CAF Story | Dad follows in son’s footsteps to join the Army Reserves
Transcript
(Onscreen) – Alarm everyone, the whole officer corps!
(CT) I, personally, was born 30 kilometres next to Chernobyl and it had some serious impact on me.
(PT) We needed really to leave Ukraine as soon as possible. There were a lot of problems with health and the risk for our kids.
(CT) I’m Corporal Tarasenko and I am part of the Primary Reserve serving in the Royal Canadian Hussars on the Mont-Royal.
(PT) My name is Pte Tarasenko. Well, I just joined the Canadian Forces.
(CT) Even though we’re family, we still keep the distance in the work. We still keep it professional.
So, since I’m higher rank than him, I get some leadership positions sometimes on top of him. So, he has to follow my orders and that’s interesting because at home, I’m the one who follows his orders and over here, he’s the one who follows what I tell him to do.
(PT) I just finished my BMQ Course at the end of April and three days later, I’ve been deployed to the Operation LENTUS. So, I’m here now.
I’ve been in the Forces for three and a half year. I joined when I was 20-years-old. And since then, it’s been the best decision I’ve ever made.
When I came back from Ukraine, I got deployed to Op Unifier in 2017 and I talked to him about all of these experiences. He really wanted to do this stuff with me. So, he decided to join the military at the same unit as I am.
(PT) Canada gave me what I was looking for: the safety and stability.
So, now, I’m okay. I’m really well installed in Canada. So, maybe now, it’s time to do something for Canada.
(CT) It was very personal for me. When serving Canada in Ukraine, I had the chance to not only help Ukraine, but also serve Canada at the same time.
(PT) So, I joined not just to be a member, just to be proud of wearing the uniform; I really want to be proud of my actions, what I’m doing. I feel like it’s something I should do.
(PT) My favourite part with having my dad in the Forces is now, we have so much more in common. We spend so much more time together talking about the military and it’s pretty neat.
