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D.B. (Don) Bell
College of Entry: Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean
Review 1969
It
is, and that miracle has a name: Sheryl.
We met in Kingston in the summer of ’69, quite by chance. I was sharing an apartment with Bill Lye
while we waited for our Athlone Fellowships to start in the UK. Leagh Farrell had departed Kingston for pilot
training and asked his fiancée Sandy Bradshaw to deliver something to Bill. When Sandy walked over one day on that
mission, she brought her Hotel Dieu classmate Sheryl Libera with her. From that day on, I knew who I wanted to
spend my life with, but patience, gentle reader, it took a while.
1969-1971: UK on Athlone
Fellowship: My fellowship consisted of a year of practical
experience and a year of university, in that order. I started at the National Gas Turbine
Establishment in Pyestock, near Farnborough, doing theoretical research on gas
turbine engines. The work was
interesting, but far from the hands-on work that I craved. About four months later I got that chance,
moving to British European Airways (BEA) at Heathrow Airport to learn
first-hand about engine overhaul and maintenance. I also
earned my pilot’s licence at High Wycombe, one of the renowned WWII fighter
airfields just outside London. My
instructor was a 4’8” woman who ferried unarmed Lancaster bombers from Montreal
to the UK throughout the war, often encountering and evading German long-range
fighters during her flights.
I
spent my university year at Gresham College, the postgraduate business school
of City University in London, studying Industrial Engineering and Operational
Research Techniques, and graduated with an M.Sc. in Administrative Sciences.
1971-1973 in Canada: In October 1971, I
returned to Canada and was posted first to HMCS Protecteur and then HMCS Yukon
as an Engineer Officer in Training (aka “Baby Engineer”). I learned to perform every engineering job in
the ship, starting with the most junior OD Stoker tasks and working my way up to
taking charge of the engineering watch at sea.
The training was rigorous, often accompanied by the clang of a wheel
spanner flung in my direction to punctuate any screw-up. I was delighted to finally obtain my engineering
watchkeeping ticket in June 1973.
1973-1974 in the UK: All good things come to those who wait, and
the very best thing came for me. Sheryl
said YES. We were married in August
1973, just in time to be posted to the Marine Engineering Application Course at
the Royal Naval Engineering College in Manadon, Plymouth, England. This was kind of “finishing school” for naval
engineer officers from all over the Commonwealth. What a way to start our married life… eight
months of lavish mess parties, weekends traveling in Devon and Cornwall,
Christmas in Paris, and all BK (Before Kids)!
After that, though, back to work.
1974-1978 in Halifax and
Montréal: Sheryl had one more year of her BScN to
finish at U of O, so she returned there while I lived onboard HMCS Saguenay based
in Halifax to earn my department head qualifications. The steam destroyers were all getting old and
tired, but replacements were still a long way in the future (always the same in
the RCN). A life-extension refit program
was undertaken at Canadian Vickers Ltd. In Montreal, and Saguenay was the first
ship to go in. I was posted to the Navy
refit team in Montreal for the first three ships and brought out the third,
HMCS Margaree, as Engineer Officer. By then
Sheryl had graduated, and by sheer good luck, we snagged a palatial senior
officer PMQ in Halifax to call home. I then
spent a very active two years at sea, including a six-month NATO deployment and
a “friendship” port visit to Leningrad.
Meanwhile Sheryl played an important role in opening the new Dartmouth
General Hospital.
1978-1981 in Halifax: When I came ashore in summer-1978, I was
looking for something completely different.
I certainly found it. Ship Repair
Unit Atlantic had a position called Production Operation Officer, or POO for
short. The name was quite appropriate – it
was what I found myself in very often. I
was the arbiter of work order priorities and controller of overtime for the
entire dockyard. Every ship captain in
the fleet harangued me to fix their ship first and beat a trail to the admiral
if they didn’t like my decisions. If
that wasn’t enough to keep me busy, I decided that my M Sc in “Admin Sciences”
sounded a bit nondescript. Wouldn’t it
be better to have an MBA? No problem
said the Biz School dean at Saint Mary’s in Halifax. Just 8.5 courses or 17 half-courses by
part-time study and it’s yours. Always
up for a challenge, I signed on. What an
adventure, learning about management at night, and putting those lessons into
practice in the dockyard the very next day.
If that wasn’t enough, our first son Andrew came along about halfway
through … more lessons on priority setting!
1981-1982 in Toronto: Graduation from Saint
Mary’s came in late summer 1981, just as our moving truck arrived. We were off to Toronto for Staff College,
which suggested that good things lay ahead.
I was on a high, but Sheryl and all the other wives were down low,
shoehorned into tiny, expensive condo’s, missing their comfy homes and friends
in small towns far away. By mid-year it
was the reverse – wives teaming up for sherry parties and Toronto adventures
while us students slogged it out. A
second flip occurred when the guys all got their posting messages, many like me
with promotions, but the wives were faced with another dreaded move. Sheryl had an additional challenge, as we
were expecting our second son Colin, and I was going to be away at sea.
1982-1986 in Halifax: I joined the First Canadian Destroyer Squadron
as Squadron Technical Officer in July 1982 and learned of Colin’s arrival while
under strict radio silence in mid-Atlantic. A dockyard buddy tricked the military
censor with a broadcast message announcing, “Buoy Colin Patrick launched at DTG
###, no contract deficiencies.”
Squadron Technical Officer Don transferring ship by jackstay
Supervising
all the technical challenges for two years at sea in a six-ship squadron, I
began to realize that Canada’s naval capability was in decline. Our ships and submarines were old and increasingly
difficult to maintain, and morale in the technical trades was wearing
thin. That feeling persisted during my
next posting as well … two years as Commander Marine Systems Engineering on the
East Coast. The Navy was doing
everything I had learned not to do in my business studies. For Canada, Defence just wasn’t a priority.
