TEWT-ing around the Plains of Abraham

Article written by Second-Lieutenant Kai Breau

Westmount, Quebec – 25 March 2022: An excellent and educational way to spend a day was the RMR Tactical Exercise Without Troops (TEWT) at the Plains of Abraham and at the Quebec Citadel, held on 04 December 2021. Lead by our DCO, Major Maciej Jonasz, the time spent on the grounds was fraught with valuable lessons as well as useful tactical insight. As we made our way through the old stone walls of the Citadel, it seemed as if every corner presented a rich slice of Canadian military history. Whether it was an old flag that had flown for decades before being retired into the centuries old gunpowder room, the jail cells which once served as punishment for disobedient troops, or the oldest standing military building in Canada which housed soldiers ready to fight and die for the defense of their city.

After delving into the citadel’s history, we began coming up with ideas on how to most effectively defend the plains of Abraham, were they to fall under attack from the south west. Taking the afternoon to assess and come up with a plan, we figured that using the surrounding hills to force the approaching enemy to deal with vast amounts of dead ground was our best course of action. We gave our orders to our section commanders, and finished by “occupying” the defensive position we had planned out.

I believe this exercise was useful to everyone involved, especially the junior officers such as myself. The only shame about the weekend is that we have to wait half a year for another TEWT.