7761 MM Johnson











May ’69 … posted to 1 QOR of C (Pl Comd) in Victoria, BC … road trip in ’65 Austin Healey 3000… married Julie Forrest on 12 July ’69 … eight (8) classmates attending … first apartment $125/month … winter exercise on Alaskan Highway... 8102 Bill Card flying F5 did Maverick Top Gun flyby on Ft St. John Tower… punishment followed (more later) … spring ‘70 Sigs course in Kingston …missed birth of daughter Tracey, 20 April 70 (not a popular move) … farewell Austin Healey sports car… hello Mazda family sedan.



June ’70… posted to 1 Sigs Sqn Calgary (Tp Comd) …another apartment… Wainright field exercises … April ’71 … road trip to Kingston with one-year old Tracey…sub-let Queen’s student apartment … Instructor on summer training courses May - July … took up golf …road trip Kingston back to Calgary via Victoria …Calgary first PMQ … Bill Card reappeared … now flying the Bde Comd’s Cessna (punishment note above) … arctic survival training Ex New Viking (two frightening polar bear encounters)… Staff School Toronto (the “grand” course)… re-connected with 8117 Doug Ferris in Calgary… experimented with homemade wine & sherry (popular at Rummoli parties with Cards & Ferris’)… submitted retirement from military service… talked (bribed) out of leaving by offer of posting to Germany… son Trevor born 31 July 73 (almost missed his birth as well).

August ’73… posted to 1st Division Signals Regiment, British Army, Verden, West Germany as Exchange Officer… PMQ with coal fired heat & hot water for $125/month … used Volvo from 7019 Sandy Lipin (RMC ’66)… two years of excellent professional experience at Corps & Division level operations… basketball & rugby travels in Europe  (rugby vs Hamburg police a memorable event)… once again encountered Cards & Ferris’… Bill flying CF104s out of Baden and Doug in the Hague on project with Saudi ARAMCO… missed Class of ’69 five year reunion… Gothenburg Sweden trip to pick up 1975 Volvo … frequent trips to U.S. PX in Bremerhaven, a lifesaver as British NAAFI (PX) very meager… touring an adventure with two toddlers…April in Paris, camping in the Bois de Boulogne (Trevor miserable with chicken pox), much better on the beach in Saint-Tropez… promoted to Major July 1975 and posted to Kingston.

1975-78… Army Staff Course at Ft Frontenac… OC Officer Training at CFSCE (formerly RC Signals School) … PMQ at Ft Henry … CO Base Defense Force (annual tour of local penitentiaries) … 1976 bought first home … summer ’78 posted to Staff College, Toronto… sold house, rental in Thornhill… fractured both elbows playing basketball (not fun)… saddened to hear that Bill Card had died in a CF104 crash in Cold Lake… spring ’79 posted to Staff School as instructor… bought rental townhouse… made it to Class of ’69 ten year reunion… spring ’80 posted to Germany… sold house and Volvo.

1980-82… CO HQ & Sigs Sqn, CFB Lahr… another PMQ … another trip to Gothenburg for a 1980 Volvo… frequent training exercises with US, German & French armies… solving communications interoperability difficulties both challenging and rewarding… both Tracey & Trevor became skiers through school program so dad took up skiing… fantastic family ski holidays in Switzerland… best TD week ever was CSIA Ski Instructor’s Course in Schruns, Austria … family weekend Volksmarches and wine/dining in the Black Forest… a two-year posting much too short.

1982-86…  welcomed home by 18.75% mortgage rate…bought semi-detached in Orleans… fall ’82 spent on refresher French language training… spring ’83 promoted LCol and posted to NDHQ Army Staff as DLR 3 (Signals & EW Requirements)… multiple trips to Brussels for NATO Committee meetings… Chaired ABCA (Five Eyes) comms interoperability meetings in Canada, USA, UK, New Zealand and Australia… Defense Advisor on External Affairs Trade Mission to Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore & Hong Kong (incredible education on business realities in that part of the world)… minor hockey coach, referee and hockey association equipment manager in spare time.

1986-88… moved to DCDS staff as Army/Communications analyst for Capital Program projects … 1987 Defence White Paper debacle led to a scramble to spend existing funds… led team in creative approach to spending $200M+ to buy Arcturus aircraft and LAVs for the Militia… spring 1988 promoted to Colonel… confirmed as Director by DCDS, VAdm Hugh MacNeil (LCdr at RMC when we were cadets).

