Robert Ginty

April, 2005

There is no institution in Canada which is more completely engaged in nation building than the RMC, where the youth of the two founding cultures and of the full diversity of Canadian society learn to work together, to rely on one another, and to serve Canada.

The sole university owned by all the people of Canada, bilingual, and with full representation from every region. Graduates of RMC are expected to be oriented towards public service and in the first instance, but not exclusively, towards military service.

Pride in nationhood necessitates a military self determination and a specialized production of its own leaders as recognition of that national obligation.

The RMC is the truest reflection of Canadian identity at its strongest point. The recruits are drawn from across the ten provinces and territories, from the best and brightest young Canada has to offer, forming a unique, national educational and social institution in a country where education is a provincial responsibility.

While its name is famous, very few Canadians know much about the RMC, its character, its spirit, and the enthusiasm of the young men and women who attend this institution that spans the geography and cultures of Canada.

Highly motivated young men and women from the ages of 17 to 21, from all ranks of society, study for the defense of Canada and for the increasingly complex challenges of multi-national peace operations. Paradoxically, it is in this traditional military setting that we find our greatest hopes for a peaceful future. This is our story.

ROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE is a show about pride, achievement and competition. In a country with few national institutions, RMC has kept faith with Canada since the arrival of the first 18 gentlemen cadets in 1876.

Cadets entering the RMC must complete a 7 week basic officer training course (this is the basis for our pilot episode). We follow the daily lives and relationships of these recruits who when they first arrive are raw, high school graduates experiencing military life for the first time.

Hair to be close cropped, new uniforms and equipment to be maintained, intensive physical training, long days to endure both physically and mentally. These young men and women will forge strong bonds that enable them to help one another get through the most difficult challenge of their young lives.

They march into the RMC under the memorial arch hoping to march back out four years later as officers in the Canadian armed forces.

Their intellectual and leadership abilities are developed as well as their fitness and bilingualism, to form a national unity and to prepare them to be the leaders of tomorrow.

The cornerstone of the RMC is the “four pillars”, academic achievement, military leadership, bilingual communication, and physical fitness.

The fitness standards are higher than that of the Canadian forces and properly so. Officers can not lead from the front unless they are physically able to do so. If they break under the pressure of training, they are not worthy of the respect of being saluted as officers. Another unique aspect of the training is the alternating of French and English weeks on campus for all spoken and written correspondence.

So, as we hear the sounds of bagpipes early in the morning, the mist still hanging over the parade square, and see the memorial arch, the symbol to the brave and glorious past, we find ourselves in one of Canada’s oldest institutions, a world apart with its own set of rules, its rhythms of life and its unique traditions — a society that pushes its members to excel. No experience in life can compare with that of an officer cadet at the RMC of Canada.

Our story tells of the entering class of 2006. As they grow from teenagers into adulthood, we get to know them as they learn about themselves, their hopes, their aspirations, their successes and their failures. Who will make it, who will be cut, who will drop out. We see a true reflection of Canada’s young people, not as antisocial slackers and losers but highly motivated achievers, away from home for the first time, and once at the RMC, develop a new family.

The tone of the show is similar to the classic American films “Officer and a Gentleman” and “Top Gun”, but with a much younger age group. This is a story about college years told from a unique perspective, and most importantly, it is truly a Canadian story.