Leadership, Learning, and Service in Defence and Aviation: Major Catherine Cabot, CD
Major Cabot has also served in highly visible national roles, including a two‑year appointment as Senior Aide‑de‑camp to the Governor General of Canada. In that capacity, she supported national ceremonies and engagements focused on mental health and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. She further served as Equerry to His Majesty King Charles III during his visit to Canada for the Speech from the Throne, highlighting the intersection of military professionalism and Canada’s national institutions.
From CMC to Canada’s Future Fighter Capability- Crista Lynn Ferguson, RRMC/RMC Class of 1995
In 2024, Crista‑Lynn was appointed Director General, Fighter Capability with the Royal Canadian Air Force, a role of significant national importance. In this position, she is responsible for preparing and operationalizing Canada’s future fighter capabilities, including the transition to the F‑35. Her work directly supports Canada’s defence readiness and sovereignty, including addressing the challenges posed by the country’s vast geography and “tyranny of distance.”
From Service in Uniform to Service for Canada: Deanna Manson RMC 1993 – Leadership That Never Retires
A graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada, Class of 1993, Deanna began her professional life with a clear commitment to serve. Over the course of 28 years in the Canadian Armed Forces, she built an extraordinary career as a Royal Canadian Air Force Logistics Officer, leading with precision, resilience, and integrity. Her service took her across Canada and around the world, including operational deployments to Kuwait, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic, as well as senior command appointments supporting complex, high‑stakes missions.
From RMC to National Leadership: LCol Diane Baldasaro RMC 2000 and the Power of Leading Change
Born in North Bay, Ontario, Diane Baldasaro’s passion for aviation was shaped early by her roots in a military family and further nurtured through six formative years in the Air Cadet program with 704 “Air Force City” Squadron in Trenton. That early exposure to service and flight set the foundation for a career defined by operational excellence and leadership responsibility. In 1996, she enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces under the Regular Officer Training Plan and graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 2000 with a degree in Business Administration joining a generation of RMC graduates prepared to lead in complex and demanding environments.
Major Elizabeth Thebault RMC 2008: A Trailblazer in Service and Leadership
An officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force, Major Thebault has built a career defined by operational excellence, technical mastery, and steadfast leadership while also balancing the demands of motherhood. Her professional journey reflects the very values of courage, integrity, and service that the Captain Nichola Goddard Leadership Award was created to honour.
Jennifer Causey RMC 1999: Defying Inertia
Jennifer led soldiers early in her career, as most military officers do. As a newly commissioned Second Lieutenant, she was responsible for a platoon of thirty soldiers, their training, well‑being, readiness, and equipment worth more than most people’s homes. She arrived competent and eager, but cautious. She was also one of very few women in her unit, and the second female officer to ever serve there. Blending in was never going to be an option.
Sandra Perron: A Life of Service, Courage, and Unbreakable Resolve
Sandra Perron’s legacy is not defined solely by being “the first.” It is defined by what she made possible. Women now serve as infantry officers in Canada, and others have gone on to command troops in combat. Senior leaders have since acknowledged that Perron should have been recognized and supported, rather than resisted. Her career stands as both a triumph of resilience and a reminder of the work that remains.
Reaching for the Stars: Extraordinary Astronauts from the Royal Military College
From pioneering journeys to groundbreaking research, RMC’s astronaut alumni continue to elevate Canada’s presence on the world stage. Their extraordinary accomplishments serve as a source of pride and inspiration, encouraging new generations to reach for the stars. As missions like Artemis II and the International Space Centre endeavor unfold, the influence of RMC and the Canadian Military Colleges remains a guiding force in humanity’s quest to explore the universe.
Trailblazers Across the Decades: 45 Years of Women at Canada’s Military Colleges
To mark the 45th anniversary of women joining the Canadian Military Colleges, we convened an extraordinary panel of alumnae—each representing a different decade of progress since those first pioneering women arrived in 1980. Their careers span logistics, intelligence, combat engineering, aviation, and international operations. Their reflections offer a rare, decade-by-decade portrait of how life at the Colleges—and within the Canadian Armed Forces—has evolved.
October is Women’s History Month: Celebrating progress and achievements in defence and beyond
We are honoured to work with so many women, both military members and public servants, who continue to break down barriers by taking on important and challenging roles in national security, search and rescue, and natural disaster response. Who knows where the next generation of women in the Defence Team will lead us?
