In the public eye

The Toronto Star, along with thousands of visitors so far, has noticed the CF display at the CNE:

Visitors can inspect a Leopard tank, a Tutor jet flown by the Snowbirds, an army ambulance and truck, a G-Wagon patrol vehicle, a Coyote Reconnaissance Vehicle with night vision technology, and three armoured vehicles of the same type that are patrolling Afghanistan. It's backed by more than 80 representatives from the navy, air force and army.

A Griffon helicopter will be on display for the Labour Day weekend when the Snowbirds aerobatic team headlines the CNE air show.

But the exhibit — the size of a football field near the Princes' Gates — is more than just a public relations pitch. Military staff are hoping to woo more fair visitors into a life in uniform.

I just happen to have walked through that exhibit with my son yesterday evening, and I was quite impressed. You could climb right into Snowbird 11, sit in the back of the LAV-III, pretend you were piloting a chopped up Kiowa. But more than that, you could talk with a qualified navy diver, an artilleryman, a tanker, an aircraft tech. All of them were making the displays as interactive as they could - the LCpl on the artillery display was popping a dummy round in and out of the breech of the 105mm howitzer, and letting kids and adults alike pull the cord. There was even a military band on a little stage playing stuff like the Hockey Night In Canada theme - the old acoustic version I remember growing up. There was a whole section under cover, where you could browse occupational brochures, look at models and display photos, talk to recruiters, and even shop for "Support the Troops" gear like hats, magnets, and pins.

The uniformed personnel were also handing out free trinkets like they were candy: logoed yellow and olive drab rubber wristbands, dogtags that say "Support the Troops," and CFRC business cards. Believe it or not, people were actually taking the business cards, and getting into serious conversations with the display staff about joining - I heard two such exchanges myself during the twenty minutes we were there.

Make no mistake, image and recruiting are the mission objectives here:

The idea of the exhibit dates back to Hillier's visit to the Calgary Stampede last year. With a captive audience numbering in the thousands, he later made it clear he wasn't happy the Canadian Forces didn't have a co-ordinated display to showcase the military.

Over the fall, the top soldier dreamed up "Operation Connection," a strategy to put the Armed Forces — their equipment and people — front and centre at events like the Calgary Stampede, Vancouver's Pacific National Exhibition, the Nova Scotia Tattoo, the Montreal Grand Prix and Canada Day in the nation's capital.

Of them all, the CNE promises to be the biggest with 300,000 visitors expected to take in the military display.

That's 300,000 people who, even if they don't choose to join the Regular force, the Reserves, or even the Cadet Instructors Cadre, will come away with a better image of the Canadian Forces. Once again, well done Gen Hillier.