“Logo courtesy of Sleeman/Unibroue”
25892 NCdt (soon to be III Year) Meghan Thompson interviewed , 9143 Bruce McAlpine one of fifteen Ex-Cadets who will raise money for the Danny McLeod Athletic Endowment Fund by paddling a voyageur canoe from Ottawa to Kingston this September, 2011. Readers can make a pledge or donation at www.rmcclubfoundation.ca.
To support Bruce on his 2011 Rideau Canoe Trip: RMC Club Foundation 1-800-541-6000 x 6807
” I found an old military pic of me (in the middle) eating raw python (with white wine!) during the survival training part of the Jungle Warfare course in Australia. My comrades and I put an end forever to the belief the Aussies had that Canadians were afraid of snakes! They were horrified when we jumped on the snake and killed it with our bayonets – it was a protected species, and they had gotten it from the zoo to scare us!”
Bruce McAlpine
College Experience
Coming from a military family, it is unsurprising that Bruce McAlpine was at home in the disciplined, respect-driven environment of college. Starting at CMR in St. Jean in 1967, McAlpine spent time at both CMR and RMC before graduating from RMC in 1972 with a Bachelor of Engineering. Having been appointed DCWC (Deputy Cadet Wing Commander) at in his final year at CMR, McAlpine later took on the role of CWCO (Cadet Wing Communications Officer) at RMC in Kingston in his final year—his second opportunity to embrace a four-bar HQ position. This also earned him the opportunity to do the recruit obstacle couse 3 times – once as a recruit, and twice as a member of Wing HQ!
Complimenting his involvement in with Cadet Wing leadership, McAlpine was also involved athletics, representing the college on the rep swimming and water polo teams. McAlpine’s teams may not have been the most likely to win in the league, but still competed gamely against the big Ontario and Quebec universities despite the disadvantage of having a much smaller pool of swimmers to draw from.
Bruce may have the distinction of being the only cadet ever to have had a roommate with a pet monkey. Unfortunately, neither the roommate nor the monkey remained at the college long once the pet was discovered…
Military Career
After graduation, McAlpine served with the Royal 22nd Regiment as an infantry officer. McAlpine started as a Platoon Commander, and did a 6 month tour of Cyprus the the UN in his first year at the unit. He later held the positions of Company Commander of a mechanized unit and of Batallion Operations Officer.
Additionally, he took the Jungle Warfare course in Australia that was being given to all Australian soldiers going over to active duty in Viet Nam. During this course, he and a comrade put an end to the Aussie belief that Canadians were afraid of snakes by jumping on a live python, killing it with their bayonets and eating it raw (washed down with white wine!). The Australian instructors were horrified because the python was a protected species, and they had brought it to the survival portion of the training just to frighten the Canadians. McAlpine also took the Escape and Evasion instructor’s course in Holland. This was the one being given primarily to NATO flight crews flying reconnaissance missions over Eastern Europe.
Civilian Career
Following his 4-year military career, McAlpine began his career in business. To this end, he completed his Masters in Business Administration at York University in 1980, and spent six years working with Xerox. It was a friend who eventually introduced McAlpine to his current business, executive search. Running his firm Fulcrum Search Science Inc. out of Toronto, McAlpine has been involved in search and placement operations throughout North America, and even abroad. A field that provides constant challenge and variety, the executive search field has proven to require versatility and discipline, but both are traits that McAlpine appears to have in ample supply. His company is currently conducting searches in Bermuda and Shanghai, good examples of the wide-spread nature of his company’s operations.
Besides his involvement with his business, Bruce McAlpine has also been involved with various national associations in the recruiting industry. Having been past President of both the Association of Canadian Search, Employment & Staffing Services (ACSESS) and the Canadian national Association of Professional Placement Agencies and Consultants (APPAC), he has continued his involvement with his efforts as Chair of the ACSESS Ethics Committee and a national trainer for the industry certification program. In recognition of his work within the industry, he received the ACSESS Leadership Award, and the discretionary ACSESS Award of Excellence for “outstanding leadership and exemplary commitment” to the industry in Canada. As a speaker at industry conferences, and a teacher of business-related subjects at the University of Toronto and at Primorski State University in Russia, McAlpine has helped to spread his knowledge and understanding of business inside and outside of the executive search field.
Pass-Times
With a strong passion for fitness that began in school in France in the early 1960’s, Bruce McAlpine continues to enjoy running as an antedote to the stresses of business life. Just this spring he completed a major seven year goal of running a full marathon on all 7 continents, including Antarctica.
Along with running marathons, McAlpine is also involved with several Christian charitable organizations, including Alpha (through which he co-led three 10 week spiritual exploration programs in pubs in the downtown financial district in Toronto), Leader Impact Group, and the Navigators of Canada, on whose board he served for 26 years.
Involvement with the Chasse-Galerie
Bruce McAlpine is also no stranger to the Chasse-Galerie. This year’s voyage will be his third Chasse-Galerie, as he participated in both the 2001 and 2006 trips, taking on the role of cook. The “can-do Van Doo” was especially popular with the crew by finding a way to make cappuccinos on the Coleman stove on the side of the Rideau Canal during coffee breaks! With athletics and the military clearing still holding a place in his heart, it is no wonder that McAlpine is involved in this fundraising event for the CMR and RMC sports programs.
Our aim at e-Veritas is to conduct one-on-one interviews with all 15 participants (in no particular order) over the next few months of e-Veritas editions. meghan.thompson@rmc.ca
Class of 1960 4815 Mike Jackson
Class of 1960 H4860 John de Chastelain
Class of 1971 8725 Fergus McLaughlin
Class of 1971 8788 Geoff Bennett
Class of 1971 8816 Marius Grinius
Class of 1971 8833 John Leggat
Class of 1972 9143 Bruce McAlpine
Class of 1983 M0288 Roxanne Rees
Class of 1986 15414 Catherine Paquet-Rivard
Class of 1997 20800 Cindy McAlpine