8198

 

8198   Rick Wright

 

Residing in Calgary, Alberta

 I spent 36+ years of Service to Her Majesty before (in high school) and after Royal Roads and RMC.  I was a member of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals (RCCS) until Unification and Integration hit, when I became a member of the Communications and Electronics Branch.  In the late 1990s, the Army remembered the RCCS, and we became members once again.

After grad, I was posted to Calgary to 1 PPCLI on contact training to learn the communications needed for Infantry Battalions from a Platoon Commander’s point of view.  This is where I was lucky enough to meet Linda, and, as they say, the rest is history!

I served in the School of Communications and Electronics Engineering (CFSCEE) in the Officer Training Squadron and School Headquarters (1972-1975) which included a 6-month UN posting to Egypt (CCUNEFME) in March 1974. In 1975, I then spent a year in 1st Canadian Signal Regiment, supporting the Olympic Games in Montreal during the summer of 1976.

 

I released from the CF in Sep 1976 to return to academia to study for an MBA at Queen’s University.  I graduated in 1978 and rejoined the CF and was posted to 3 R22^eR in Valcartier as their Officier des Transmissions.  I accompanied the unit to Cyprus (UNFICYP) in March 1979. I was subsequently posted to 1 (BR) Armd Div HQ and Signal Regiment in BAOR, Germany in October 1979 until July 1981. I returned to Canada to attend the CFLSC in Kingston, completing the course in December 1981.

 

                             

In January 1982, I was posted to the Royal Military College of Science, Shrivenham, England, for a year-long military technology course to prepare me to go to an equipment staff position in NDHQ.  I ended up in the Directorate of Land Requirements (DLR) in January 1983, responsible for combat net radio and generators, and anything else that my bosses thought fit.  Michael was born on February 28, 1984, and joined our family!

In July 1987, I was posted to CFB Shilo to become the CO, 731 Communications Squadron, which was one of the two best jobs I held.  I left Shilo in July 1989 to return to academia at the CFCSC in Toronto.  I was then posted in July 1990 to the second of the best jobs I held: CO, 1 CBG HQ and Signal Squadron in Calgary.

 

       

In July 1992, I was posted to the Tactical Command, Control, and Communications System major crown project ($1.9B) to replace all the Army’s tactical communications equipment as the Project Director. In 1994, I was posted to Calgary to work in the main contractor’s factory facility as a Deputy Project Manager. We worked with the prime contractor in the overall development, proofing, and delivery of the TCCCS equipment to the Army.  In 1999, the Calgary office was shut down as the new TCCCS equipment was being delivered to the Army.  I spent my final year of service to Her Majesty in 41 CBG, Calgary as a Project Officer.  I retired from the CF on June 20, 2001, my 55th birthday, as my brain had turned to mush!

I tried the retirement option but failed miserably and was also threatened with an application for a Library Card!  In September 2002, I was hired by the Southern Alberta Canadian Corps of Commissionaires to do some writing for them.  By December, the writing was finished, and I was installed as the Deputy Director of Operations (D/DOps) responsible for all contracts and associated Commissionaire personnel in Calgary.  In December 2003, the incumbent DOps retired and moved back to New Brunswick, so I became the DOps, responsible for all Southern Alberta contracts.  When I took over in January 2004, our gross income was $23 million and by end of 2010, our gross income was $52 million.  I retired in March 2011.

Since June 2001, I have been involved with the Canadian Association of Veterans in United Nations Peacekeeping (CAVUNP).  I joined the local Calgary Chapter and soon became involved with the development of the Garrison Green are south of CFB Calgary.  It was the redevelopment of the old Air Force PMQ Area, Lincoln Park, which would include three Parks. Canada Lands Corporation, the main developer, decided that it would be developed to include Peacekeepers Park, A.D. Ross Park and Buffalo Park.  The roads in Garrison Green are named after Peacekeepers, alive and passed, including the main road through Garrison Green, Dallaire Avenue, named after our classmate.  Due to my previous work in DLR and the TCCCS project, I became a Project Officer to work with CLC and the Calgary Chapter CAVUNP.  Peacekeepers Park was commissioned in 2004 and Buffalo Park in 2005.  In June 2008, the Parliament of Canada passed Bill C-287, an Act respecting a National Peacekeepers Day: Throughout Canada, in each and every year, the ninth day of August shall be known as “National Peacekeepers Day”.  This is the day that Syrian Forces shot down Buffalo aircraft 113461, painted in white UN colours, on approach to Damascus, Syria, on August 9, 1974.  Nine Canadian UN Peacekeepers were killed in the crash, the single largest loss of lives of Canadian Peacekeepers in one single incident. I watched the Buffalo aircraft take off from Ismailia on its ill-fated flight to Damascus.

I became the Master of Ceremonies for each Peacekeepers Day Commemoration at the two Parks, and for the Remembrance Day ceremonies we hold at Peacekeeper Park.  The Chapter quickly found out that I have never met a microphone I didn’t like!  I have served on the CAVUNP National Executive as the Alberta Provincial Director, The National Vice-President, the National President, and am now the Calgary Chapter President.