THUNDER BAY – It was a pretty good year for HMCS Griffon in 2017.
The Thunder Bay-based naval outfit saw its numbers jump by 13 per cent, from 51 members to 58, which commanding officer Lt.-Cmdr. Robert Cooke attributes to a successful recruitment campaign in local high schools.
Cooke revealed the information on Monday during the Griffon’s annual New Year’s Day levee celebration, adding he thinks youngsters about to graduate post-secondary school are seeing the Royal Canadian Navy as an opportunity to see the world and do some pretty interesting things.
“Griffon is in sort of a rebuild phase,” Cooke said. “We got down pretty low in our numbers and we’re starting to build back up. We do it through recruiting and our co-op program. Every year from February through June we do a high-school co-op, where students get two credits for their afternoon when they come here five days a week.”
Students are also paid for their time, $50 a day.
“It’s a really good deal for school kids,” Cooke said, adding at times they co-operate with the O’Kelly Armoury and a similar program that takes place there through the Lake Superior Scottish Regiment.
While seven new members might not seem like a lot, Cooke said it’s a great sign of things to come.
“We’re not losing them the other way and we’re keeping them. So we must be doing something right,” he said.
“I think it’s a little bit more excitement and more opportunities to go to sea. There are more opportunities to do neat things.”
Over the past few years the regiment has sent sailors to South Korea and above the Arctic circle.
“And in the new year we’ve got people going to the Gulf of Guinea, some to Fiji and one to Latvia. We’ve got some interesting things going on. Plus we do some pretty interesting things in the unit itself, with small-boat operations and exercises at the regional and the national level.”
Cooke said he expects several Griffon members in 2018 to take part in a series of naval exercises in Halifax.
“Each naval reserve unit has the opportunity to provide the leadership for a special exercise. This year we’ve done a small-boats exercise, we’ve done a range weekend and now we’re doing a sea-survival exercise in Halifax,” Cooke said, adding sailors from seven different units in the Central region will take part.
