Francois Arseneault was born in Calgary, Alberta in 1963. In 1977, he joined 1955 Service Battalion RCACC in Calgary and trained at Vernon Army Cadet Camp in 1978 and 1979 and on staff as an section commander in 1980. He aged out of cadets in June 1981. In Jan 1981 he enlisted in 14 Service Battalion where he trained as an MSE Op and was promoted to Cpl in May 1981 upon completion of his course. He was a member of the unit for just under three years, much of the time was on tasking at CFB Gagetown in 1981/82 and on various short taskings in Western Canada. During his time in Gagetown, he volunteered with 2647 Royal Canadian Regiment RCACC. He left the military in 1983.
Since reconnecting with the cadet program in 1990, he has served on the Army Cadet League of Canada (Alberta, BC and National branches) primarily as a league rep, special projects and historian. He produced feature length annual documentaries of Vernon CTC from 1994-2007. From 1999-2007 he also a history lecturer to course cadets at Vernon CTC and worked in the public affairs cell as an assistant photographer. He has written or co-written three history books on cadets and his photos have been published in various books and magazines. He was appointed historian for the Army Cadet League of Canada in 2004.  In 2005 he created and launched the virtual museum – Armycadethistory.com.
Concurrently, he deployed to Bosnia and Kosovo as a videographer attached to the various Canadian battle groups (1996-1999). He also has produced many videos for the Canadian Forces of various training in Canada.
He was a founding member of the VACC Alumni Association in 1993 and was extensively involved in both the 1994 and 1999 Vernon reunions. Francois and the staff of the Greater Vernon Museum developed the Vernon Cadet Camp Museum at the cadet training centre in 2013.
In 2017, Francois was recognized for his volunteering with cadet program by Governor General David Johnstone with the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers. He was made a life member of the National Army Cadet League in 2003 and life member of the Greater Vernon Museum and Archives in 2004.
As a freelance cameraman he has been capturing footage and presenting stories for over 33 years and has taken him to various parts of the Canada and around the world. He has worked on numerous broadcast and corporate documentaries and now specializes in contemporary and vintage film stock footage. 
 He and wife Sandy reside in Vernon. 
Go to the Cadet Camp Museum"
"If you are interested in local history, stop in at the cadet camp museum. It's small, but so interesting! They have done a great job with their displays, including personal memorabilia that will appeal to people who actually went to camp, and thematic displays that will appeal to history buffs. When we were there they had a display on food rations and one on head gear through the years, as well as the results of an 'archaeological dig' that occurred when they updated some of the barracks and discovered several decades' worth of trinkets in the ground below! This is the only cadet museum in Canada and we really enjoyed ourselves."
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"A very pleasant and engaging museum hostess and very knowledgeable about the history of the camp and surrounding area. The artifacts are nicely presented and in very decent condition. I appreciate the way that they represent different periods in the life of the camp. This museum, still being developed, is a very worthwhile tribute to those people who passed through here and who went on to be good citizens and often leaders in the towns and provinces in this country and who made Canada what it is today.
Thank you from a now old cadet."

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