Master Corporal James Sceviour, from 22 Wing North Bay, Ont., has been chosen as one of the sentries who will stand vigil, head bowed and rifle reversed, at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Remembrance Day.
Six Canadian Forces members and a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are participating in the Remembrance Day Sentry Program from November 7 to 11. The program recognizes Regular and Reserve Force sailors, soldiers, airmen and airwomen, as well as a member of the RCMP, for their dedication, professionalism and performance.
MCpl Sceviour is an aerospace control operator who has worked in the Canadian Air Defence Sector at 22 Wing since 2006. He served in Afghanistan as a member of the Tactical Air Control Party, a team of Air Force specialists embedded within Army headquarters to facilitate close air support, from November 2010 to July 2011.
MCpl Sceviour volunteers with the youth basketball organization and as a tour guide at the Museum of Aerospace Defence at 22 Wing. He was awarded the 22 Wing Male Athlete of the Year in 2008, and named to the Canadian Forces basketball all-star team at the 2012 basketball nationals.
The Remembrance Day Sentry Program was created in 1998. It was the brainchild of an Air Force member, MCpl D.S. Barclay, who put forward the idea in 1996 while serving at 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alta. He was the first Air Force sentry under the program.
On November 11, Master Seaman James Anthony (Royal Canadian Navy), Master Corporal Bradley Bruneau (Canadian Army), Master Corporal Sceviour and Constable Erik Dubois (RCMP) will stand sentry at the National War Memorial in Ottawa as part of the official national Remembrance Day ceremony.
Sergeant Guillaume Page will be the sentry commander and Captain Stephanie Smith, representing the nursing sisters, will support the sentries. Master Corporal Ken Somerset will be the special guest of General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, and accompany him during the Remembrance Day parade in Ottawa.
Service men and women are nominated by their respective environments— Navy, Army or Air Force—with selections based on factors such as deployment experience, community involvement, physical fitness and deportment.
While in Ottawa, all seven will be involved in Remembrance Day events, participating in activities such as the luncheon that the Chief of the Defence Staff hosts for the Silver Cross Mother, a visit to the Canadian War Museum and the Royal Canadian Legion Dominion President’s Luncheon.
