The term "Stand To" was introduced to me in the Army. It was the act of immediately occupying your assigned position to defend against an attack. Whenever we would occupy an area each soldier would be assigned a place around the perimeter of our position. This was known as your stand to position and in the event of an attack this is where you would go.

When I was new in the army, it was common practice to stand to at first light. At one time, dawn was seen as an especially good time for an attack. That is no longer our current doctrine and the first light stand to is much less common.

As an order, stand to is sometimes given quietly so the soldiers can occupy their positions by stealth or it can be shouted to bring an immediate response. A sentry who is suddenly confronted by a strong enemy would raise the alarm by shouting "STAND TO!"

This web site is my Stand To for the world. On it you will find my view of how things are and how they could be. The opinions and observations are mine and you are free to ignore them as much as you choose.

There is a wide variety of things to see on this site. Some of them have nothing to do with each other. They are here because they interest me.

There is a section of the site dealing with the Vaughan Fire and Rescue Service. It has stories of emergencies I have been to as well as ideas I have about the fire service.

Another section of the site has information about my army regimentThe Queen's Own Rifles of Canada. It is an Airborne Infantry unit in the Canadian Militia.

The third section of the site includes information about my personal life. It has pages about my girlfriend Terri and some of the traveling we have done. It also contains some essays I have written about a wide range of subjects.