When the RCMP pays its respects to heli-pilot Dave Brolin, killed during a Mountie training exercise near Chilliwack, it will be a Prince George member leading the parade.
Staff Sgt. Major Doug Pack is in charge of RCMP North District's protocols and comportments, but he is also the current Staff Sgt. Major for all of E-Division, and thus in charge of official parade and march directives like the one taking place in honour of Brolin, the sole occupant of the police helicopter that crashed on Tuesday.
"It is the co-ordination and management of the regimental funeral," he explained to The Citizen.
"The family plays a very strong role, but for the parts in respect to the regimental obligations, I am there to handle that. It is a team effort."
The Staff Sgt. Major was a rank and position almost phased out of RCMP existence starting in the 1970s, but it was recognized about 10 years ago that adhering to some of the formal traditions of the force was helpful to the members, especially at key times like parades and funerals. The rapid retirement bubble draining the Mounties' of their veteran experience was part of their re-commitment to old principles and practices.
The Staff Sgt. Major is there to make sure uniforms are worn properly, parades are marched properly, and various other mentorship gets done.
Each region in Canada now has a sitting Staff Sgt. Major or is seeking to fill the position. Pack took the North District posting when the previous district mentor, Staff Sgt. Major Glen MacRae, left the north to be the province's key mentor. MacRae has now retired from that post as well, and it was Pack who was called on to act in the interim.
"By virtue of the technicalities of the position, I am the senior non-commissioned officer of the district," he said. His mentor, a retired Staff Sgt. Major from Newfoundland, was from Pack's home town and told him "when you are with the troops you represent management; when you are with management you represent the troops."
On Thursday at a church in Surrey, he and all Mounties in attendance will be in red serge representing a fallen comrade.
