The Week That Was…
On Monday, College leadership and members of the Cadet wing attended the funeral for 2131 BGen(Ret’d) George Wattsford (RMC 1929) at St. George’s Cathedral. Kingston Branch Ex Cadets were out in full force led by Branch president, 4976 Reg Watts (RRMC RMC 1960).
The oldest Ex Cadet, BGen Wattsford served his country with excellence and professionalism. He will be missed.
On Tuesday, A/CLS, 14274 MGen Al Howard visited AMS and took the chance to sit in on a couple of classes following which he addressed the group over coffee. Always a pleasure to have MGen Howard visit and provide an update to the students on activities within the Army.
Commandant meets with the incoming RMC Club President
RMC Club Acting President Pays Visit to RMC in Kingston
By: WJO
19307 DJ (Dave) Benoit has been the Acting President of the RMC Club of Canada for about six weeks. Dave moved into the position on 8 Dec following the resignation of 16412 Gordon J. Clarke. Gordon resigned for business reasons related to his regular full-time position.
Part of his formal resignation read: “My day job is now at a critical juncture which requires my undivided attention for the next several months and I am no longer to be able to properly discharge the duties of being president of the Club at the same time.
Therefore, I am tendering my resignation as president of the Royal Military Colleges Club of Canada, effective immediately.”
A quick glimpse at the list of former Club Presidents indicates that Commander Dave Benoit is the very first current Regular Force serving member to hold this position. (The “acting” tag is pretty well a formality). A couple of administrative steps are required before he “officially’ becomes the 109th person to fill that chair.
We are not aware of any others who held the position while serving in uniform – Regular or Reserve Force.
Last Tuesday (18 January) Dave motored down from Ottawa to pay a courtesy visit to the Commandant, Commodore Bill Truelove. He also met with Peter Dawe, Executive Director of the Club and other staff members working out of Panet House.
The visit included a lunch at the Senior Staff Mess. Others attending were: Commandant, Commodore Truelove; D Cdt, LCol Sue Wigg; CCWO, CWO Tony Slack; Andrew Chong, Cadet Wing Commander; David Bernatchez, Deputy Cadet Wing Commander and Peter Dawe, Executive Director, RMC Club.
From all reports and indications the visit was a good one. We had a chance meeting with the Commandant and he commented on the visit. “The College is fortunate to have a very strong Ex-Cadet club under the leadership of the President, Dave Benoit and the Executive Director, Peter Dawe.”
Prior to the visit in a letter to many of the key stake-holders involved with the RMC Club, the Acting President stated: …”the club is in a period of transition and we are trying to look at all of our ‘business processes’ – financial, personnel and communications in an effort to support the team (Employees, Executive Committee and General Counsel) that supports the club.”
The letter also mentioned that a 2011 Work Plan was being implemented by members of the Executive Committee.
The letter made clear …” that the leadership of the Club is fully committed to continue to make our Club a very successful association, to provide our members a professional place to help each other, and enhance the friendship which was triggered during the years at our institution.”
A little background on Dave Benoit: He entered RMC in 1990 and earned a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering in 1994. He also has a diploma in Management in 2007 and an MBA in 2008 from Athabasca University.
He is a Combat Systems Engineer.
In addition to his volunteer work with the RMC Club, Dave is a member of the Order of St. John, Knights Hospitaller and of the Knights of Columbus.
Photos by: OCdt Dan Fleming
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Classy Squadron Commander recognized for his Outstanding Contributions to the RMC Sandhurst Team
Photo by: OCdt Dan Fleming
Caption: Last Thursday (20 January) in front of a standing room only crowd at the senior Staff Mess RMC commandant, Commodore Bill Truelove presented 22702 Captain Nathan Price with a Commandant’s Commendation for his above and beyond commitment to the RMC Sandhurst team over the past couple of years. With tremendous support from the RMC Foundation, the Sandhurst team have consistently achieved excellent results in this very challenging competition.
The Commendation reads:
Capt Nathan Price is commended for his outstanding dedication and mentorship qualities provided to the RMC Sandhurst Programme. On top of his duties as both 1 Sqn and 5 Sqn Comd, Capt Price has dedicated countless hours to the administration, preparation and training of RMC’s 2010 Sandhurst Team. As the Sandhurst Team Officer, Capt Price anticipated potential obstacles and took decisive action to get in front of these challenges and develop workable solutions that allowed the team to focus on training, and competition. In doing so, he has demonstrated outstanding planning, preparation, and problem solving abilities and has served as a superb role model for those in his charge to emulate. Capt Price has distinguished himself as an outstanding mentor and is so recognized with a Commandant’s Commendation.
Le Capt Nathan Price se voit décerner une mention élogieuse pour ses services, son dévouement et ses qualités de mentor lors de sa participation à l’entrainement de l’équipe de compétition Sandhurst 2010. En plus d’accomplir ses tâches de commandant des escadrons 1 et 5, le Capt Nathan Price à volontairement assumé les responsabilités d’Officier en charge de l’équipe Sandhurst. Lors de l’exercice de ces fonctions, le Capt Nathan Price a dédié de nombreuses heures de son temps personnel pour s’assurer que l’équipe Sandhurst avait toutes les chances de réussite. C’est au travers de son travail ardu, qu’un groupe impressionnant de candidats furent recruté pour la sélection de l’équipe Sandhurst. Plus impressionnant encore, sont les qualités du Capt Nathan Price au-delà de ses activités administratives comme mentor et modèle auprès des Élofs. En puisant de son expérience et de sa compétence militaire, il a fournit une expérience hors du commun aux membres de l’équipe, bagage qui leur servira indubitablement tout au long de leur carrière. À cet égard, le Capt Nathan Price a accomplit un travail extraordinaire qui a rejaillit favorablement sur lui-même ainsi que l’institution.
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On Friday, the Commandant met with LCol Collin Tucker, an instructor at the United States Air force Academy along with 15595 Dr Billy Allan (RRMC RMC 1986), Head of Mech and Aerospace Eng and Dr Mark Laviolette – currently on sabbatical at USAFA. LCol Tucker, currently Dr. Laviollette’s supervisor at USAFA, commented on how impressed he was with RMCC and noted his desire to continue seeking ways to enhance the level of interaction between RMCC and USAFA.