H3948 John Plant (RMC ’57); 5495 Craig Kerr (RMC ’62) 5573 Layne Larsen (RRMC RMC ’62); 5868 Scott Clements (RRMC RMC ’63); 7632 Gunars Balodis (RMC ’68); 7769 Micheal Lawrance (RRMC RMC ’69); 8418 Jean (John) Grefford (RMC ’71); 10261 Rick Liss (RRMC RMC ’75); 10685 John Haazen (RRMC RMC ’75); 12648 Michael Burke (RRMC RMC ’80); 13884 Thomas Jarmyn (RMC ’83); 14743 Denis Godcharles (RMC ’85); 14801 Louis-Paul Normand (CMR RMC ’85); 15455 David Springford (CMR RMC ’86); 16325 Ben Minicucci (CMR RMC ’88); 18060 Pascal Bécotte (CMR RMC ’92); 20850 Peter Sproule (RMC ’97)
H3948 Doctor John BJ Plant (RMC ’57) is currently executive director of the Engineering Institute of Canada, board chair of St. Lawrence College, president of the RMC Club Foundation and of the Kingston branch of the Navy League of Canada Ontario. John obtained his doctorate from M.I.T. in 1965. He was a naval officer from 1953 to 1970 retiring in the rank of Commander and a member of the naval reserve from 1975 to 1984 as commanding officer of HMCS Cataraqui retiring in the rank of Captain (N). He served as head of the Electrical Engineering department at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario between 1967 and 1972, then Dean of Graduate Studies and Research from 1972 to 1984, then as Principal from 1984 to 1999 (a bilingual position). He has industrial experience in France (Naval Systems Laboratory, Thomson CSF)in 1978. He was chair of the Canadian Conference on Ethical Leadership in 1998, President of the Advanced Technology Education Consortium in Kingston between 1999 and 2002; an RMC Club Foundation Board Member (Way ahead review and Chair, Gifting and Planned Giving) 2003 to 2006, and President in 2005. He was President of the Pittsburgh Historical S Society in 2005, Director ACAATO Executive Board in 2006, and became a member of the IEEE Canadian Foundation in 2006. He became Executive Director of the Engineering Institute of Canada in 1999. His IEEE service includes; Kingston Section Chair in 1968, Bay of Quinte Section Chair in 1973, and Chair, of the Central Canada Council in 1974/76, and a member of the IEEE Canada Awards Committee starting in 1999. He was a member of the IEEE Canada RepCom in 2005/06. He served as president of CSECE in 1989-91 and was instrumental in the 1995 merger of CSECE with IEEE Region 7 to form IEEE Canada. He served as EIC president in 1994/96. His awards include IEEE Life Fellow, EIC Fellow, IEEE Centennial and McNaughton Medals, EIC John B. Stirling Medal, Order of Military Merit and PEO Citizenship Award. In 2007 he was made a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering FCAE.
5495 Mr Craig Kerr (RMC ’62) is a member of the Brighton, Ontario
municipal council. As an original and long time resident of the community, Mr. Kerr
said he believes people should give back to their communities and he
feels he is best able to do this through a role in municipal government.
He has been involved in several local projects, including his role as a
founding director and the first CEO of the Brighton Health Services
Centre. A past president and former treasurer of the Brighton Rotary
Club, Mr. Kerr is currently the managing broker of record for Remax Trent
Valley Realty Ltd. A graduate of ENSS, Mr. Kerr also attended Royal
Military College in Kingston. He had an extensive business career in Toronto before returning to Brighton. He and his
wife Ruth have three children and seven grandchildren, all of whom live
in the area.
Click on photo for larger view
5573 Colonel (Ret’d) Layne Larsen (RRMC RMC ’62) has been fascinated by St Lawrence ever since living in Panet House. Over the past 25 years or so, he has read more than 300 books dealing with the War of 1812 (particularly the naval aspects), the Royal Navy, warship construction, tactics, armament, etc. When he started this project a couple of years ago, the intent was perhaps a couple of thousand words on HMS St. Lawrence, possibly for publication in something like The Beaver. However, once he realized that there was really little definitive detail about her, that idea fell by the wayside. He found that in order to tell her story, he would have to put her within a much larger context. The result, “His Majesty’s Ship, St. Lawrence” is something that is far too long for a magazine article and much too short for a book—so, it is not intended for publication, merely something of personal interest. Comparing the model of HMS St. Lawrence donated to RMC and “design” he notes some differences, particularly around the stern and the rigging; however, either…or neither…may be entirely correct. He does agree with the modeler’s choice of brass guns. RN practice at the time was to cast the long guns in bronze (although called brass) and the carronades in iron. However, both were subsequently treated chemically to turn the surfaces black and make them more efficient radiators of the heat generated during firing.
