RCMP TRAINING ACADEMY
AND NEW RCMP HERITAGE CENTRE

"Concentrate!" barks the drill master. "Left, right, left, right. Together with the beat!" he orders, as he walks in front of the troop with a baton under his arm.

RCMP Training Academy. Regina, Saskatchewan. Canada.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Sweat pours off the recruits' foreheads and saturates their shirts. But the drill master continues, "Pick up those thighs! Get those huge ham hocks in the air! Heel under the knee! Toes pointed down! Eyes parallel to the ground!"

Red serge and sweat

The recruits' faces redden. Possibly from the exertion; possibly because a group of visitors is watching every movement, listening to every criticism.

We are touring the RCMP Training Academy, in Regina, Saskatchewan, with Alanna and Norm, two graduates of the 26-week Basic Recruit Training Program. "We volunteered to spend six weeks as tour guides, before going on to another 26 weeks of field training at our assigned detachments," says Allana.

We asked why they weren't in a hurry to complete their training. "Public relations are half our job," says Alanna, "so this is good experience for us."

Academic and physical training

It must also be a break from the rigorous training. "The program is 65 percent academic, which includes law, human relations and crisis intervention," explains Norm, "and 35 percent physical, with emphasis on self-defense, foot drill and fitness."

A typical day begins at 5:30 a.m., with first inspection at 6 and a parade at 6:30. Breakfast lasts from 7 to 7:30 and is followed by classes from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a half-hour break for lunch.

Boxing class. RCMP Academy. Regina, Saskatchewan.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

"We do everything together as a troop," says Norm. "Troops consist of 32 recruits who can be all male, all female or mixed. We study, eat, sleep and work out as a single entity for six months." It's not surprising, then, that quite a camaraderie develops. "I miss it already," he adds.

As we walk through the grounds, Norm points out the dorms, the officers' mess, the academic building, the forensic lab and the firearms building.

Entering the gym, we find one troop taking swimming lessons and another, divided into pairs, each with a coach, for boxing lessons. (Other tours may observe lessons in karate, judo, handcuffing techniques and police holds.)

World's only police-owned chapel

The 45-minute tour ends at the chapel, the oldest building in Regina and the only free-standing, police-owned chapel in the world.

It was originally built in 1883 as a mess hall. In an attempt to keep the recruits in the barracks, the canteen sold beer in pewter mugs for five cents a pint — at a time when it sold for 15 cents in Regina.

In 1895, a fire severely damaged the building. It was rebuilt as a chapel, which is now used every Sunday for services, as well as for weddings, funerals and christenings.

Sunset retreat ceremony

Although the tour had officially ended, our guides suggested that we stay for the Sunset Retreat. It's a moving ceremony, with the choir singing traditional Canadian songs, and the recruits, in red serge uniforms, marching in the square, before lowering the flag for the night.

Mounties stand in front of Canadian flag.
RCMP Training Academy. Regina, Saskatchewan.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

In the interim, we browsed through the RCMP Centenial Museum, which traces the history of the force from its origins as the North West Mounted Police in 1873 to the present day.

We see a large buffalo skin painted with pictographs, a combination tomahawk and peace pipe, and an ornate rifle case and tobacco pouch which Chief Sitting Bull gave as gifts to Police Superintendent Walsh.

We learn about the Mad Trapper of Rat River, a cunning fugitive who avoided the Mounties for a long time. On display are his snowshoes, which he wore backwards to throw pursuers off his trail.

Spy equipment

One case contains the handcuffs worn by Louis Riel and the crucifix he carried to the gallows after the North West Rebellion of 1885. Another displays a captured German spy's uniform, chemical-tipped matches for secret writing and a fountain pen microphone.

In 1874, the police were asked to locate the stronghold of the whisky traders, at Fort Whoop-Up, and put an end to the smuggling. Over the years, they've confiscated a substantial amount of equipment used in the illegal drug and alcohol business. Among the items exhibited are an opium scale and pipe, a homemade two-gallon still and a mason jar of illicit alcohol seized as evidence.

RCMP Musical Ride

The most popular display in the museum portrays Hollywood's view of the RCMP through the numerous Mountie movies it made. However, the most eye-catching exhibit is, no doubt, Nero. The large black horse knew all the maneuvers in the RCMP Musical Ride and taught them to countless other horses and recruits. After his death, he was mounted by a taxidermist for display.

Horses have always been a part of the RCMP. Over the years, they've been partially replaced by dog sleds, snowmobiles, motorcycles, cars and aircraft. But horses still have a key role to play in public relations for ceremonial escorts, parades and the famed RCMP Musical Ride.

New RCMP Heritage Centre

The RCMP Centennial Museum permanently closed its doors on October 9, 2006. Staff moved the artifacts to the new RCMP Heritage Centre, which opened in 2007.

Designed by Arthur Erickson, the Centre is located on the grounds of Depot, next to F Division's headquarters. The new permanent exhibit gallery contains 33,000 artifacts and interactive exhibits, which follow a CSI-style approach to solving crime. A 125-seat multimedia theater uses music, video projection and 3-D special effects to tell the RCMP story. A holographic Mountie is the host. Red serge covers the seats.

Sergeant Major's Parade. RCMP Academy. Regina, Saskatchewan. Canada.

Sergeant Major's Parade

The time for the Sunset Ceremony arrived, but since it was pouring rain, the event was canceled. Instead, we returned the next day to watch the Sergeant Major's Parade. Sergeant Bob Beaudoin, the music director for the band, was on hand to answer visitors' questions.

RCMP officer in dress uniform. Canada.

"Participation in the band is voluntary," says Beaudoin. "Some of the volunteers had never touched a musical instrument before. Yet listen to them now. I'm real proud of them."

Mountie's Stetson hat

"You can tell what stage of training the recruits are at, by their dress," he explains. "Those with brown pants and running shoes are in their first six weeks of training. They then change to black shoes, then to blue pants with a yellow stripe," he continues. "During the second half of their training, they graduate to riding britches, and finally, in their last week, they wear the Stetson hat."

We note that the men all have identical short hair cuts. "They've all visited our barber, Black & Decker," says Beaudoin. "What about the moustaches?" we ask. "What we can't keep on top, we put under our noses," he replies. The crowd around us roars with laughter.

We recall Alanna's comments about public relations. Bob Beaudoin couldn't be a better example.