Elsie
News has been interesting this and last week.
In addition to the normal schedules and vaccine updates, I wrote my junior officers and non-commissioned officers another weekly letter. Sharing with you in case you are interested.
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I had a lot of thoughts go through my head at my morning unit coordination meeting. I felt scatterbrained. One of the junior officers had asked about some initiative that was mentioned often in strategic planning groups… the type of speak that often gets communicated in short form and acronyms, much like Anglophones with their habit of anglicizing or down-sizing French first names. Elsie MacGill was an Engineer… the world’s first female aeronautical engineer. Because of her proficiency and leadership, hundreds of Canadian-manufactured HURRICANE aircraft entered the Battle Space of World War II, earning her the nickname “Queen of the Hurricanes.” I loved “Canadian Heritage Moments” — I watched my first one at age seven, and from that moment on was convinced that I wanted to be a Canadian Soldier and I wanted to be a UN Peacekeeper… just like the soldier breaking up the fight between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot. This is the link to the Canadian Heritage Moment on Elsie MacGill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stnMHGw8qkQ
The Elsie Initiative for Peace Operations was born out of a UN Conference that was hosted in Canada in 2017. It was meant to address gender inequality in UN peace operations, with Canada, a founding UN member, setting the example.
In that same summary of points, the junior officer spoke about the current media bomb regarding Lieutenant-Colonel Eleanor Taylor’s letter to relinquish her Deputy Commander position at 36 Brigade in protest of the slow progress to address what should have been addressed with OP HONOUR. That opened a box of memories and thoughts.
When I was at Military College, I was a Recruit Camp Section Commander. That, as well as the position of Recruit Camp Flight Commander (Platoon Leader) was a nod… it is the honour bestowed to the highest-ranked third year and fourth year military college officer cadets to have the privilege of shaping the country’s newest military college recruits. It is a tough five or six month stretch inspiring people who were civilians maybe a few days before, to start thinking as a team… throughout the day, the night, the weekends, the mud and the ramparts… and then finding some rest in between to catch up on academic deadlines.
One of my recruits was a golden child. Short like myself. Determined. Athletically skilled, she made a collegiate rep team every year that she was at the university. She had a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. She maintained exemplary grades as an engineering student. She passed all her combat arms phases as an artillery officer. At the time, she was known as Officer Cadet Wall. When Officer Cadet Wall was chosen to be a Recruit Camp Section Commander, she, like myself, also had the fortune of leading another short female who also made rep team Collegiate Women’s Soccer every year, probably had the highest grade in every class she took, also an artillery officer. At the time, that recruit was Officer Cadet Knight who would go on and be selected into the trade, get sent to the UK as the first Canadian to take the British equivalent course, and 2Lt Knight, to the surprise of UK and Canada, topped both UK courses. She was the first person in her graduating class to be promoted to Major… (Acting-While-So-Employed)… but she was still the first. She borrowed my Mess Kit (Army Tuxedo) a couple of times. She visited me after I gave birth to my youngest child and a few weeks after, she returned from Afghanistan in a casket. Her funeral had people fill up all the pews, all the rafters and many more were standing against the walls. Captain-then-Major Knight would have gone through Military College at about the same time as LCol Eleanor Taylor.
There was such a back log in Army Operations Course (only two places for our trade for every serial of 80 candidates), that I ended up doing the course with at the time Capt Eli Taylor who was the Executive Assistant to fellow Newfie and the Chief of Defence Staff, General Rick Hillier (who commanded the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan when I was serving with Kabul Multinational Headquarters).
Because of the age difference, (the quasi dinosaurs on one side and the youngens congregating somewhere further), I would sometimes hear the conversations of Capt Taylor and the women who graduated around her year, during the lunches we had on the Fort Frontenac patio that overlooks the bascule bridge/causeway and the Royal Military College across the water. They were all combat arms officers, or former combat arms officers, all female, some of whom had eventually transferred to something like Logistics to accommodate whatever hip injury that accumulated from how many ruck marches wearing boots and rucks made for larger male bodies. It was not quite jealousy… I was happy for them. Any parent who loves their children wants their children to surpass them; sort of like having a FastPass at Disney World by jumping over the mistakes their parents learned from and dealing with ones further and higher… a level that the parents did not reach. So I was happy overhearing them talk about their combat arms phases; happy that there was some progress; happy that since the investigation back in 1992 or 1993, women were no longer systematically failed at combat arms schools.