Ed: The photo of the painting has nothing to do with the article but in our research of Layne we “stumbled” upon it. It was too nice to pass up!
5868 LGen (Ret’d) Scott Clements (RRMC RMC ’63) retired from his
position as President and CEO of Edmonton Airports at the end of 2004
after completing nearly 10 years of outstanding and dedicated service to
and this region. Edmonton Airports is a not-for-profit organization
mandated to manage the region’s airport assets on behalf of and in the
best interest of the community. Scott has represented our region in the
aviation industry including serving as a director of the Canadian
Airports Council, Airports Council International – North America,
Western Transportation Advisory Council (WESTAC), and Aviation Alberta,
and as an honourary Colonel of the Aerospace Engineering Test
Establishment at Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake. Scott has contributed
his leadership skills to numerous community boards and committees, and
maintained a strong commitment to tourism development by promoting our
region as a destination for both business and leisure. Scott’s
leadership and successes have been recognized through a variety of
awards and honours including Northern Alberta Transportation Club
Millennium Transportation Person of the Year award and the distinguished
Commemorative Medal in Honour of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Mr.
Clements is a graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada, where he
earned a Bachelors of Engineering (Civil) in 1963, and received a
Masters Degree in Public Administration from the University of Auburn at
Montgomery, Alabama. In May of 2004 Royal Roads University presented
Scott with an honourary Doctorate of Laws degree in recognition of a
lifetime of leadership.
7632 LCol (Ret’d) Gunars Balodis (RMC ’68) wife Frances Balodis
is the founder of Music for Young Children (MYC). Frances began
teaching music at their home in 1980. Now, 900 teachers in Canada,
United States, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea embrace her
system. Mr. Balodis, who had attended Royal Military College while
Mrs. Balodis had attended Queen’s, was posted at CFB Halifax with the
Canadian Forces. In the late 1970s, in Dartmouth, N.S., Mrs. Balodis,
the mother of their two small children, taught music as an early
childhood and remedial specialist. All the while, Mr. Balodis, who
has a master’s degree in physics, was the commanding officer of the
acoustic data analysis centre at CFB Halifax. By night, he provided
support and encouragement to Mrs. Balodis. “I was manning the three-
hole punch,” he kids now. For several months, in 1980 they worked
into the wee hours to develop MYC’s first curriculum. Subsequently,
Mr. Balodis even took a second job as a computer programmer to make
enough money to pay back the bank loans. With Gunars Balodis as
business manager, MYC quickly became a nationally recognized method
of music instruction. The program includes keyboard, rhythm, beat,
singing, theory, ear training and composition.
7769 Major (Ret’d) Micheal Lawrance (RRMC RMC ’69) is a
Procurement Advisor with the organization for economic co-operation
and development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC)
Secretariat in France. Micheal graduated in 1969 from the Royal
Military College of Canada with a bachelor degree in engineering.
Following several years serving as a combat engineer in the Canadian
army, he left to join the Canadian International Development Agency
(CIDA). He began work as a bilateral program project officer, first
on the Brazil and Andean programs and followed by the Jamaica, North
Africa, Egypt and the Gaza-West Bank bilateral programs as the
Program Director. During this period, he was responsible for the
development and implementation of country strategies in Jamaica,
Egypt and Gaza-West Bank. From 1999 – his retirement from CIDA in
2006, Micheal was Director of Procurement Policy. He joined the OECD-
DAC in January, 2006, as Procurement Advisor in the Aid Effectiveness
Division where he coordinates the work of the OECD-DAC Joint Venture
on Procurement.”
8418 Captain (Ret’d) Jean (John) Grefford (RMC ’71) recently joined Defence Construction Canada (DCC) after 10 years at CRO Engineering Ltd. as Principal Engineer. Born Ile Perrot, P.Q., John has been married for 35 years to Heather (the KGH connection!) and his two sons Paul and Daniel are also living in Ottawa. John received his B.Eng. in Chemical Engineering from the Royal Military College, a Master in Electrical Engineering from Naval Post Graduate School (NPG) and an MBA from Laval University. After a career with DND, John also worked at Levesque Beaubien Geoffrion and the National Bank of Canada. John was recently recognised a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada. You can reach John at grefford@ieee.org.
