JOSEPH RUSSELL McLEOD
Joseph Russell McLeod
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Birthplace: Enlisted: Date: Place: Tour: Rank: |
Maidstone, Ontario Essex & Kent Scottish Army Infantry Reserve Regiment May 1, 2007 Windsor, Ontario Work-up Training CFB Petawawa - September 2009 to April 2010 Afghanistan - May 2010 to November 2010 Still Active - Corporal |
The McLeod Family - Joseph, Andrea holding Winston, Joe and Adelaide
CPL JOE McLEOD BIO
I was born July 18, 1972. I have lived in Maidstone my whole life. My parents names are Peter and Maureen, I have one brother named Tom. I went to St. Mary’s Elementary School in Maidstone and St Anne’s High School in Tecumseh. My full-time job is as a truck driver and I have done this for 20 years now. I am currently working at TVM Trucking in Cottam. My wife’s name is Andrea and my kids are Adelaide (5), Joseph (4) and Winston (1 ½).
There is a long history of military service in my family including great-grandfather Dan King WWI British Army, Grandmother Rowena MacLeod, British Army WWII, grandfather Jack MacLeod WWII Canadian Army and Father Peter McLeod Canadian Army 1962-1967. My military career started May 1, 2007 when I was sworn in as a member of the Essex & Kent Scottish Army Infantry Reserve Regiment. I did basic training at Connaught Ranges in Kanata Ontario that summer. I volunteered for active service in Afghanistan and in late 2008 I was chosen to go. In early spring and summer of 2009 I went to CFB Meaford, Ontario for initial training. Starting in September 2009 I was sent full-time to CFB Petawawa, Ontario for work-up training. I was attach posted to the Royal Canadian Regiment 1st and 3rd Battalion. Work-up training was long and hard including 2 months at Fort Irwin in the California Mojave Desert in January -February 2010. Being in Petawawa was difficult. It is an 8 ½ hour drive from Maidstone so I wasn’t home very much for about 1 ½ years.
I was sent to Afghanistan in early May of 2010 with the 1 RCR Battle Group. During my time there I was a member of “E” coy surveillance group, and “B” coy Infantry Quick Reaction Force. It took about 24 hours of straight travel time to get there. We flew on regular passenger jets, military passenger jets, and also the big military cargo planes Globemaster and Hercules. We stopped for fuel and changed aircraft in many countries on the way in and out of there, including, England, France, Germany and Spain. We also stopped at our “secret” marshalling base (that everyone knew about) Camp “Mirage” (ha-ha because it’s not really there) in Dubai. Each time in and out of Afghanistan we went through there. It was almost as hot as Afghanistan but the humidity was a lot worse. Mirage seemed like a luxury resort compared to Afghanistan and it was interesting as I got to go the city for an afternoon. The tallest building and the biggest shopping mall in the world are there. There was a full-sized hockey arena. Camel milk and chocolate are big there.
When I got to Kandahar Airfield (KAF) I was there less than 24 hours when I was sent out to the desert to Forward Operating Base Wilson near the village of Pushmul. I was there for about one month. It was at FOB Wilson where I came under fire for the first time. Rocket attacks, mortar fire and small-arms fire would be a semi-regular appearance for the rest of my tour.
After that it was back to KAF for a couple weeks. KAF was a huge place and home to about 40-50,000 people, soldiers and civilians from many different countries helping out. We all came under the umbrella name of “International Security Assisstance Force”. It was nice to visit a familiar face while there. My Dad’s friend Bruce Heil from Essex was there as a civilian working on diesel equipment. There were also a lot of amenities there for the troops. They had a huge boardwalk with stores and restaurants including a Tim Horton’s trailer that was popular with all countries and in the middle of the boardwalk was a huge courtyard with a road-hockey rink, baseball area, football area and volleyball area. The people of Essex County showed their generosity here when I told my friend Jamie McDermott back home that they could use some hockey equipment, especially sticks. Numerous people and businesses back home here got together and shipped hockey sticks and equipment over there. I didn’t get to use it myself because I was at KAF only short time but I was very proud and thankful of my friends and family for their generosity. Those who did use it were very thankful.
From early July onward, it was back on to a Chinook helicopter for a ride to Combat Out Post Shoja. It would be my home for the rest of my tour. Shoja was not much more than a big scratched out area of the desert surrounded by barbed wire when I got there. By the end of my tour it was upgraded from COP to Patrol Base due to the hard work of the engineers putting up Hesco wire (big fibre containers filled with dirt for barriers) tents, and diesel generators for hydro. It was hot and dusty there with daytime temperatures in the sun of 130-140F. It would “cool” off to about 100F at night. It was a dry heat so it was manageable but definitely not comfortable. It felt like being baked in an oven. It was so hot you could cut the top off of a quart bottle of water, dump a mixture of macaroni & cheese in it, seal the top again and in 10-15 minutes it had cooked. Water for drinking was bottled and we always had enough. Water for washing was in short supply. There were eventually rudimentary showers set-up and even washing machines (which were usually not working) but there were times when you might have to wait a week or so to use them due to water shortages. Supplies were helicopter and mostly trucked in on supply convoys about once a week. That included everything from water, fuel, ammo, food etc.. If it wasn’t on that convoy you had to wait another week. Everyone was just as stinky as you so it wasn’t so bad.
