Military service a family affair
Penny Rogers
Staff writer
April 7, 2008
photo courtesy DND
LCdr Michael McCormick swears in his identical twin sons, Drew and Devin, on parade at HMCS Malahat, Victoria’s Naval Reserve Division on March 27.
It was an evening the McCormick family will not soon forget.
On March 27, identical 18-year-old twins, Devin and Drew, stood in matching dark suits, each with one hand resting on a bible and the other raised in the air. They faced their father, LCdr Mike McCormick, who performed a brief swearing in ceremony. Once complete, Devin and Drew were officially the fourth generation of McCormick’s to enter the Canadian Forces.
The ceremony would normally be performed by HMCS Malahat’s Commanding Officer, Cdr Paul MacNeill, but special permission was granted to LCdr McCormick.
“It was a tremendous feeling for me to be able to swear in my sons. Thirty-one years ago, on March 23, 1977, my father swore me into the regular force. So it carries on a little bit of a tradition,” says LCdr McCormick, Deputy Commandant of Fleet School.
His father, Tom, was an air force aeronautical engineer, starting out as a private and working his way up through the ranks to the level of Captain before his retirement.
But the tradition goes back even further. The boys’ great-grandfather, also Mike McCormick, was an army small arms expert in the Italian campaign during the Second World War.
“That’s about all I can tell you,” explains LCdr McCormick. “I don’t know much more than that. I do know they called him ‘Black Mike’ and that he trained with the British Commandos and by the end I think he was training them.”
After years of sea cadet training, both boys should be well suited to life as naval reservists, says their father.
“They both have fair leadership experience and practices, so I’m hoping that translates easily to the reserves. Both know their own minds. They have a lot of practice at leadership roles and have done well, and both try to think ahead and look at the big picture, which is important.”
Devin can’t imagine his life without the military being involved to some degree. “I like that discipline, dress and deportment actually matters. Plus the rank structure, I’m so used to it now after so many years of cadets. I don’t know what I’d do without it.”
Both boys will start Basic Officer Training at Work Point at the end of April and parade at Malahat throughout the year.
Aside from the training they will receive at Malahat, both are attending the University of Victoria. Drew is studying psychology and Devin is currently taking computer science courses.
But Devin is looking to transfer into architecture. “My goal is to do my entire undergraduate degree here, then switch to another university that offers architecture,” he said.
That is the main reason he chose the reserves rather than the regular force. “If architecture doesn’t work out then I can switch over; otherwise, I’ll just continue as a reservist.”
And just what attracted him to the naval reserves? Devin thinks it was pretty much his father’s and his grandfather’s attitudes. “They both had military training and they just had a certain way of looking at things that was always pretty positive.”
He was also intrigued by the stories told to him by his father. One of these stories was born early in LCdr McCormick’s career. His first posting was aboard HMCS Saskatchewan as a MARS II officer, and the first time he set sail with his new ship they were headed to South America. With a degree in marine biology it was the perfect first voyage.
“We stopped at the Galapagos Islands, Peru, Ecuador, Panama and San Diego and it was incredible. I saw marine iguanas and even got to sit on a tortoise.”
There is one more thing that excites the senior sailor today. Aside from his belief the naval reserve will be an excellent training opportunity for Devin and Drew, it will also be summer employment. “As a parent it’s great because they’ll be getting paid.”
Aside from regular pay while on training exercises, reservists can apply to receive $2,000 per year while attending university.
“Yeah, he won’t be my banker anymore,” said Devin.
All the McCormick family members have chosen a different branch to serve in. The boys’ great-grandfather was army, and their grandfather air force. Their father is navy, and they have chosen the naval reserves. And according to LCdr McCormick, they each believe their branch is the best.
“The military is a unique organization and a place where you can build great friendships and excellent life skills. And it’s sure been good to me for 31 years.”
