By Stephanie Froese

Veterans proud to have name back

Aug 16, 2011 | 4:39 PM

Veteran Grant Benett is beaming with pride today after hearing the Canadian Forces are returning to their traditional names.

The first vice president with the Prince Albert division of the Royal Canadian Legion said he has always thought of himself as a member of the Royal Canadian Navy even though the name was changed in to the Canadian Forces Maritime Command in 1969.

Bennett said he remembers when the flag was changed four years earlier. He said there were a lot of changes happening during that time that altered the identification of the Canadian Forces.

“I remember when the changes were up and coming, and there were a lot of us who weren’t happy with dropping the royal and I said it will come back.”

The day Bennett predicted arrived as the government announced the Canadian Forces Maritime Command and the Canadian Forces Air Command would return to their former names of the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Canadian Air Force. So far there in no return of the “Royal” moniker for The Land Forces, they will be called The Canadian Army.

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A press release issued by the national body of The Royal Canadian Legion states they are pleased the government is recognizing the country’s military tradition.

Patricia Varga, the dominion president is quoted expressing one concern.

“The only concern is that costs associated with this move will not detract from operational and Quality of Life budgets, which I have been assured will not be the case,” Varga said.

Bennett said any veterans who served during the first change are likely to be happy with the retro renaming, but it may take a while for younger serving members to get used to it.

“The younger ones that just joined under the last 40 years, well that’s all they’ve known so it’s a big change for them,” Bennett said.

Bennett added that with the name change each division has their identity back and loosing that identity was a big issue.

“The navy was the biggest loser of all the forces when they amalgamated and they changed our rank structure.”

Bennett said the style of their uniforms disappeared, they sailed under a different flag and there were changes in the titles of their chain of commanded.

“Myself and others were of the opinion at that time that (former federal defense minister Paul Hellyer) went about it the wrong way, especially when they decided to amalgamate the forces and then when they decided to drop the royal Canadian because that was part of our heritage.”

Bennett said as long as Canada is part of the Commonwealth, the three divisions should all have a title connecting them to Canada’s Queen.

sfroese@panow.com