My time at Shoja was filled with many different experiences. They were good, bad, exciting, interesting, devastating and life-changing. Shoja was located by the villages of Nakhonay, Fatollah, Salavat Haji-Buba, and numerous other small settlements. This area was a hot bed of Taliban activity and you could see the hate in the people’s eyes. If looks could kill! I learned some of the Pashtun language, enough to make the locals understand simple commands. My leaders always use to say if they would not follow verbal commands, that a weapon pointed at a person was a universal language understood by everyone. How true that was!
I had four jobs at Shoja. I worked surveillance at night. During the day, I was on the QRF which was a force called out at a moment’s notice to any action going on in our Area of Operations (AO). I was on the Camp Fire Brigade and also took on the job of maintenance and repair of some of the diesel generators. My years of driving truck at home game me the experience for that. Rest and sleep were in short supply. Some of the things are hard to think about, but I was ready for such things to happen. One time a sniper was shooting into our camp trying to disable our surveillance equipment. We eventually made our way and caught him. Thankfully he wasn’t a good shot! There is a Winston Churchill quote that goes something like “There is nothing more exhilarating than having someone shoot at you, as long as they miss!”. I fully agree and understand that now and found that when there was action going on adrenaline rush made you feel invincible. It was later on when you had time to think that feelings of melancholy and doubt crept in. You think about what could’ve happened then. The enemy would also attack us with mortars and rockets sometimes. I got caught in the open during one of these mortar attacks. A mortar exploded dangerously close to me and I heard and saw the explosion and huge cloud of dust that went up. I was lucky enough to not get hit with the shrapnel as most of it went in to a nearby generator. It was a surreal experience and I kept feeling myself for holes for a minute or two. I prayed a lot that day. Other things that I won’t forget are patrolling the roads and villages in LAV’s and on foot for IED’s and weapons caches, firing and loading the biggest artillery piece in our army. When we found bombs in the road or in the villages, the engineers would come and dismantle or blow-in-place (BIP) them. They were Yanks and did a great job. We also had American dog teams to sniff for explosives. They saved us sometimes and deserve our praise and thanks. Two of the things that are most indelibly burned into my mind are the smell of death and the terrified and agonizing screams of two Afghan children and two of our soldiers who were hit with white hot shrapnel after a suicide bomber riding a donkey blew himself up in Nakhonay. All I could think was of my own kids; I had a small daughter and my son Jojo was just recently born while I was over there. It was one of the saddest days of my life. Going back to the spot of the blast right after, to help clean up mangled bodies of the bomber and donkey was not a pleasant task either. A few days after that, an Afghan soldier was hit with a Rocket-Propelled-Grenade (RPG) and I was one of the ones to help carry him into the Aid post. You could see right through his shattered right leg. It looked like a horror movie monster had just slashed his leg with a razor blade fingers. All his Afghan buddies seemed to care about was who was getting his boots. They were very poor people.
Not all was doom and gloom. We had a visit at Thanksgiving from Guy Lafleur, the stars of CBC’s “Dragon’s Den” and the actor Paul Gross. They came on a helicopter to serve us Thanksgiving dinner. It was a nice diversion and they were all nice and easy to talk to. The “Flower” even signed some of the artillery shells. Autographs for the enemy! I also had some nice visits with high ranking politicians and high-up Generals.
My time at Shoja ended in November 2010. For my efforts, my Sergeant, Melvin Orozco, recommended me for a commendation. I was awarded the “Battle Group Commanders Coin” at KAF before I went home. This was a proud moment for me and made me think of all the fine soldiers that helped to train me and that I served with. It also made me think of all my family and friends who kept my morale up with lots of letters and packages from home.
After five days in Cyprus, for de-compression, I was on the way home in mid November 2010. After numerous helicopter and plane rides it was back home to Maidstone. What a relief! On the last leg of the flight home, 2 CF-18 Hornets flew escort for our plane once we entered Canadian airspace and followed us back to Ottawa. Then we were marched off the plane to the bagpipes. What a great way to be greeted. The next day I flew home. It was a huge sense of relief and accomplishment to step off that plane at Windsor Airport. I felt like I should kiss the ground like the Pope!
