Cpl. Myles MacKenzie, a reservist with the Canadian Armed Forces, recieved a commendation coin from General Walter Natynchuk, Canada's Chief of Defence Staff. MacKenzie is a member of the Nova Scotia Highlanders who hails from Pictou. (Submitted p

A reservist from Pictou has received special recognition from Canada’s chief of defence staff.
Cpl. Myles MacKenzie, a member of the Nova Scotia Highlanders, is in California completing training prior to deployment to Afghanistan this spring. During a visit to the exercise, General Walter Natynchuk awarded MacKenzie with a commendation coin.
“At first it caught me off guard – I didn’t know what it was all about,” says MacKenzie, adding that a sargeant major with 27 years experience in the Canadian Armed Forces told him he’s never seen the presentation of such a coin.
“It’s recognition from Canada’s top soldier that I did a good job in my training. It’s recognition for doing my job well,” he says.
Captain Andrew Hennessy, the public affairs officer for the task force, explains the coin is given for excellence. “For the chief of defence staff to give (a commendation coin) to an individual soldier is pretty special. It’s something I haven’t seen before. It’s a pretty big honour.”
The 22-year-old MacKenzie, an infantry soldier with the Nova Scotia Highlanders for the past five years, earned the recognition for his performance during a difficult training exercise. He took command of his section and platoon, and organized the fighting withdrawal and extraction of casualties.
“This is an extremely difficult training stand designed to test a unit’s performance during a mass casualty event under small arms fire, IED events and crowds,” says Hennessy.
“It was a scenario where you drive into an ambush, and see how you deal with it,” says MacKenzie.
About 3,700 Canadians are taking part in the pre-deployment training in California, with several other Nova Scotians serving in the defence and security platoon made up of army reservists from across the Atlantic area.
MacKenzie loves to travel, and is enjoying the experience in California. “Reservists don’t get to train every day,” he says, explaining they usually only train on weekends.
He spends seven weeks in California, and will return home to Pictou County before travelling overseas, where he will be part of the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team. The team is a joint civilian and military organization that includes members of the Canadian Armed Forces, the Canadian International Development Agency and several law enforcement agencies. Members of the team provide training and mentoring to the Afghan National Police, manage reconstruction and development projects, and defend the camp where they are based.