1986-1989 in Ottawa: By 1986, I was finally due for a posting to
NDHQ. It came in July, to the
directorate responsible for fleet repair and maintenance. I wasn’t ready for all the politics of NDHQ,
and the oppressive bureaucratic processes.
I did the best I could for two years, but finally realized that this
life wasn’t for me. Sheryl and I wanted
to stop moving around. She was keen to
get back to full-time work and our boys were both getting very involved in
school and neighbourhood activities.
1989: Retirement from the
Navy
1989-1992 in Ottawa: A chance came in early
1989 to join Canadian Commercial Corporation, a federal Crown corporation in
Ottawa. My role - facilitating sales of Canadian
military products and services to the United States Navy, Marine Corps and
Coast Guard - gave me new insight into the business of defence procurement and
sales, particularly during the First Gulf War.
I helped sell everything from aircraft avionics to swimming pool cover
material (used for making sandbags – the only material in the western world
that worked with fine Saudi sand). A
fascinating couple of years, but limited room for advancement.
1992-2012 in Ottawa: In 1992, a chance came to
join Consulting and Audit Canada (CAC) as a project management consultant. I was assigned to Public Works Canada (later
PWGSC) to lead several large but sensitive projects on Parliament Hill – new
accommodations for senators in the East Block, new committee rooms in the
Centre Block and a large underground material handling facility between the
Centre and West Blocks. One particularly
challenging project was restoration of the Centre Block South Façade, a stone wall
originally held in place by long rusted away iron tie rods. For you civil engineers in the crowd, the
façade was in effect an eight-inch-thick unsupported masonry column six stories
tall, the full width of the Centre Block, with crumbling stone and mortar,
located in the active Nepean earthquake zone.
We had to build a scaffolding across the entire wall strong enough to keep
it from collapsing, then remove all the loose stones, repair them and epoxy-glue
everything back into place. It was a huge undertaking, requiring our
contractor to recruit and train trade skills that had long since disappeared in
Canada.
After
six years on Parliament Hill, I branched out to other CAC management consulting
projects - DND, Treasury Board, Fisheries and Oceans and other government
clients - but by 2000, was back in Real Property Branch. Residential Schools had become a priority,
and I helped set up the Office of Indian Residential Schools Resolution. After passing that gruelling test, I was appointed
to lead the design of the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Building, a purpose-built court
building adjacent to the Supreme Court of Canada designed to accommodate the
Federal Court of Canada, the Court of Appeals, The Court Martial Appeals Court
and the Tax Court of Canada. Although
three years of planning and design were completed, almost to the Effective
Project Approval stage, in the end, the project did not go ahead.
My
next and last adventure in Real Property Branch was to direct the 160-employee
team that operated and maintained sensitive buildings in the National Capital
Area, ones that because of their unique occupant programs could not be put
under the control of contractors or landlords: the Supreme Court, 101 Colonel
By, CSEC, etc. My career had now come
full circle. I was back in the world of 24x7
readiness, complex Threat and Risk Assessments and enhanced security. Along with engineers, architects,
environmental specialists and financial administrators, I had a whole team of
FF651 Military Firefighters reporting to me, with the same skills and
qualifications needed to launch helicopters at sea. Running those buildings and meeting the needs
of that wide range of clients was the capstone of my career.
By
late 2012, I was ready to retire. Sheryl’s team of nurses in ESDC was being
downsized. We both had a taste of
travelling on short holidays and wanted to do more.
Retirement from all gainful
employment
We retired together in early 2013 and left almost immediately on a two-month trip to New Zealand and Australia. Except during COVID, we have kept on ever since. Land tours, cruises, vacation rentals, we love it all.
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Don with Sheryl and sons Andrew (L) and Colin (R) at his PWGSC retirement lunch.
Non-gainful Employment in
Ottawa: One thing we learned from our Australia trip
was the importance of volunteering. It
seemed everywhere we went in OZ, we were being welcomed, guided and served by
volunteers, people dedicated to making their community a better place. It just seemed natural for us to follow that
example. I had been an adult leader in
Scouting for over twenty years, working up through the roles of Cub Akela,
Troop Scouter and Venturer Advisor as our sons progressed. Immediately after
retirement, I accepted the appointment as Area Commissioner for Carleton Area
and served in that capacity for three years, coordinating the activities of all
the Scouting groups on the western edge of Ottawa. Sheryl and I had always been involved in our
local community theatre group, Kanata Theatre.
With more time after retirement, we both took on expanded volunteer
roles, Sheryl as Assistant Stage Manager for several plays each year, and I as a
maintainer and operator of our 350-seat theatre building. In 2019, after I had hung up my Scout leader
uniform, Gerry Stowe convinced me to step forward as Adjutant of the Old
Brigade. It was an honour and a
privilege to serve the Old Brigade in that capacity, and to meet so many
dedicated gentlemen while planning four reunion weekends – two that were pushed
online due to COVID, one that was much reorganized by the sad passing of HM
Queen Elizabeth, and finally, one in 2023 that went mostly as planned.
And
so here we are, waiting with great anticipation to see what comes next. In summary, my career started with caring for
old ships, then caring for old buildings and more recently, caring for an Old
Brigade. No, I did not care for old men
– it is the Brigade that is old.
You, my friends, are as young at heart as on the last day we marched together
off the square. If the Class of ’58
reunion in 2023 was any indication, the best for us is yet to come. Be proud of what we have all accomplished,
and don’t even think of stopping.
TDV***VDV
Don
Bell
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Cruises are much better when someone else runs the machinery
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