10261 Captain (N) Rick Liss OMM, CD (RRMC RMC ’75) is a member of
the faculty of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at Ft. McNair
in Washington, DC. Upon completion of the Bachelor of Applied Science
program from Royal Military College in 1975, he received his commission
as an officer in the CF. He has served in numerous staff and line
positions onboard ship and on base and at functional and national
headquarters levels within naval and air force commands. His formal
education has been complemented by attending the University of Ottawa
where he obtained an MBA, by attending the NATO Defence College in Rome,
Italy, and as an ICAF graduate (Class of 2004). He was awarded the Order
of Military Merit in 1998. He is married and has one son who is
currently attending university in Canada.
10685 Major (ret’d) John Haazen (RRMC RMC ’75) has been one
of the senior program managers for Venga Aerospace Systems Inc.’s
ongoing and proposed aerospace projects since 2005. John Haazen, who
is a graduate of both Royal Roads Military College and the Royal
Military College of Canada, recently retired with the rank of Major
from the Canadian Air Force after 34 years of service. Mr. Haazen is
an experienced aviator who during his term of service with the
Canadian Armed Forces and NORAD held various, senior command
positions and managed a range of complex military projects including,
the development and implementation of operational and training
procedures for pilots and air traffic controllers and the
coordination of air operations for cruise missile exercises.
12648 Commander Michael Burke (RRMC RMC ’80) is chief of staff to
the American colonel who runs NATO’s Afghan Regional Security
Integration Command. “Michael wanted to go with a Canadian contingent
but was told they had enough army volunteers. He pushed and pushed to
go because he wanted to make a difference and do something really
fulfilling before he retires,” Mark Burke said. When an opportunity
to volunteer with the Americans came up, Burke jumped at it. Burke
volunteered for a year-long tour of duty in Afghanistan, said his
brother Mark. Most Canadian soldiers serve six months on a single
tour. Burke entered Royal Military College, which led to a 30-year
career with the Canadian navy. He has a wife and three children in
Halifax. Last week, Burke led a mission that involved nine seven-
tonne trucks, eight armed Afghan army pickups and a dozen armoured
U.S. army Humvees. They travelled from Kandahar City to Zhari Dasht
where 50,000 Afghans described as “the poorest of the poor” have
taken refuge. The five-hour trek to Zhari Dasht is notoriously
dangerous but was completed without incident. In e-mail to his Sarnia
family, Burke described the jubilation of the Afghans as they
scrambled to get shares of beans, rice, cooking oil, sugar, wheat,
clothing, blankets and toys. Entering the village was like being
transported back in time 2,000 years, wrote Cmdr. Burke, who
described the deplorable living conditions and challenges presented
by the Taliban. “Life is agrarian. Construction is mud, heat is fire,
feet are bare, and clothes are one-size-fits-all.” The mission
was “thoroughly rewarding,” Burke wrote, particularly when he saw the
comfort it brought to the children, including one 12-year-old
girl. “There is little to nothing we can do to help her other than
ensure she has food to eat and a blanket on her at night. “But maybe,
just maybe, we can help her children and her children’s
children.” “It’s a life he’s loved,” his mother said. “He’s got so
much out of it that he wanted to give something back.” “He says he
feels really happy about the work they are doing. He says this feels
like it really matters and that they are making progress,” his
brother said. Burke is the sort who typically downplays events. When
asked about the dangers in Afghanistan, he replied only that it
was “a little nerve-wracking.”
13884 Thomas Jarmyn (RMC ’83), 45, former director of
Parliamentary affairs to Treasury Board President Mr. Toews
(Provencher, Man.), left his job on March 7, 2008 to complete his
master’s degree at Saint Paul University in Ottawa. Mr. Jarmyn who is
a native of Brandon, Man., holds a bachelor’s in history from the
Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont., and a law degree.
14743 Mr. Denis Godcharles (RMC ’85) is the Chief Executive Officer
of Interis Consulting Inc. He founded the company in July 1996 and has
steered its evolution to becoming a leading mid-size management
consulting firm. Prior to founding Interis, Mr. Godcharles filled
senior roles in multi-national, high technology service companies as
well as nine years in the military, in the area of communications and
computer systems. Mr. Godcharles obtained a Bachelor degree from the
Royal Military College of Canada and a Masters degree in Engineering
Management from the University of Ottawa. His main areas of expertise
include corporate governance, integrated risk management and compliance
as well as leading transforming initiatives. He is also an active
researcher in the area of integrated risk management, and has published
and presented several papers on the subject in New York, San Diego,
Oslo, Vancouver, New Orleans, Ottawa, Rome, Long Beach, and Toronto.