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my wife, Andrea, and many of my friends and family who helped with day to day life while I was gone. My service is dedicated to them. I am still active in the E&K Scots Regiment. It is an honour to serve my Queen and Country and feel lucky to continue to do so. Thanks to all my fellow soldiers. We all did our best! I hope my children have a father to be proud of.
JRM
There is a long history of military service in my family including great-grandfather Dan King WWI British Army, Grandmother Rowena MacLeod, British Army WWII, grandfather Jack MacLeod WWII Canadian Army and Father Peter McLeod Canadian Army 1962-1967. My military career started May 1, 2007 when I was sworn in as a member of the Essex & Kent Scottish Army Infantry Reserve Regiment. I did basic training at Connaught Ranges in Kanata Ontario that summer. I volunteered for active service in Afghanistan and in late 2008 I was chosen to go. In early spring and summer of 2009 I went to CFB Meaford, Ontario for initial training. Starting in September 2009 I was sent full-time to CFB Petawawa, Ontario for work-up training. I was attach posted to the Royal Canadian Regiment 1st and 3rd Battalion. Work-up training was long and hard including 2 months at Fort Irwin in the California Mojave Desert in January -February 2010. Being in Petawawa was difficult. It is an 8 ½ hour drive from Maidstone so I wasn’t home very much for about 1 ½ years.
I was sent to Afghanistan in early May of 2010 with the 1 RCR Battle Group. During my time there I was a member of “E” coy surveillance group, and “B” coy Infantry Quick Reaction Force. It took about 24 hours of straight travel time to get there. We flew on regular passenger jets, military passenger jets, and also the big military cargo planes Globemaster and Hercules. We stopped for fuel and changed aircraft in many countries on the way in and out of there, including, England, France, Germany and Spain. We also stopped at our “secret” marshalling base (that everyone knew about) Camp “Mirage” (ha-ha because it’s not really there) in Dubai. Each time in and out of Afghanistan we went through there. It was almost as hot as Afghanistan but the humidity was a lot worse. Mirage seemed like a luxury resort compared to Afghanistan and it was interesting as I got to go the city for an afternoon. The tallest building and the biggest shopping mall in the world are there. There was a full-sized hockey arena. Camel milk and chocolate are big there.
When I got to Kandahar Airfield (KAF) I was there less than 24 hours when I was sent out to the desert to Forward Operating Base Wilson near the village of Pushmul. I was there for about one month. It was at FOB Wilson where I came under fire for the first time. Rocket attacks, mortar fire and small-arms fire would be a semi-regular appearance for the rest of my tour.
After that it was back to KAF for a couple weeks. KAF was a huge place and home to about 40-50,000 people, soldiers and civilians from many different countries helping out. We all came under the umbrella name of “International Security Assisstance Force”. It was nice to visit a familiar face while there. My Dad’s friend Bruce Heil from Essex was there as a civilian working on diesel equipment. There were also a lot of amenities there for the troops. They had a huge boardwalk with stores and restaurants including a Tim Horton’s trailer that was popular with all countries and in the middle of the boardwalk was a huge courtyard with a road-hockey rink, baseball area, football area and volleyball area. The people of Essex County showed their generosity here when I told my friend Jamie McDermott back home that they could use some hockey equipment, especially sticks. Numerous people and businesses back home here got together and shipped hockey sticks and equipment over there. I didn’t get to use it myself because I was at KAF only short time but I was very proud and thankful of my friends and family for their generosity. Those who did use it were very thankful.
From early July onward, it was back on to a Chinook helicopter for a ride to Combat Out Post Shoja. It would be my home for the rest of my tour. Shoja was not much more than a big scratched out area of the desert surrounded by barbed wire when I got there. By the end of my tour it was upgraded from COP to Patrol Base due to the hard work of the engineers putting up Hesco wire (big fibre containers filled with dirt for barriers) tents, and diesel generators for hydro. It was hot and dusty there with daytime temperatures in the sun of 130-140F. It would “cool” off to about 100F at night. It was a dry heat so it was manageable but definitely not comfortable. It felt like being baked in an oven. It was so hot you could cut the top off of a quart bottle of water, dump a mixture of macaroni & cheese in it, seal the top again and in 10-15 minutes it had cooked. Water for drinking was bottled and we always had enough. Water for washing was in short supply. There were eventually rudimentary showers set-up and even washing machines (which were usually not working) but there were times when you might have to wait a week or so to use them due to water shortages. Supplies were helicopter and mostly trucked in on supply convoys about once a week. That included everything from water, fuel, ammo, food etc.. If it wasn’t on that convoy you had to wait another week. Everyone was just as stinky as you so it wasn’t so bad.
