Army Reserve team wins tattoo competition

Halifax, Nova Scotia — The Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo has entertained hundreds of thousands of tattoo enthusiasts since 1979. Over 2,000 performers and musicians from around the world participated in the world’s largest tattoo. This year, the 100th Anniversary of the Canadian Navy was emphasized and, as in the past, Canadian Forces personnel played a significant role.

The tri-service obstacle course race was one of the highlights of the 31st event. The Canadian Army fielded two teams, a Reserve team from 36 Canadian Brigade Group (36 CBG) and a Regular Force team from 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment (2 RCR). Although the Air Force and Navy teams competed hard for first place, they found themselves out of contention after six evenings of competition.

On the seventh evening, spectators from both sides of the Metro Centre cheered for the team closest to them, urged on by the master of ceremonies. From the pistol shot, the two Army teams raced across the concrete floor, over and under four obstacles, accompanied by music from the combined band of the tattoo. On this night, 2 RCR handed 36 CBG its first loss, winning by a slim one-second margin with no penalties assessed.

“… [the] obstacle course is a minute, but it’s a mad minute,” said Sergeant Garrow Hill-Stosky, team captain for 36 CBG. “It’s very physically demanding.”

Mere minutes after the winners were announced, the two teams gathered underneath the spectators’ bleacher seats to discuss what went wrong and what went right. The win for 2 RCR meant that the winner of the eighth and final show would earn the championship trophy.

It was all or nothing on the eighth night, when two weeks of training leading up to the competition came down to one last race. Corporal Colin Harding of 36 CBG felt fairly confident prior to the race that they had the training to pull off a win; however, he refused to divulge the team’s strategy.

The pistol shot sounded and the teams sprinted off for the final race of the tattoo. On this evening, the crowd witnessed a new record time for the tattoo obstacle course. With a completion time of 57:47 seconds and no penalties awarded, 36 CBG did, in fact, prevail over 2 RCR.

Someone has to lose; nevertheless, the soldiers, sailors and airmen and airwomen have once again demonstrated that teamwork and the esprit de corps is alive and well in the Canadian Forces.

Article and photos by Sergeant Todd Berry, Army News