14801 Captain (ret`d) Louis-Paul Normand (CMR RMC ’85) is a Managing
Principal with Interis Consulting Inc. in Ottawa. He holds a Bachelor of
Engineering degree from the Royal Military College of Canada and a
Master of Applied Science (Electrical Engineering) degree from the
University of Ottawa. Mr. Normand brings extensive project management
and systems engineering expertise which he acquired on large systems
integration projects in Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia.
15455 Captain (Ret’d) David Springford (CMR RMC ’86) will be
flying an ASW-27 in the 15 Meter Class as a member of the Canadian
Soaring Team at the World Gliding Competition in 2008. He started
gliding at 12 years old when his father taught him how to fly and he
earned his glider pilot license at 16. Dave has been flying in
Soaring competitions since 1989 in both Canada and the US and holds 3
Canadian speed records as well as an FAI gold badge with two out of
three possible diamonds. He has accumulated 2300 hours in gliders and
flown thousands of cross-country km. Dave also holds a Commercial
Pilot license with a Multi-engine and Instrument rating and is a
volunteer glider instructor. He graduated from the Royal Military
College in Kingston with a Bachelor of Engineering degree. He also
earned a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering from RMC. During
his 20 year Army career he served as a Platoon Commander and was
deployed as a United Nations Peace-Keeper in the Golan Heights. He
also served as an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at
RMC for six years. Now retired from the Armed Forces, Dave continues
to teach Mechanical Engineering as a Professor at Conestoga College.
15737 Bryan JR Brulotte (CMR ‘87) is the CEO and
owner of MaxSys, which provides staffing, consulting and permanent
placement services. MaxSys is one of the Profit 100 Canada’s Fastest
Growing Companies, and one of Canada’s 50 best managed companies. He
launched MaxSys in 2001. In the past three years, MaxSys has opened
offices in Montreal, Vancouver and Ogdensburg, New York. MaxSys
recorded $30 million in sales in 2007, up 43 per cent compared to the
year before. Brulotte, a Royal Military College graduate, served in
the army from 1982 to 1993. When he left his peacekeeping duties
behind, he started his first consulting business at age 28 and earned
an executive MBA from the University of Ottawa.
MaxSys is currently offering exciting employment opportunities in the
following areas: Professional Consultants, Information Technology
Consultants, Engineering & Technology Consultants, Office
Administration Staffing, Industrial Staffing, Customer Service and
Careers at MaxSys.
16325 Captain (ret’d) Ben Minicucci (CMR RMC ’88) has been staff
vice president of customer service/operational support at Seattle-
based Alaska Airlines Inc. since November 2007. Ben Minicucci was
named as vice president of aircraft maintenance at Alaska Airilnes on
May 12, 2004. He came to AA after serving as the vice president of
aircraft maintenance for Air Canada, based in Vancouver, British
Columbia. Minicucci joined Air Canada’s Technical Service department
in 1997 after serving 14 years in the Canadian Armed Forces where he
managed all aspects of military aircraft maintenance and participated
in several key deployments, including the 1991 Persian Gulf War. He
is a graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada located in
Kingston, Ontario, and has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in
mechanical engineering.
18060 Pascal Bécotte (CMR RMC ’92) is Managing Director for the
Montreal Office of Spencer Stuart, an executive search consulting
firm. A member of the firm’s Industrial, Transportation & Logistics
and Financial Services practices, Mr. Bécotte has more than 10 years
of recruiting experience across a variety of sectors. An entrepreneur
at heart, he co-founded a local manufacturing company and
subsequently founded his own sales and marketing personnel recruiting
firm. For the last 10 years, he has served corporations of all sizes,
from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, to fulfill their leadership
recruiting needs. In addition to a degree in Engineering Physics from
the Royal Military College, Mr. Bécotte trained as an aerospace
engineer with the Canadian Air Force, and holds an MBA. He is fluent
in French and English, and sits on the boards of the University Club
of Montreal and the Montreal Chamber Orchestra. Tour Scotia
1002, rue Sherbrooke Ouest Suite 2500 Montreal, Quebec H3A 3L6 Canada
T: +1 514.288.3377
20850 Lieutenant (N) Peter Sproule (RMC ’97) graduated from the Royal Military College in 97 with a degree in Honours History, and has been in the navy ever since. He spent three years on the East Coast travelling the world, lived in Victoria, and is now living in Halifax. He has been having a great time seeing the world while he`s still single. Sproule LT(N) PH@CFNOS@Halifax
