On behalf of Lt.-Col. Russ Meades, Commanding Officer of 4th Canadian Ranger Patrol Group (4CRPG), Master Cpl. Paul Nichols presented a red and green Canadian Rangers flag to Quesnel Mayor Bob Simpson this week.
The flag — which, following the tradition of not gifting a new flag, flew at Pen-Y-Bryn Farm in Kersley during the first horsemanship exercise that was conducted for 4CRPG — can be flown at City Hall when the Canadian Rangers are stationed in Quesnel. And that will be happening more regularly because a new Quesnel Patrol has been officially stood up in the city.
Nichols, the Patrol Commander, presented the flag and passed on greetings from Meades to Quesnel council and shared information about the new patrol.
“It’s the first time a new patrol has been stood up in 20 years,” Nichols said, noting there are currently 11 Rangers in the Quesnel Patrol, and he has been authorized to stand up a full patrol of 32 Rangers.
The Canadian Rangers are a sub-component of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Reserves who work in remote, isolated and coastal regions of Canada, and there are about 5,000 Rangers living in more than 200 communities across Canada. The Rangers provide lightly-equipped, self-sufficient mobile forces to support CAF national security and public safety operations within Canada. Their motto is “Vigilans,” meaning “The Watchers.”
Thanking Nichols for his leadership, Simpson said the City would be happy to offer meeting space for the Quesnel Patrol, and he offered to meet with Nichols to help update the Local Area Resource Report, a key task of the Quesnel Patrol. Every two months, Nichols must update the report — which provides important data such as what roads are closed, where a helicopter could land and where fuel resources are located — and send it to his chain of command.
READ MORE: 4CRPG standing up a new patrol in Quesnel
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