Bill Irving is armoured by trade, ‘Mother’ by nature. A light armoured vehicle (LAV) crew commander, he’s been around. The Balkans in the mid to late 90s. Two tours in Afghanistan. He’s seen it. Lived it. He earned his nickname as the guy who takes care of everyone else. On his second tour in Afghanistan, being ‘Mother’ meant serving as LAV commander for the commanding Major-General. “He hated being in the office,” says Bill, “so we spent a lot of time getting him in and out of the battlespace. Our job was to keep him out of the way. It was like the Wild West.”
– Veterans Affairs Canada