WO Hopping Researched by Liam Broderick

Early Life

Born on September 21, 1965, in Iserlohn, Germany.

Lived in many different homes worldwide due to frequent moves. Lived in all Canadian provinces and territories except Saskatchewan.

Most influential person(s) in my life are my parents.

Participated in Cadets in Winnipeg and Charlottetown. Spent a lot of time hunting, fishing, and camping with family. Hung out with friends at a Teen Club at the Summerside Air Base. Moved to a farm and spent free time helping local farmers with harvesting hay and potatoes.

Attended Holland College for Chef program based on a suggestion from my mother.

Grandfather, father, brother, and many friends served in military so enlisted in 1986.

A Day in the Life of WO Hopping

My duties in Afghanistan varied day to day. Initially I was sent overseas to run and oversee the operations of the Kitchen in CNS (Camp Nathan Smith). The days started at 0400 and ended after dinner at 1900 hr. Of course being in a theatre of war, we were on duty 24/7, but that only happened when the bad guys decided to be bad guys.
I had a staff of 20 locally employed personnel (LEPs) and 7 Canadian Cooks. We fed 450 diners, including civilian personnel from CIDA and DFAIT (Canadian Government organizations). As the war evolved, we started feeding more and more personal. At the height of our operations, we were feeding 1,450 soldiers, most of which were American.

Then the Americans took over our Camp and I was without a job, as my US Counterpart assumed my duties.

I was reassigned as the Forward Operating Base (FOB) Sheriff in Mas'um Gar. I had no idea as to what my duties would be, as this job is usually held by a combat arms soldier, and not a cook.

My hand over was brief, as the battle was getting closer and closer to us. I was responsible for all aspects of security in the camp, including body searches, roaming patrols, vehicle searches, animal control, personnel escorts, convoy commanding, and helicopter landings.  I did it all.

I am the only cook in the history of our trade that:

·      closed an Operational Kitchen,

·      opened an Operational Kitchen, and

·      held a combat arms role as Sheriff

We were constantly harassed by small arms fire and mortar attacks. It's a good thing that the bad guys can't aim that well as no-one was injured while on camp, although we did suffer casualties outside the wire.  We also had rocket attacks, which just by the nature of the size of the weapon, are extremely damaging. We lost some infrastructure and vehicles, but once again, no personnel were injured.

While everyone was running for cover, my job was to run to the impact area to ensure there were no injuries and to call out the fire brigade should they be required.

Most of our supplies came in by Chinook helicopters and they came in the cover of darkness. I had to safely land and coordinate the unloading of the helicopters using no white light. We wore night vision goggles  but they see in two dimensions so depth perception is severely hindered. 

I also landed all the Dust Off / Med Evac helicopters that we used to fly our wounded soldiers to the Multinational Hospital in Kandahar Air Field. I had to coordinate the movement of the injured from the unit aid station that we had on base to the helicopter landing zone. I then passed on all pertinent information to the pararescue jumpers on the helicopter and they would depart with the injured. 

We medically evacuated anyone from coalition soldiers to local nationals to civilians to the Taliban. We had at least 3 flights a day, with some days more, and very rarely, some days less.

One of the worst jobs I had was animal control. I had to dispatch wild dogs, cats, goats, and even a monkey.

All of these animals carry disease and are dangerous to the soldiers. Being a person that has pets at home this was a difficult duty; but a soldier doesn't pick his jobs he just follows his orders.

The Day I Saved Many Lives

For two consecutive days, a certain vehicle had tried to enter our camp (Camp Nathan Smith). The driver had indicated that there were rations on board.  I was summoned to the main gate to make a positive ID on the vehicle and driver. This being an unscheduled day for ration delivery, I was skeptical. I called my boss in Kandahar Air Field (KAF) and asked if he had sent rations our way. He replied that he did not. I informed the gate guards to turn the vehicle around and not to grant access to the camp.

The next day, it was the same truck but a different driver. Once again the phone call was made and the vehicle was turned away.

Day three was different. I went to the gate, as once again I was called to identify the driver.  Every hair on my body was standing on edge. I peeked through the huge steel gates and looked at the guards and said that I had a really bad feeling and to take cover in the bunker. I turned around to go make the phone call to my boss in KAF. When I reached the office, the truck blew up. It blew the front gate and parking lot to pieces. The guards were safe as they had taken cover and were protected by the blast wall and bunkers. The driver was a suicide bomber and was the only casualty in the incident. 

Pembroke Daily Observer

                            Above and beyond the call of duty

Saturday, June 2, 2012 10:15:37 EDT AM

CFB PETAWAWA - A special ceremony held

here last week recognized 63 Petawawa soldiers

for their extraordinary dedication to duty. 

Awards and honours were handed out by

Lt.-Gen. Stuart Beare, commander of Canadian

Expeditionary Force Command (CEFCOM).

Receiving the Commander Canadian Expeditionary

General Walter Natynczyk and Peter MacKay with WO Hopping

Forces Command Commendation was:

Warrant Officer Michael Hopping:

Deployed to Afghanistan as a Cook within the

National Support Element from April 2010 to

January 2011, his leadership was outstanding.

Whether assisting with the influx of American

troops at Camp Nathan Smith or acting as the sheriff

of Forward Operating Base (FOB) Ma'sum Ghar,

his dedication and work ethic were exceptional.

Last day in dress uniform with wife Michelle Hopping

November 11, 2014

Governor General of Canada David Johnston with WO Hopping

WO Hopping’s Decorations

First row: (on top) Somalia

Second row: (left)is Afghanistan,(center)is SW Asia,

and (right) is the UN peace keepers Medal

Third row: (left) is Cyprus (2 tours), (center) is Israel, and (right) is Haiti

Bottom row: (left) is Yugoslavia, (center) is the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and (right) is the Canadian Decoration with Rosette (denoting 22 yrs of honourable service)

WO Hopping and Glynn Doucette with Town of Kensington Flag