King's Own Calgary Regiment's new boss taps social media as recruitment tool

The new boss at King's Own Calgary Regiment hopes to see enrolment increase, in part, by reminding Calgarians there is still a military presence in the city.

Command of the regiment changed at a Saturday ceremony.

• Calgary reserve unit gets simulated combat training

Currentlythere are about 125 reservists at the regiment and that's not enough for incoming Lt.-Col. Christopher Hunt.

"We're looking for new soldiers, we want to train more soldiers, we want to grow," Hunt said.

"And we're actually looking at plans to expand our footprint and better engage some of the surrounding communities of Calgary."

He says when CFB Calgary closed in 1998, some people thought Calgary's military presence went with it.

"A lot of people thought the army left Calgary when the regular force base at Currie Barracks closed and moved to Edmonton," Hunt explained.

"In fact, when the Calgary floods happened, we were able to mobilize more than 500 reservists from across Alberta within 24 hours and we contributed to that flood operation, to that flood response operation."

Still, the new commander wants to boost recruitment.

"I am so excited," he said.

The outgoing Lt.-Col., Ross Wickware, says Hunt's right for the job, in part, because he's already been increasing awareness of the regiment using social media.

"Our soldiers are now making videos of their adventures and posting them on the internet and that's actually creating a swell of people that want to come and soldier with us," Wickware said.

"So our recruiting is going up because of the use of his initiative in using software and technology going forward," he said.

"It's great."

• MORE CALGARY NEWS |2 men in critical condition after serious N.E. car crash
• MORE CALGARY NEWS |Calgary imams plan service for Muhammad Ali