Meet the RMR’s NCO’s: Sergeant Joseph David
“Meet the RMR’s NCO’s” is a series where we profile a different NCO each month for readers to get to know the folks who make up the ‘backbone of the army’
Westmount, Quebec – 21 April 2023: Sergeant Joseph David was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and grew up in Montreal. He joined the RMR on 14 September 2011 and has been very active in the unit ever since, including several mess leadership positions (he currently serves as the PMC of the Warrant Officers’ & Sergeants’ Mess). He has had wide-ranging and interesting career mixed with full and part-time service, and he has travelled far and wide in service of his fellow Canadians. He is currently serving full-time on Class B as the 34 Brigade Battle School Resource Sergeant.
Fortunate to have been involved with the RMR’s centennial in 2014, he participated in numerous activities and represented the Regiment well on all of them – even being selected to join the RMR’s 2014 Centennial Nijmegen marching contingent. In fact, his favourite memory of serving with the Regiment includes the gruelling preparation where the RMR team accumulated over 1,000 kilometres of marching together over several months. His commitment to setting the standard was the start of a pattern, as we’ll see from his profile.
He made his mark early on in the Regiment, being awarded the McKean Trophy in May 2015 for being recognized as the best soldier in the Regiment. At the time his advice to other soldiers who might want to win the same trophy in the future is to “always give all you got, and nothing less!” When asked to reflect on that advice today he noted that the wisest thing for a new soldier to consider is “be sure of the trade you pick, make sure you know what you’re getting into” and he also wanted to be on the record as saying that “You get out of the army what you put into it”.
He has the usual qualifications of an Infantry NCO, plus Helo Ops and in fact he said that he’s qualified to drive 90% of all Standard Military Pattern vehicles – a handy guy to know!
During the floods of May 2017, while serving in Pierrefonds, QC, then Master-Corporal Joseph David was employed as the Company Quartermaster for the Territorial Battle Group Headquarters. His leadership and resourcefulness was recognized when received a coin from the Commander, 34 Canadian Brigade Group, Colonel Chris Mercier. During a brief ceremony in the Territorial Battle Group Mobile Command Post, the Commander recognized MCpl David’s leadership. By consistently seeking and accepting responsibility for correcting deficiencies within the Battle Group, for going far beyond his actual job description, and for never saying “no” to a request for assistance, the Commander recognized that the success of the Army Reserve is built around soldiers like Sergeant David. The CO RMR at the time, LCol John Shone, commented: “On behalf of all ranks if the RMR: BZ, MCpl David. You’ve made us proud by carrying on the RMR tradition of doing everything in our power to support our troops.”
When we asked him what he liked the most and the least about serving in the RMR, he told us: The most would be “The Regiment’s history, sense of family, and the integrity.” This comes from his own experience of serving in the Regiment, because when we asked him what his favourite memory of serving in the RMR was, he quickly responded: “Serving up in the Far North, it is amazing that I have had the chance to visit Chisasibi, Puvimituq, Hall Beach, Rankin Inlet, etc. – how many Canadians get that opportunity?”
Thank you for setting the standard, Sergeant David!
