Canadian Armed Forces

Robert “Bob” Maxwell was just 20 years old when he decided to change his life by volunteering for service in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1957. What prompted him to make that choice is still a mystery.

“To this day, I couldn’t tell you why I ended up going to the air force and writing the exams,” he explains. Nevertheless, the native of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, has no regrets about the path he chose.

For Maxwell, basic training was in St-Jean, Québec, with an incoming class that included a few other recruits from the Maritimes.

Military service was never really a first choice for Master Corporal (Ret’d) Richard Delve. After completing high-school, Delve undertook a Geology degree. While he was interested in the topic, University setting was just not a good fit. “I am not a sit down and study type of person,” says Delve.

He started to look at college courses, and enrolled in a two-year culinary program at Humber College in Toronto, Ontario. “I always enjoyed cooking, even when I was younger. So I thought, ‘hey, I can do that!’”

Goodchild arrived in Cyprus in 1980, and immediately began supporting the United Nations peacekeeping mission. He was stationed in there for six months and remembers a weird mix of feelings: fear coupled with a willingness to help in any way he could. "I was always ready to go, jump into action, whatever they needed… I was ready to do whatever, whenever."

Background

For most of Canada’s history, the military officially barred members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community from serving in uniform. This legacy of discrimination meant most of their stories were deeply buried. Recent research has brought more of these inspiring and heartbreaking stories to light.

How we met

Linda Long was looking for a banquet pianist when she met Peter Portlock in 1974.

She’d left her home in rural Alberta in 1973 after joining the Air Force. Shortly after completing her basic military and trades administration training, she was posted to Canadian Forces Base Toronto . A year later, while organizing a charity banquet, she was asked to find a pianist, and one of her superiors suggested she connect with Peter Portlock, the new base air force major.

Introduction

Patti Gray loved her job in the Air Force, and she was very good at it too. She exceeded expectations, earned praise, and looked forward to a long, successful career—until the bigotry of the “LGBT purge” derailed her plans, forced her out of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and left her unemployed during a recession.

Enlisting

Ms. Natacha Dupuis was born May 25, 1979, in Longueuil, Quebec. Throughout her youth, she wanted to join the military. In 1997, at age 18, Ms. Dupuis joined the reserves and enlisted with Armoured Corp as a tanker.

After completing basic training in Montreal and the Crewman course in Valcartier, Dupuis joined the British Columbia Regiment, where she completed an advanced reconnaissance course. Years later, she joined the Regular Force Leopard tank and Coyote Gunner/Driver training course.

In 2007, as a soon-to-be-qualified paramedic, Naomi Fong decided she wanted to work in her community after college and serve in the Army reserves at the same time.

“I thought, I can do both. The Reserve would be a great way to serve, learn new skills,” she says. “Basically, I wanted to be in a helping role and have two careers.”

Born in Paradise, Newfoundland and Labrador, Natalie is no stranger to small towns.

After graduating from university, she enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces, completed basic training, and attended the Infantry School in Gagetown, New Brunswick. She subsequently accepted a posting to the Joint Task Force North Iqaluit Detachment in Nunavut.

The welcoming and tightknit community of Iqaluit felt like home, and she was inspired by the resourcefulness and resilience of Inuit and northern residents. She lived and worked in Iqaluit for more than 10 years after her release.

In 1989, Nadine Laflamme went behind her mother’s back to enlist as a reservist with what was then called the 55 Medical Company. It seemed only natural to study health science at CEGEP. By the time her mother found out, the papers had already been signed. “She wasn’t very surprised, though. She knew me,” says Nadine.

Although she has always been interested in overseas deployments, she never had the chance to participate in one. Nevertheless, whenever there is an emergency on Canadian soil, Sergeant Laflamme reports for duty.