Canadian soldiers hold live-fire military exercise in Meaford

Gunfire could be heard around the Meaford area on Wednesday morning.

Hundreds of Canadian soldiers are at the 4th Canadian Division Training Centre for live-fire exercises.

"The significance behind this is we are able to get them fresh off their initial training and really start to help them develop those soldier skills," said Captain William Assis, an Officer Commanding Bravo Company.

Olivia Lupsa, a nuclear engineering student at Ontario Tech University, has spent her summer undergoing military artillery training.

Her group put the books away this week and began their hands-on artillery training.

"Being a combat engineer, we work very closely with infantry, so it felt like a great opportunity to train with them and just get lots of experience," said Lupsa.

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Lupsa is one of around 400 soldiers participating in the training.

The week-long exercise is not only for newcomers but also for long-time reserves and other military personnel to sharpen their skills after a few years away.

"There's a secondary course called GATS, Gun Areas Technical Supervisor, and those are the people who plot the data to give information to the guns that tell them how to aim," said Bradford resident and reservist Matthew Jackson.

On Wednesday, Ontario's Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell attended the military exercises and met with personnel.

"To learn what they're doing but also to be able to express my pride and thanks as Ontarians and Canadians in our Canadian armed forces," said Dowdeswell.

Once the military experiences wrap up on Friday, they will return to their home bases across Ontario, where they will resume their training at the unit level.