Transcript

Gen Jonathan Vance, Chief of the Defence Staff: ‘Twas the night before deployment and all through the Forces,

CWO Alain Guimond, CF Chief Warrant Officer: Sailors, soldiers and aviators were doing their courses.

Jody Thomas, Deputy Minister: Learning the skills to survive and defend,

Gord Venner & Claude Rochette, Associate Deputy Ministers: Looking out for their teams of women and men.

LGen Wayne Eyre, Commander Canadian Army: Uniforms were hung by the bed neatly pressed,

CWO Stuart Hartnell, Army Sergeant-Major: Prepared they’d be for action, as soon as they dressed.

LGen Jean-Marc Lanthier, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff: On ships, on aircraft, land, sky and sea,

VCDS CWO Martin Colbert: Dedicated? Oh yeah! They are. Completely.

Sgt Jean-François Charest, Canadian Air Defence Sector, 22 Wing North Bay: When North Bay and NORAD received an alert,

Something was flying under the radar, covert.

LGen Al Meinzinger, Commander Royal Canadian Air Force: Planes they were scrambled, Air Force members so steady,

CWO Denis Gaudreault, RCAF CWO : To protect our fair nation from unknown dangers many.

LGen Mike Rouleau, Commander Canadian Joint Operations Command: The moonlight reflected on the new blanket of snow,

Defence Team members waited, from their positions below.

MGen Frances Allen, Deputy Vice Chief of the Defence Staff: CF-18 pilots were watching, for the threat to appear,

MGen Rob Roy MacKenzie, Chief of Reserves and Employer Support & CPO 1 David Arsenault, Chief of Reserves CWO : But it was a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer.

VAdm Haydn Edmundson, Commander Military Personnel Command: The sleigh came down for landing, so smooth and so quick,

CWO Dominique Geoffroy, Military Personnel Command CWO: The troops knew in a moment, it must be St. Nick.

Kin Choi, ADM (Human Resources – Civilian): High op tempo, they thought, for St. Nick on Christmas Eve;

It’s too bad that for Santa, there’s no holiday leave.

LGen Wayne Eyre, Commander Canadian Army & CWO Stuart Hartnell, Army Sergeant-Major: As sandbags that before the spring floods were stacked high,

Gord Venner & Claude Rochette, Associate Deputy Ministers: The gifts on Santa’s sleigh were packed to the sky.

Len Bastien, ADM (Information Management): So up to the base, the reindeer they flew;

As fast as a Hornet, with St. Nicholas too.

Peter Hammerschmidt, ADM (Policy): As the sleigh landed softly on the roof of HQ,

The reindeer and their Captain, admired the building anew.

BGen Simon Trudeau, Canadian Forces Provost Marshal and Commander, CF MP Gp: While security was tight, St. Nick made it through,

MGen Peter Dawe, Commander Canadian Special Operations Forces Command: He was on a special op, this fact was true.

Col Jamie Speiser-Blanchet, Deputy Commander of Operation, Joint Task Force Operation IMPACT, Kuwait: St. Nick was dressed in CADPAT, from head to toe,

Paying homage to the Forces from to and fro.

RAdm Scott Bishop Commander, CFINTCOM : With a knapsack filled with maps and spy gear,

Chief of Defence Intelligence & CWO Necole Belanger, CFINTCOM CWO: He filled Defence Team members with joy and cheer.

Cmdre Geneviève Bernatchez, Judge Advocate General:  The military you see, it’s more than just us,

CPO 1 Sylvain Bolduc, JAG CWO : In our civilian teammates we place great trust.

Chris Henderson, ADM (Public Affairs): On Facebook and Twitter and in the Maple Leaf too,

Public Affairs informs Santa and his jolly crew.

Isabelle Desmartis, ADM (Science and Technology) and CEO, DRDC: Through science and mixing and schematics galore,

ADM(S&T) can help streamline Santa’s chore.

Rob Chambers, Acting ADM (Infrastructure and Environment): With sensors, data, drones and all types of weather,

MGen Sylvain Sirois, Chief of Staff (IE) / Chief Military Engineer: Brilliant minds find ways to fly Santa better.

Troy Crosby, ADM (Materiel): The stockings were hung by ADM(MAT),

Procuring the footwear to be filled to the max.

Cheri Crosby, ADM (Finance) / Chief Financial Officer: Doing their duty, finance keeps the books,

Julie Charron, ADM (Review Services): Accounting for each penny, in case Santa looks.

VAdm Art McDonald, Commander Royal Canadian Navy: Onboard the Calgary, the Moncton, and the Harry de Wolf,

CPO 1 David Steeves, Royal Canadian Navy Chief Petty Officer: the Asterix, the Ville de Quebec and the Corner Brook.

Although it’s the holidays, on high seas they set sail.

VAdm Art McDonald, Commander Royal Canadian Navy: Through hurricanes and floods the RCN will prevail.

Stephen Burt, ADM (Data, Innovation, Analytics): To the top of the world! Those at land, air and sea!

Isabelle Daoust, Corporate Secretary: Take a pause if you can, to see friends and family.

CWO Alain Guimond, CF Chief Warrant Officer: They sprang to their ships, their planes, and their tanks,

Gen Jonathan Vance, Chief of the Defence Staff: Prepared to defend, regardless of rank.

Jody Thomas, Deputy Minister: We could hear them exclaim, as they faded from sight,

Jody Thomas, Deputy Minister & Gen Jonathan Vance, Chief of the Defence Staff: MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!