Celebrating the Women of HMCS Winnipeg

Left to right back row: MCpl Erin Crawford, S1 Sarah Kopala, Pte Ashley Smith, S1 Natacha Gilbert, MS Amver Cinco, S1 Valerie LeClair, S3 Amanda Harding, S1 Kayleigh Ferris, S1 Marjorie Gauvin, MS Cherish Halbert, and Cpl Jennifer Rose. Left to right front row: S1 Amy Tucker, S1 Tammy Hudak, MS Sabrina Wyns, S2 Drew Phelps, S2 Hyang Mi Bae, S2 Frances Espinoza, MS Karoline Rajotte, and S3 Lorraine Cléroux.

Captain Chelsea Dubeau
HMCS Winnipeg
––

It’s Sunday, Oct. 4, day 63 of HMCS Winnipeg’s deployment. A really exciting thing is planned for the afternoon – a replenishment at sea (RAS).

But not just any RAS, which is usually driven by the ship’s Commanding Officer, Commander Mike Stefanson.

Today, Lieutenant Commander Amber Comisso, the ship’s Executive Officer, is driving the evolution.

Many years ago, a female Executive Officer would have been unthinkable. But in today’s navy, Winnipeg has an inventory of female leaders.

The key positions held by the women on board are the Navigating Officer, Operations Officer, Operations Room Officer, and Above Water Warfare Officer. Winnipeg also boasts six female Non-Commissioned Officers, who are formidable in their presence amongst the Chiefs and Petty Officers.

Plus, there are so many female non-commissioned junior rank members they had to be moved to a larger mess given the high numbers on board. Each of them fill critical, mission-essential roles on the warship. They are operators and naval communicators; supply, marine, medical, and imagery technicians; administrators, aircrew, cooks, and stewards.

So why mention them at all? October is Women’s History Month.

“It is important to celebrate women’s achievements so our grandmothers, who did not have the same opportunities, can see how far we’ve come,” says Lt(N) Kass O’Rourke, Above Water Warfare Officer. “It is a celebration of the opportunities we have seized and continue to fight for.”

But the story isn’t complete without understanding the road women have travelled.

If change is a numbers game, let’s break it down.

On Oct. 18, 1929, women in Canada were finally granted Personhood. That’s only 91 years ago. Just one lifetime. Women of today know they stand on the shoulders of the giantesses who came before. They know that without the struggles and sacrifices of those who broke the mould, behaved badly, and dared to do the impossible, they would not be where they are today. This is the crux of Women’s History Month, and why it is celebrated each year.

As Canadians we are fortunate to come from a nation that has implemented a feminist foreign policy. A nation that recognizes the necessity of initiatives such as the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security, which reaffirms – among many things – the role that women play in conflict resolution and global security. UNSCR1325 turns 20 years old on Oct. 31, 2020, and is yet another reason to celebrate this month.

How fitting then, that HMCS Winnipeg is deployed on Operation Neon, Canada’s contribution to a coordinated multinational effort to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council sanctions imposed against North Korea. These UN sanctions, imposed between 2006 and 2017, aim to pressure North Korea to abandon its weapons of mass destruction program and respond to North Korean nuclear weapon tests and ballistic missile launches.

Op Neon’s diplomatic and economic pressure represents the desire to find a peaceful, negotiated solution to the security threats posed by that country.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

It’s exactly the sort of mission that helps prove the concept of UNSCR1325, just as a ship crewed by a record number of women proves the concept of what a free, inclusive, and open society can accomplish: anything it sets its mind to.

In Winnipeg, the 31 female crewmembers may not be aware they are making history. Each day that passes represents yet another page in the story of Canada’s serving and fighting women, who are actively working and fighting to create a more stable, more secure world through missions such as Operation Neon.

But one day, the number of women in a warship will be considered normal, not novel.

“We will be a more operationally effective navy when we more accurately reflect the Canadian workforce, which is almost 50 percent female,” says LCdr Comisso. “While some progress has been made towards diversity in the Canadian Armed Forces, there is still much work to be done to achieve a critical mass of women that can make an impact.”

The afternoon’s RAS is a success and, as Winnipeg breaks away, the song chosen for the occasion starts to play: High Hopes by Panic! At the Disco, chosen by LCdr Comisso, the Canadian Navy Lady (@Cdnnavylady) as she is known on Twitter.

“For women especially, seeing is believing,” says LCdr Comisso. “So featuring women’s achievements this month empowers future generations to know that this career choice is a worthwhile option.”

––––