Occupied Portsmouth Village

Normally, the residents of Hatter Street wake to see neighbours walking their dogs along the quiet street, but for the past week there has been a new kind of morning patrol in the area. What's with the men in fatigues - complete with scrim helmets - all over Portsmouth Village?

The story out of DND Kingston's CFSCE is that these are communications reservists on training. What sort of training involves an urban area? And why did they pick sleepy little portsmouth village? Maybe it's the village's proximity to the prison or to the water. Perhaps this location was selected because the village - once a quarry - is graced with limestone cliffs and ridges perfect for a soldier to practice guarding in defence of their camp, below. And what a camp it is! At the foot of the guarded, limestone cliff, twelve-foot-high fencing surrounds the baseball diamond and Harold Harvey Arena while rows of green trucks pass through gates at either side of the abutting roads. One unfortunate villager located across from the arena is currenlty trying to sell their house inside the official "militarized zone."

Residents appear to have accepted the state of affairsat this point but at first, many were leery.

"I called the police on them!" Hatter Street resident Herb Miller remarked. "I didn't know if it was just a couple of yahoos who went to the army surplus shop or what," he said, concerned that anyone could dress up in army greens and pretend to be a legitimate member of the military. Maintaining his sense of humour, Miller added, "Two of them came right across my driveway every morning at the same time, but I think they've changed their routine now so they don't get ambushed!"

Walking her dog earlier in the day, another resident said she had to pass "...a good thirty men, all lying low, all with guns pointed in every direction..." and called the experience "unnerving."

Approaching the band of green men is indeed intimidating. When asked how long they'd be in the area, the only soldier who spoke barked, "Can't tell you."

"Someone should be explaining this to all of us," said Miller angrily. "A little warning would have been nice. The way the world is today, you just never know."

According to the soldiers on the scene, that's the way they like it.