41:20 - 00:23:01:16
Speaker 2
That's an astronomical change. Those are two very different kinds of operations. And although there is a requirement, I think, to maintain some capability in the former in terms of dispersed operations, counterinsurgency, even domestic operations, to some degree, there does have to be enhanced, focused, I think, right now on large scale combat operations, because it's the reality of the future fight.
00:23:01:16 - 00:23:06:14
Speaker 2
I think that we're we're seeing as the kind of the international community continues to have these frictions develop and erupt.
00:23:06:14 - 00:23:14:05
Speaker 1
As you look ahead and you think about your own future, what are the top 1 or 2 personal or professional priorities over the next few years?
00:23:14:09 - 00:23:36:01
Speaker 2
Definitely. This year, within the context of volunteerism with, Royal Military College Alumni Association, we're celebrating the 150th anniversary of the institution. So that's going to be occurring June 1st. So there's a really enhanced focus on the value proposition the Alumni Association provides right now for current cadets, recent graduates, as well as like the the old brigades, like the much more of the older graduates.
00:23:36:03 - 00:23:51:16
Speaker 2
And we're trying to kind of reconcile with the idea of what we're providing the older generations, how we connect them with those newer generations that are living, of course, a different type of service than it has been lived in the past few decades. That is a very big priority in my life for the next little while, as well as my renewal of vows.
00:23:51:16 - 00:24:17:00
Speaker 2
That is personally occurring for myself and my wife later this year. Beyond that, in the next couple of years, it'll be continuing to align, I think, within the defense and security space, kind of like these veteran base projects. So things like treble Victor, the Military Engineer Association, the Royal Military College Alumni Association, and how they align with places like industry rights, the The Babcock Canada of the world, such as you mentioned, when we got beginning here and just how industry continues to actually support the institution itself.
00:24:17:00 - 00:24:50:20
Speaker 2
So the Canadian Army, the King Armed Forces at large, and then also how the defense industry in the defense community can continue to support Canadian society at large. So evidently, the past few years, we've seen emphasis on that being like domestic operations, like response to fires and floods. But now the question is, how does this continue expanding? When we look at things like building infrastructure in the High North and continued support, civil society built with domestic responses, or just, you know, creating jobs like as more and more people begin to come into the ideas of, like the reserves and doing service as part of like their actual ongoing commitment to Canada as
00:24:50:20 - 00:24:51:11
Speaker 2
a community.
00:24:51:11 - 00:24:55:23
Speaker 1
What's legacy are you building into all of your work with so many of these organizations?
00:24:56:00 - 00:25:14:19
Speaker 2
And I think back to it when we kind of, you know, close the loop on, at the beginning, my family's definitely been one that's been committed to service for a long time and has a history and like a legacy of that. And I realized, I think, especially in the past couple years, that maybe my service wasn't going to be necessarily dedicated to a full time career in the military, but it doesn't mean that I can't continue giving back.
00:25:14:19 - 00:25:37:01
Speaker 2
And serving my community and my country. Being able to do that now, just beyond kind of, I think, regular Forest Service in the Canadian Army, but also still doing as a reservist in the defense industry, giving back and supporting the military, but also with these veteran, focused and current serving member focused, volunteer organizations, as well as like public safety and emergency management, it continues to be a big theme that comes up one of service, one of community.
00:25:37:01 - 00:26:00:13
Speaker 2
I want to kind of creating those linkages, which I think is really important right now when we consider like just the reality of society and the international community. So in a space right now where it's so easy to disagree, I think finding common ground and things to actually agree about and common purpose is to kind of strive to work towards or volunteer towards that, I think is the legacy that I want to continue building over the next many years and really dedicate my life to with, myself and my family.
00:26:00:13 - 00:26:06:03
Speaker 1
I think that listeners are going to want to follow your journey. What's the best way to follow you and support the work that you're doing?
00:26:06:05 - 00:26:28:21
Speaker 2
The best ways is while LinkedIn and I hate to be a proponent of the social media piece there, but honor, you can find different links, of course, to, the various publications and the different organizations. I'm committed to. But beyond just really the personal following, I really encourage, anybody of the listeners to kind of just come of your reaching out to these different associations that are doing such great work in their defense and security space, but also just within Canadian society to give back.
00:26:28:21 - 00:26:47:02
Speaker 2
So if there's any call to action that, I have the the permission here to share for just a moment beyond just listening to like, my story and continuing to follow it. I would encourage anybody really, to find a local organization or, you know, just give back a little bit in their spare time, if they have the capacity to do so beyond the fulfillment they'll find in doing it themselves.
00:26:47:04 - 00:26:51:21
Speaker 2
There's the fulfillment they get. And just giving back to their community and the linkages we continue to create in those bonds.
00:26:52:02 - 00:27:00:19
Speaker 1
Mr.. Alexander Landry, thank you so much for coming on the show today. It was such a pleasure to chat with you and learn from you. We're cheering you on as you do this important work. And thank you again for coming on the show.
00:27:00:22 - 00:27:16:08
Speaker 2
Matthew, a pleasure for you to have me here. I really appreciate you reaching out. And I think it's just symbolic and demonstrate of, of, the power of connection, of community. We've continuing to build here. Thank you so much.
00:27:16:10 - 00:27:29:10
Speaker 1
Thanks so much for tuning in. Story. Behind the Stone is available on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, and on the Rise Across America Radio Network on iHeartRadio. Audacity and tune in to search for wreath.
00:27:29:12 - 00:27:30:13
Speaker 1
Thank you for tuning in.