SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Joel Gualberto considers the establishment of a permanent army reserve company in Yellowknife a good opportunity.

"I am staying here now, so I just want to serve. If they give me the opportunity, I'll do it my whole life," Gualberto said.

From left, Sgt. Jerry Vanhantsaeme, shakes hands with Joel Gualberto, who is interested in joining the army. The Canadian Forces held an information session Tuesday night at Northern United Place about the new, permanent army reserve company being established in Yellowknife. - Herb Mathisen/NNSL photo

He was one of a dozen or so civilians to attend an information session on the company Tuesday night. He wanted to find out how he could join the Canadian Forces.

Gualberto, a nurse by profession, came to Yellowknife from the Philippines in 2003.

"I was in the forces before I came here," he said, adding he worked with the Philippines national police and with SWAT teams for five years.

In September 2008, the Canadian government called for a reserve company to be set up in Yellowknife - the first permanent manned and stationed organization North of 60 - to put feet on the ground in the North and train soldiers to operate in the Arctic environment of Northern Canada.

The Yellowknife infantry company will fall under the 41 Canadian Brigade Group and be part of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment - or Loyal Eddies - with over 100 years of history.

The Yellowknife company will officially stand up on Aug. 20, and will hold a formal ceremony to mark the company's beginning in September.

In October, the Diamond Plaza building on Franklin Avenue will become the company's headquarters.

Capt. Conrad Schubert - a Yellowknifer since 1994 and a high school teacher by profession - is tasked with leading the recruitment drive in the city.

"I think it's very exciting to be in at the very beginning of something new," he said.

The intent is to begin recruiting in earnest this September, with the first training session next January.

Schubert said the intent is to be as visible as possible in the community, at events and in schools. He said the forces have recently begun co-op programs with high schools, and such programs could be extended to Yellowknife.

For now, the forces are looking to recruit from Yellowknife, Dettah, Ndilo and possibly Behchoko.

"Yellowknife is an outdoorsy kind of place and the infantry is all about being outdoors," he said.

By 2014, the hope is to have 30 to 60 fully-trained soldiers in the city, and to increase that number to between 80 and 120 by 2019.

"The core of the company will come from soldiers in Yellowknife and the surrounding area," said Col. Thomas Putt, commander of the brigade.

Lt.-Col. Michael Prendergast said reservists typically commit a couple weekends a month, or up to four nights a week for training during busy periods. There is also an initial four- to six-week training period.

Prendergast said the Loyal Eddies in Alberta are made up of teachers, along with government, construction and oil workers.

"I'm hoping in Yellowknife, we'll get some miners in the company," he said.

The role of the reservist, said Putt, is to provide support domestically - for increased security at the Olympics, for search and rescue and forest firefighting and flood assistance - or abroad - on missions in Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Congo and the Middle East.

Putt said reservists are not obliged to deploy to Afghanistan.

"It's a volunteer army in the end," he said, although one third of his brigade will have experienced deployment overseas by the end of the year, including Putt himself.

Questions were raised at the session about job protection and family support while residents undergo training.

Putt said employers - even those staunchly opposed to the Afghanistan mission - have nearly always been accommodating, adding the army is willing to be flexible to bring on recruits.

Brig.-Gen. David Millar said the Yukon recently enacted job protection for reservists and said he will be approaching Premier Floyd Roland to follow the Yukon's lead.

Putt said the Canadian Rangers will also play a role with the company, teaching reservists how to survive off the land - a skill, he said, that's being lost, with training more tailored to foreign missions like Afghanistan.

Roger Thuroo retired as an army mechanic six years ago, but is now asking where he can sign back up.

He said many people get out of the army when they move North.

"There's good jobs up here and they like the lifestyle - the hunting and fishing," he said.

The new company gives people like Thuroo - a service manager at PolarTech - a way to stay involved in the military.

Thuroo said the recruiting process will be the most challenging task facing the company.

Gualberto, however, seemed eager to sign on and was looking to join the infantry or artillery. He said he'd be willing to go to Afghanistan if asked.

"It's the call of duty," he said. "As a citizen, it's good to serve your country."