I was very happy when I was accepted at MIT and my tuition fees were covered by the Forces.” It was a childhood dream for me to go to MIT but, even then, I knew it would be difficult to pay the tuition. “After completing my degree at RMC, I worked for five years on the ships and in the training system with new recruits, before deciding that I wanted to go back to school and do my master’s. RMC was where I grew the most, because to earn a degree you have to excel not only academically, but also in leadership, athletics and bilingualism.” “Both universities offer excellent programs, but my experiences in each of them were very different. First, she completed her bachelor of science in mechanical engineering at the Royal Military College (RMC) in Kingston, then a double master’s in mechanical engineering and naval architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, near Boston. The RCN has enabled her to study at two of the best universities in the world. The pace was intense, but in the end we reactivated the ship on time.”įor LCdr Gray, the challenges of her chosen profession are many, and so are the opportunities. For five months, my department worked long hours because we had to meet a tight deadline. When a ship is refitted, the systems are completely disassembled and overhauled. “My biggest challenge so far has been the modernization of Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Winnipeg. Currently, she is managing the surface fleet program at the Fleet Maintenance Facility in Esquimalt, B.C., and supervises the work periods for all of the operational surface vessels. Her work is extremely rewarding and offers plenty of challenges. The Navy seemed like the best choice for me, since I’d spent my whole life living near the ocean and I liked the idea of being assigned near my family.” At first I was attracted by the free university education, then I started exploring my options for enrolling. “Even though I grew up in Nova Scotia, I didn’t know much about the armed forces. Lieutenant-Commander (LCdr) Calley Gray joined the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) as a Marine Systems Engineering Officer more than 16 years ago, while completing secondary school in her home province.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |