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4th Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment
4th Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, occupies Wolseley Hall at the Home Station of The Regiment; Wolseley Barracks in Area Support Unit (ASU) London, Ontario. The 4th Battalion also has a company of infantry at Stratford, Ontario.
4RCR Commanding Officer - Lieutenant-Colonel G.P Willaert, CD
 Commanding Officer - LCol G.P Willaert, CD |
Lieutenant-Colonel Gary Willaert enrolled in the Canadian Forces in 1976 and he was commissioned into The Royal Canadian Regiment in 1977. During his 28 years in the Regular Force he served primarily in field units. He completed seven Regimental Duty postings serving with the 2nd Battalion (three times), 3rd Battalion, 4th Battalion, 3 Airborne Commando (Canadian Airborne Regiment) and The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle School. His Regimental duty included Company Commander appointments from 1988-90 (2nd Battalion) and 1996-99 (2nd and 3rd Battalion). The highlight of LCol Willaert's Regular Force service was his tenure as Officer Commanding India Company of the 2nd Battalion which included operational deployments for the ice storm in Quebec and NATO service in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
LCol Willaert also served twice with the Tactics School in Gagetown New Brunswick, both as a Standards Officer and a member of the Directing Staff, instructing on the Combat Team Commander and the Dismounted Company Commander Courses. His other operational deployments were with the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea as a Military Observer Team Leader and as the Task Force Commander for the Canadian contribution to the International Military Advisory and Training Team in Sierra Leone.
LCol Willaert's final Regular Force posting was as the G3 at 31 Canadian Brigade Group Headquarters in London, Ontario. In 2004 he transferred to the Army Reserve and continued to serve with 31 Brigade Headquarters. He returned to the 4th Battalion in 2007, serving first as the unit's Operations Officer and then as Deputy Commanding Officer. In May of 2010 he was appointed Commanding Officer of 4th Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment. In his civilian employment LCol Willaert has worked as the Executive Director of the London Military Family Resource Centre since 2008.
4RCR Regimental Sergeant Major - CWO Rob Talach, CD
 Regimental Sergeant Major - CWO Rob Talach, CD |
Chief Warrant Officer Robert Talach enrolled in the Canadian Forces in 1988 as a reservist with the Essex & Kent Scottish in Chatham, Ontario. He has served most of his career in the Essex & Kent Scottish and the 4th Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment. He has also augmented Regular Force Units, serving on exercise with the 1st Battalion of The Royal Canadian Regiment, acting as staff at The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle School, and deploying overseas with the Royal Canadian Dragoons.
Following his qualification as an infantry soldier, CWO Talach attended a series of courses, including Infantry Communicator, Basic Parachutist, and the Infantry Section Commander Course. In just over two years post-enrolment, CWO Talach received an accelerated promotion to the rank of Master Corporal and began instructing infantry soldiers during Reserve Summer Training. In 1994 he transferred to the 4th Battalion and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. He deployed to the former Yugoslavia in 1995 on OP CAVALIER. While in Bosnia he took part in a foreign exchange with the New Zealand Defence Force. Upon his return to Canada CWO Talach served as a full time Recruiter at the Canadian Forces Recruiting Centre in London. He attended both his QL6B Infantry Course and his Senior Leaders Course in the summer of 1996. CWO Talach was awarded a Land Forces Central Area Commander's Commendation for graduating as the top candidate on both courses.
In 1997 CWO Talach returned to the Essex & Kent Scottish and was promoted to the rank of Master Warrant Officer in 2001. He served as Company Sergeant Major for both a Rifle Company with the Regiment and a Training Company with 31 Canadian Brigade Group Battle School. CWO Talach returned to the 4th Battalion in 2004 serving again as a Rifle Company Sergeant Major and later the Battalion's Drill Sergeant Major. He was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer and appointed the Regimental Sergeant Major of the 4th Battalion on the 15th of May 2010.
CWO Talach graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science from the University of Western Ontario in 1994. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Law Degree from the University of Windsor Law School in 2000. CWO Talach has been practicing law as a civil trial lawyer since 2002. He is a partner at Ledroit Beckett Litigation Lawyers, a law firm in London Ontario. He is married to Monika Talach and they have two young sons Oskar and Dominik.
Mailing address:
4th Battalion
The Royal Canadian Regiment
701 Oxford St East
London, Ontario
N5Y 4T7
4th Battalion submissions to Regimental publications:
Image Gallery Pages
- Change of Appointment Parade, Honorary Lieutenant Colonel, 4th Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, under the Image Gallery (4 Nov 2006), photos by MCpl M.S. Woolley, 31 CBG HQ PA Photojournalist