My time at Shoja was filled with many different experiences. They were good, bad, exciting, interesting, devastating and life-changing. Shoja was located by the villages of Nakhonay, Fatollah, Salavat Haji-Buba, and numerous other small settlements. This area was a hot bed of Taliban activity and you could see the hate in the people’s eyes. If looks could kill! I learned some of the Pashtun language, enough to make the locals understand simple commands. My leaders always use to say if they would not follow verbal commands, that a weapon pointed at a person was a universal language understood by everyone. How true that was!
I had four jobs at Shoja. I worked surveillance at night. During the day, I was on the QRF which was a force called out at a moment’s notice to any action going on in our Area of Operations (AO). I was on the Camp Fire Brigade and also took on the job of maintenance and repair of some of the diesel generators. My years of driving truck at home game me the experience for that. Rest and sleep were in short supply. Some of the things are hard to think about, but I was ready for such things to happen. One time a sniper was shooting into our camp trying to disable our surveillance equipment. We eventually made our way and caught him. Thankfully he wasn’t a good shot! There is a Winston Churchill quote that goes something like “There is nothing more exhilarating than having someone shoot at you, as long as they miss!”. I fully agree and understand that now and found that when there was action going on adrenaline rush made you feel invincible. It was later on when you had time to think that feelings of melancholy and doubt crept in. You think about what could’ve happened then. The enemy would also attack us with mortars and rockets sometimes. I got caught in the open during one of these mortar attacks. A mortar exploded dangerously close to me and I heard and saw the explosion and huge cloud of dust that went up. I was lucky enough to not get hit with the shrapnel as most of it went in to a nearby generator. It was a surreal experience and I kept feeling myself for holes for a minute or two. I prayed a lot that day. Other things that I won’t forget are patrolling the roads and villages in LAV’s and on foot for IED’s and weapons caches, firing and loading the biggest artillery piece in our army. When we found bombs in the road or in the villages, the engineers would come and dismantle or blow-in-place (BIP) them. They were Yanks and did a great job. We also had American dog teams to sniff for explosives. They saved us sometimes and deserve our praise and thanks. Two of the things that are most indelibly burned into my mind are the smell of death and the terrified and agonizing screams of two Afghan children and two of our soldiers who were hit with white hot shrapnel after a suicide bomber riding a donkey blew himself up in Nakhonay. All I could think was of my own kids; I had a small daughter and my son Jojo was just recently born while I was over there. It was one of the saddest days of my life. Going back to the spot of the blast right after, to help clean up mangled bodies of the bomber and donkey was not a pleasant task either. A few days after that, an Afghan soldier was hit with a Rocket-Propelled-Grenade (RPG) and I was one of the ones to help carry him into the Aid post. You could see right through his shattered right leg. It looked like a horror movie monster had just slashed his leg with a razor blade fingers. All his Afghan buddies seemed to care about was who was getting his boots. They were very poor people.
Not all was doom and gloom. We had a visit at Thanksgiving from Guy Lafleur, the stars of CBC’s “Dragon’s Den” and the actor Paul Gross. They came on a helicopter to serve us Thanksgiving dinner. It was a nice diversion and they were all nice and easy to talk to. The “Flower” even signed some of the artillery shells. Autographs for the enemy! I also had some nice visits with high ranking politicians and high-up Generals.
My time at Shoja ended in November 2010. For my efforts, my Sergeant, Melvin Orozco, recommended me for a commendation. I was awarded the “Battle Group Commanders Coin” at KAF before I went home. This was a proud moment for me and made me think of all the fine soldiers that helped to train me and that I served with. It also made me think of all my family and friends who kept my morale up with lots of letters and packages from home.
After five days in Cyprus, for de-compression, I was on the way home in mid November 2010. After numerous helicopter and plane rides it was back home to Maidstone. What a relief! On the last leg of the flight home, 2 CF-18 Hornets flew escort for our plane once we entered Canadian airspace and followed us back to Ottawa. Then we were marched off the plane to the bagpipes. What a great way to be greeted. The next day I flew home. It was a huge sense of relief and accomplishment to step off that plane at Windsor Airport. I felt like I should kiss the ground like the Pope!
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my wife, Andrea, and many of my friends and family who helped with day to day life while I was gone. My service is dedicated to them. I am still active in the E&K Scots Regiment. It is an honour to serve my Queen and Country and feel lucky to continue to do so. Thanks to all my fellow soldiers. We all did our best! I hope my children have a father to be proud of.
JRM
Best of Friends Forever!
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Shoja, Afghanistan
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COP, Shoja, Afghanistan
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"Home" - Shoja, Afghanistan
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General Campaign Star Afghanistan; Queen's Diamond Jubilee;
Battle Group Commander Coin
2013 Southern Ontario Military Muster in Essex - Joe with daughter, Adelaide
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2013 Southern Ontario Military Muster in Essex - opening ceremony - Joe pays tribute to our Korean Veterans
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