By Richard Bell
Jake Reeves, Cadet Chief Warrant Officer of the 2741 Eastern Shore Army Cadet Corps in Gaetz Brook, has been awarded the most prestigious award for an army cadet across Canada. He was named Canada's Most Outstanding Army Cadet for 2022-2023 and will be the National Army Cadet Representee for the year 2022-2023.
This is only the second time an Army Cadet in Nova Scotia has ever received this prestigious award and he is the first male army cadet in Nova Scotia to receive it. Reeves has also been awarded the Presidents Trophy as Nova Scotia's Most Outstanding Army Cadet.
As the national Most Outstanding Army Cadet for 2022-2023, Reeves was invited to spend 4 days in Ottawa, November 8-12. At the ceremony at the National War Memorial on Remembrance Day, Reeves had the honour of serving as Wreath Bearer for the Greg Peters, The Usher of the Black Rod (the Parliamentary official who carries the Black Rod as part of the opening of Parliament.) He also attended other ceremonies and celebrations, including having lunch with the Governor General, the Honourable Mary Simon.
Reeves lives in Lake Echo and graduated from Eastern Shore District High. He is currently attending Dalhousie University in his first year of Engineering. His late father was Captain Bruce A. Reeves.
In a phone interview, Reeves was modest about his achievements. “When I started in grade 7 in 2016 at Gaetz Brook Junior High, I tried to do everything they offered. But I didn’t have any natural talent.”
Reeves fell in love with the biathlon. He laughed about his first attempt. “When I started biathlon, I barely made the team. It took me 6 minutes for my first shot. If I had just taken all the penalties for not shooting, my time would have been better.” But Reeves bore down and kept improving over the next six years to the point where he earned a gold medal in men’s youth at the 2022 Biathlon Zone Championship.
Reeves said that Covid also played a role in making it possible for him to move up the ranks faster. “Covid really speeded things up,” he said. “The highest rank in the Corp is as a Warrant, which I achieved two years before it should have happened.”
Reeves has a long article in the upcoming issue of Esprit de Corps, the monthly independent defense magazine. In the piece, “My Cadet Experience,” he explained how he approached leading is his last year with Cadets: “I make sure that whatever schoolwork or other problems I have are left behind when I am just about to enter the training hall. With that in mind, my goals are set to make sure everyone leaves cadet night in a better mood than when they arrived. As a Senior Cadet at my corps, my mind is also set to lead by example by striving to continually improve on my own abilities & skills all the while making sure that everyone else is in the correct mindset to do the same.”
