New commanding officer of the South Alberta Light Horse Shawn Thirlwell (left) and Colonel Eppo van Weelderen make Thirlwell's promotion official by signing the document of changing of commands Saturday afternoon outside of the downtown courthouse. -- NEWS PHOTO MO CRANKER
Medicine Hat News
A large group of people from Medicine Hat, its surrounding area and as far as Europe gathered Saturday afternoon outside of the downtown courthouse to watch as the South Alberta Light Horse named a new commanding officer.
The ceremony began at 1 p.m. and ran for just over an hour and it involved plenty of speeches, marching, commands to multiple regiments and most importantly, the passing of the commanding officer’s sword from former commanding officer Troy Steele to Shawn Thirlwell.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” said Thirlwell just minutes after the ceremony ended. “As the outgoing commanding officer said in his speech, it truly is an honour to lead soldiers and to lead from the command position. It definitely a pretty big deal for me, so I’m feeling really good.”
Thirlwell was formerly second in command of the South Alberta Light Horse, and will immediately take control of the regiment for three years, until a new commanding officer is named. He says he is looking forward to shaping the regiment.
“I’m looking forward to a little bit of shaping the regiment in my own way. I’ve learned a lot from the commanding officers before me, and I want to put that into practice,” he said. “The biggest thing is that I want to take the regiment in a bigger direction on the field. The army does a lot of deployment and training in the field, and I’ve always been a field officer, and I’m going to get the regiment out more with other regiments. That’s one of the biggest ones for sure.”
Thirlwell has been in the reserves for 25 years and says this isn’t something he has been working for his entire life, but is looking forward to the new challenge.
“When I first joined it was just about being a soldier,” he said. “Later on as an officer, it was about leading soldiers and being out there with them. I never thought to be a commanding officer — it was never really in my plans. I’ve been told by many that if you’re picked for this, to be commanding officer, it’s your duty. This is something that officers strive for, and I’m very proud to be named commanding officer.”
At the end of his three years, Thirlwell will have a large say in who takes over as commanding officer.
“I won’t be the only one choosing, but I will have a very heavy say in who gets picked,” he said.