Capt Taylor was also a golden child. Only five percent of the Army Officer Course is allowed to have a grade above B+… everyone else gets C’s or C+s or B-. Capt Taylor was one of those 5 percenters with the A, and she was awarded one of the leading positions during the course Final Exercise. Like the three women I had mentioned, they were all meant to go far. She led her troops into battle and received the Meritorious Service Medal from Governor General Johnson.
I was inspired and disheartened some years later to come across the blog of my golden child recruit. I was disheartened that despite all her potential and accomplishments, no one pulled her up to the rank she deserved. Constantly passed over for artillery battery command, she eventually retired as a Major only to be scooped up as a Reservist Lieutenant Colonel. I was so proud of her when reading her blog (“An Army Girl’s Perspective”) article entitled “Privilege of Command.” If you scroll down far enough, you will find it here under 30 October 2019: https://anarmygirlsperspective.com/
It is that same disappointment that I find out about LCol Eleanor Taylor… those Reservist positions are awarded to former Majors… which means that none of the golden child women I mentioned made it past Major in the Regular Force… probably because we think differently from the usual people that do hold power and influence to promote; probably because many are comfortable raising those who remind them of themselves and try to avoid people with differing opinions and viewpoints.
Not sure if any of you have ever watched the British Film “Bride and Prejudice.” It was filmed with a Bollywood theme based on “Pride & Prejudice.” Somewhere near the end, the father of the main character talks about the racism he endured while on a cricket team because of his skin colour and turban. In protest, he quit… and lived to regret it… because life goes on and cricket does not stop because someone quits. Similarly, as much as a MOAB (Mother of all Bombs) LCol Taylor’s resignation appears to be, and for all the talks and inspirational speeches, much like Major-General Jenn Carignan has delivered that inspired teenage girls and women to join the CAF, what does quitting really do besides leave everyone else under you feeling abandoned? We will never know all the reasons since adversarial countries still have not been able to crack the rare power of mind-reading, but people often make choices because timing may have seemed right. I hope that LCol Taylor’s decision was the right decision FOR HER. From what I remember of her, I admire and respect her very much… from the comments on social media, she is rightfully iconic.
This morning’s talk also reminded me of a morning meeting earlier in the week, where the Director raised the issue of sensitivity and kindness… to fight the temptation of over-generalizing… how both he and the junior officer stepped up to the plate to admit the usage of the half-truth or three-quarter truth… or maybe even seven-eighths truth of the root and term “old white dudes,” when discussing the perpetuation of barriers that prolong racism and sexism. In some ways, I am guilty of this too in that as a high school instructor, I try to find ways to simplify concepts so my students grasp the messaging faster. It made me think of a white, Caucasian lawyer from Missouri, who went against what would be considered normal based on his Christian/pastor-father upbringing, to plead with the state government to vote against a bill that targets transgender people like his daughter. His moving speech can be found here:
https://www.today.com/parents/missouri-dad-gives-moving-speech-about-transgender-daughter-t211945
The purpose of this writing was not to divide ourselves by gender or race, nor was it meant to blame and shame. I am far from having the power to promote females with potential to the rank they deserve, considering that I am still a Major and my classmates are Major Generals. I am not perfect. I do get annoyed when asked something to the effect of, “You graduated when? You went to school with who? So why are you still a Major?” implying that I must be some dmphk, while fighting the urge to respond with the wrong answer that does skirt my brain like “Maybe because I didn’t have a balding alpha male like yourself who was also elevated by another balding alpha male.” But I am getting better at not feeling these wrong sentiments because progress requires representation and inclusivity just like transgender children in Missouri needed the vulnerability and leadership of that father to face that part of a culture that still does not “get it.” The purpose of this is to plant a thought in each of you as future leaders to fairly assess, represent and develop your future subordinates in a way you would want to be treated.
E Tenebris Lux
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