Edwards finds herself in front of the microphone for a change
A/SLt 24498 Noelani Shore (RMC 2009)
E 3161 Victoria Edwards (RMC 2003) has ensured no story lies forgotten and neglected on behalf of e-Veritas since 2006. So used to being behind the lens, she was put in the hot seat in a recent interview.
Born and raised in Ottawa, Edwards works as Materiel Acquisition System Information System design review officer with Director Materiel Systems Plans and Requirements after working at the Material Group as a Defence Resource Planning section head. Edwards has worked for the Government of Canada for the last 20 years, 15 of which at the Department of National Defence. She spent five years at the DND Crypto Support Unit as the Information Management/Information Technology section head, and another five years in the Career Assignment Program, a management development program where she completed a series of short developmental assignments.
“I was also a senior analyst with: DND’s Chief Military Personnel; the Senate Defence & Veterans Affairs Committees; Privy Council Office’s Aboriginal Affairs Secretariat,” she explained. “I was a section head with Industry Canada’s Regional Benefits and DND’s Human Resources Management System.”
In 2005, Edwards first contacted e-Veritas editor Bill Oliver when she provided her contact information, along with that of several other alumni whose email addresses were not on file with the RMC Club.
“Bill Oliver thanked me for updating the RMC Club directory and asked why I had ‘pooped out at the Ps.’ It was the first of many times that Bill made me laugh. I began recommending articles and I started writing regularly for e-Veritas in 2006. Bill tells me that I have not missed submitting at least one article per Issue over the past three years. 6776 Tim Sparling presented me with the 2008 RMC Club President’s Award for making a special and significant contribution to the RMC Club,” Edwards explained.
As a civilian employee of DND, Edwards applied to the Royal Military College’s Division of Continuing Studies as a mature student in 2000. She graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Military Arts and Science (Honours).
While attending RMC, Edwards recalls “being impressed that BGen (ret’d) Ernie Beno (photo left), who had recently retired as Chief of Military Personnel (CMP), dealt with real world military personnel issues as my professor in BAE240 Human Resource Management in a Defence Setting,” she said. “As my faculty advisor for an independent research project, BGen Beno suggested senior military personnel to interview and encouraged me to publish my research on the effects of Oka on the recruitment of Indigenous peoples into the military.”
Edwards went on to complete a Masters in Public Administration from Dalhousie University via distance education.
Writing for e-Veritas has allowed Edwards to connect alumni with current students, who ensure that important and lesser-known traditions, skylarks, battles, and events form part of RMC’s communal memory.
“I like to remember alumni and staff who have sacrificed and served Canada by participating in numerous wars and conflicts. I often join forces with 8057 Mr. James Ross McKenzie (RMC 1970) (photo left), the RMC Museum curator, along with other researchers, to further record and edit stories to provide a source for future researchers,” she said.
Edwards’ favourite types of article concern Military College heritage. Over the years, the RMC Club, family and friends have raised a number of memorials across the country to honour alumni who made great sacrifices and served their country so well.
“Alumni have erected cenotaphs, raised monuments, composed music, named geographical features, funded awards, mounted plaques and stained glass windows as memorials, and constructed cairns and fountains,” she said. ”One of the more interesting projects is the interviewing of ex-cadets and ex-staffers. I interviewed several ex-cadets and distilled their account of the early band at RMC.”
As a fan of Canadian musical theatre, Edwards’ favourite articles relate to performances based on RMC and alumni.
“I was delighted when Commandant Commodore William S. Truelove (RRMC 1985) served as Honorary Patron for Toronto Operetta Theatre’s ‘Leo, The Royal Cadet,’ and attended on opening night with a contingent of cadets and alumni on Feb 19, 2010. I was glad that contingents of alumni also attended ‘Billy Bishop Goes to War’, which tells the story of ex-cadet 943 Air Marshal “Billy” Bishop,” Edwards said. “I am looking forward to Great Canadian Theatre Company’s ‘The Shadow’ in March 2011 about the remarkable life of ex-cadet 1109 Dai Vernon (RMC 1919), the magician who earned his international reputation as the only man ever to fool Houdini.”