1988-91… moved to DCEM in Adm Material organization… DCEM managed all inter-base and on-base communications systems & networks… ongoing Brussels travel for NATO meetings… multi-discipline military & civilian teams dealt with high arctic and long-range aircraft & ship-shore installations as well as crypto security systems… everything comms that was not installed on a ship, in a plane or an army vehicle… 1990 bought bigger home in Orleans (just as kids ready to move out).

1991-94… moved to D Sigs EM/PM TCCCS (hair still black)… D Sigs EM addressed in-service support and projects for all army signals equipment… PMO TCCCS was initially a $1.14 billion Project to replace all of the Army’s current equipment… multiple project challenges regarding cost, schedule and performance (deliverables)… impossible to optimize all three… currency exchange challenges… major sub-contracts in U.S. dollars and UK pounds… negotiated budget increase to $1.75 billion and extended schedule (hair now grey)… 1992 daughter Tracey graduated Carleton U with BA  (Criminology) and joined RCMP… presented her badge at Regina Depot… July 1994, 25th wedding anniversary, renewed marriage vows… tour as Director/TCCCS Project Manager ended, didn’t like posting options, announced retirement effective September 1994.



Military career summary: Thirty years and 15 days … 16 postings/assignments …10 career courses… 5 promotions… 11 moves/houses …   8 vehicles ... a great adventure with a wonderfully supportive family… on to career #2…









Incorporated Michael M Johnson & Associates, Inc (MMJ&A) 12 April 1994 … Julie gave up nursing career for new role as VP MMJ&A … initial focus on Business Development/Representative Services… added Mediation/Dispute Resolution Services after U Windsor Law School courses.

1994-2020… twenty-six (26) years of business consulting services to over a dozen government & private sector clients in Canada, the USA and the UK… support included business development travel to the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium and France … project execution and customer relations management in Canada for Motorola, General Dynamics, Cubic Corporation and HVR CSL(UK) … clients closed over $300M in Canadian business ... significant business and personal travel to Scottsdale, AZ  led to increasingly long winter stays for MMJ&A management. Shuttered MMJ&A on 31 December 2020 just after my 75th birthday.

Mediation/Dispute Resolution notable events … resolution of a major project impasse on the $350M Income Security Project (software update of CPP, OAS and EI) involving HRDC and EDS Canada as customer/contractor (Hession, Wallace & Hurd involved) … resolution of a significant technical solution dispute on the $45M RCMP PROS Project.

1997-99… Director, Bartizan Communications Inc, Sarasota, FL… inexpensive after-market product as a competitor to GM OnStar vehicle tracking… $10M capital raised on TSX… fellow outside Director 7739 Herb England (RMC ’68) … insiders (founders) dominated Board... poor financial decisions led to insolvency before reaching the mainstream market…another interesting and educational experience.

2003-07… President Silver Brick Holdings Ltd… private equity fund lending residential second mortgages… eight (8) investors… 42 mortgages totaling over $1.1M in five-year period… investor returns >11%... two (2) defaults… properties seized and sold (interesting activity) … business closed as market conditions changed.

1994-2024… thirty years (30) of family milestones and adventures … daughter Tracey in Kimberley BC moved (1997) from RCMP to CBSA … border duty Roosville, BC to Eureka, MT … main clients hunters, fishermen, loggers and marijuana smugglers … border boredom led to return to policing with Calgary Police Service (2000) … 24 year CPS career has included patrol, undercover surveillance, guns & gangs and firearms instruction … currently a Staff Sergeant leading a District Operations Team … lives in Airdrie, AB and contemplating retirement (mom & dad feel even older).

Son Trevor graduated U Ottawa 1996 and married fiancé Jenn Parsons … began successful careers in financial management and education … in 1999 welcomed granddaughter Michaela … granddaughter Grace in 2003 and twin grandsons Alex & Matthew in 2005 … many memorable vacations including Disneyland, Disney Cruise, Sandals Beaches Turks & Caicos (multiple visits), cottages … duty spectators at swimming, dance, gymnastics, minor hockey … then suddenly they are all grown up.

Michaela (25) U Ottawa grad, Master’s student at U Carleton, political junkie, VP Jenni Byrne & Associates … Grace (21) aka #30327 OCdt Johnson (Class of 2025)  … Matt (19) at Algonquin College becoming a Paramedic … Alex (19) at Florida Gulf Coast University for a BA in Sports Journalism … both our kids over 50 … what the hell happened!!

Julie & I continue to procrastinate on downsizing … hope to continue winters in AZ … continue to push back on the inevitable aches and pains of aging … grateful for the health we’ve had in the past 55 years and hoping for many more … a shame that a bad back may result in having to give up the Jaguar … TDV***VDV



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