FMF Cape Scott’s Honorary Captain visits West Coast

HCapt(N) Jeanette Southwood at Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Breton with Cmdre Carosielli.

Ashley Evans
FMFCB/CS
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Jeanette Southwood was inducted as Honorary Captain (Navy) for Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Scott in April. She is the first Honorary Captain affiliated with the naval engineering community.

In her civilian life she is the Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Strategic Partnerships for Engineers Canada, the national organization that represents the 12 provincial and territorial engineering regulators that license the more than 300,000 members of the engineering profession in Canada.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has streamlined many of her duties, she has been busy immersing herself in the complex world of naval engineering.

Her Honorary Captain activities began at the beginning of the year with orientation sessions led by LCdr Melissa Desjardins, MARPAC Senior Staff Officer Strategic Outreach (Western Canada). From there she participated in meetings with the Naval Engineering Council led by Cmdre Lou Carosielli and Naval Technical Officers, and presented her experiences as a woman engineer to the Women Naval Technical Officers in a session led by Capt(N) Seana Routledge.

During her visit to CFB Esquimalt in November, HCapt(N) Southwood toured HMC Ships Nanaimo and Vancouver to learn about the work of the engineering teams on each ship. She visited Victoria Shipyards to look at a Halifax-class frigate in the process of modernization and a submarine in the drydock.

During her visit to FMF Cape Breton production floor and the Engineering department, she was given a warm welcome by Capt(N) Sebastien Richard and his colleagues. Her tour continued at in Work Point to visit the construction of iNExTT modular centre and the Damage Control Training Facility in Colwood. She also met the Naval Engineering Council and participated in the Naval Technical Officers seminar. 

“I have learned a great deal about the RCN and met many wonderful people,” she says of her experience thus far. “I have also had opportunities to share my experiences as an engineer with others facing similar technical and professional challenges that I’ve tackled during my career.”

Naval Honorary Captains are leaders in their respective fields, appointed by the Minister of National Defence to take on the role of Royal Canadian Navy ambassadors to Canadians nationwide.

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