Background
The scholarships are presented at the Awards Dinner, which is a formal event normally held at the 17 Wing Officers Mess.
The guest speaker for the evening is a serving general or flag officer in the Canadian Forces. The recent speakers were:
- 2006 - General Rick Hillier, Chief of Defence Staff
- 2007 - Major General J. Marcel Duval, Commander, 1 Canadian Air Division
- 2008 - Major General Dennis Tabbernor, Chief Reserves and Cadets
- 2009 - Rear Admiral Robert Davidson, Director of Staff, Strategic Joint Staff
- 2010 - General Walter Natynczyk, Chief of Defence Staff
- 2011 - Major General Alain Parent, Commander, 1 Canadian Air Division
- 2012 - Rear Admiral Jennifer Bennett, Chief of Reserves and Cadets
2013 Guest Speaker
Lieutenant General Peter Devlin, Commander Canadian Army will be this year's guest speaker.
Lieutenant-General Peter Devlin enrolled in the Canadian Forces in 1978 under the Regular Officer Training Program and was commissioned as an infantry officer into The Royal Canadian Regiment.
LGen Devlin has spent the majority of his career in the field and has served in 1, 2 and 4 Canadian Brigade Groups as well as the Special Service Force. He has commanded from the platoon to brigade group level, most notably commanding 1st Battalion of The Royal Canadian Regiment (1997-1999) and 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (2002-2004). He served as Deputy Commanding General of III (US) Corps and Fort Hood (2005-2008) and deployed with the Corps to Iraq, and as Deputy Commander of Canadian Expeditionary Force Command (2008-2010). His staff assignments have included positions in Army Headquarters, 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, and the Canadian Forces Medical Group.
He has several operational tours including UN tours in Cyprus (1984-85) and the former Yugoslavia (1992), two NATO tours in Bosnia (1996-97) including one as the Canadian Battle Group Commanding Officer (1998), an International Security Assistance Force tour as Commander of the Kabul Multinational Brigade in Kabul, Afghanistan (2003-2004) and a 15 month tour as the Deputy Commanding General of the Multi-National Corps – Iraq (2006-08). His unit was awarded the Commander-in-Chief Citation for opening the Sarajevo airport in 1992. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Cross in 2004 and the U.S. Legion of Merit in 2008 for his efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq respectively. He was appointed as Commander of the Order of Military Merit in February 2010.
He is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario, the Canadian Forces Staff School, the Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff College, the Canadian Forces College and the U.S. Army War College. In June 2010 he was promoted to his current rank and appointed Commander Canadian Army.
The Evening
Arrival and Assembly
The Awards Dinner will be held on
October 19, 2013 in the 17 Wing Officers' Mess beginning at 18:00.
Guests who have had military service, or are currently serving, will often wear their mess kits, which is the equivalent of a tuxedo for civilians. Some people will wear a tuxedo. Others will wear a suit, a blazer or other similar attire.
The photographer will take pictures of the award winners with their parents and the guest speaker.
The other cadet guests will be asked to participate in the photographs so they will have a memento of the evening.
A seating plan will be positioned near the entrance to the upper lounge. Guests should check it to see where they will be seated.
Fifteen Minute Call
At the appointed time a bugler will play a short tune that is designed to inform everyone that they will be called to the dining room in fifteen minutes.
Mess Call
When the dining room is ready, the band or a piper will play 'Mess Call'. All guests, with the exception of the award winners, guest speaker and President of the Hubbell Awards, will enter the dining room and go to their designated place in the seating plan where they should remain standing.
When the guests are at their designated places, the band or piper will play again. This time the award winners and guest speaker will enter the dining room and take their appropriate places.
The PMC will call upon the padre to say Grace. That will be followed by the Toast to the Queen of Canada and other toasts, if required. All toasts will be made with water that will be on the table.
Dinner
The serving staff will begin to serve dinner, which will consist of several courses.
Marches
In addition to presenting the awards, the evening is an opportunity for cadets and their parents to learn more about the traditions of the military. To assist in that process, the PMC will ask the Air Command Band to play the marches of the Navy, Army, Air Force, Cadets and Chaplain Branch.
Everyone in attendance is encouraged to stand during the march for the element in which s/he or a relative or friend served or is serving. The exception is the Chaplain's March when everyone in attendance is encouraged to stand.
Guest Speaker
At the conclusion of the meal, the guest speaker will be invited to address the guests.
Presentation of Awards
The guest speaker and other supporters will present the scholarships to the award winners. A photographer will be available during this activity, but parents may also want to have a camera available to use for their own mementos.
Fellowship
At the conclusion of the dinner, the PMC will ask everyone to stand for the departure of the honored guests.
That will be followed by a period of fellowship in the upper lounge.
Scholarships Presented
Sea Cadet - Dr. Gordon Paton Fahrni Award
Dr. Gordon Paton Fahrni was born in Winnipeg in 1916. He graduated from the School of Medicine at the
University of Manitoba in 1940 and then joined the Royal Canadian Navy.
He was deployed to England and assigned to H.M.S. FITZROY, a minesweeper on which he served until she was sunk in 1942. He was wounded in action. For his actions Dr. Fahrni was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for bravery, devotion to duty, leadership, and skill in actions against enemy submarines.
Following the war Dr. Fahrni proceeded to post graduate work at the Toronto General Hospital and for further training at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, USA. He received his Fellowship (F.R.C.P.) and practised as a general surgeon at the Winnipeg General, Children's and Grace Hospitals.
He died peacefully in his sleep on January 20, 2007.
Army Cadet - Lieutenant Laurence Gillmor Sherman Award
Lieutenant Laurence Gillmor Sherman was twenty when he enrolled in the Canadian Forces. He trained with the
Calgary Highlanders and earned a commission as an infantry officer.
He went overseas in 1943 and was posted to the Loyal Edmonton Regiment in Italy that had suffered enormous losses in battle.
Lieutenant Sherman joined them in time for the assault on Monte Casino on May 23. It was in that battle that he fell at the age of 23.
In his book 'The Liri Valley, Canada's World War II Breakthrough to Rome' military historian Mark Zuehike writes in detail of that day's assault on the Hitler Line at Casino, and records that 'with both Lieutenants wounded, the sections were pinned down. They added more bodies to the tangle left earlier by the PPCLI. One machine-gun was firing on the Edmonton's from just a few feet away. When Lieutenant Sherman attempted to organize the bridgehead inside the wire, he was struck three times by sniper fire and killed'.
In 1995, Sherman Lake in northern Manitoba was named for him.
Air Cadet - 17 Wing Honorary Colonel Award
Honorary Colonels are part of an institution with a proud history of dedication and service to our country.
They are officers on all issues with the exception of operations. They work behind the scenes and provide a much needed connection between the community and the Canadian Forces.
The rank recognizes individuals who offer their talents for the enrichment and greater good of Canada.
The commission of Honorary Colonel conveys a heritage of duty, commitment, and service.
The motto of 17 Wing Winnipeg is 'Prospice' or 'Look to the Future'. The 17 Wing Honorary Colonel promotes that motto..
Three Additional Awards to be Presented Annually Beginning in 2013
The number of youth enrolled in air cadet units in Manitoba comprises about two-thirds of the 2,000 in the program. The remaining thirty-five per cent are distributed about equally between the sea and army cadets, but there are more sea cadets who remain with the program until they age out.
The Board concluded that it was in a position to award more scholarships based on the number in each element and the number who reach the maximum age. Beginning in 2013, an additional scholarship will be presented to sea cadets based upon the number of cadets who will reach the maximum age for the program. Two additional scholarships will be presented to air cadets based upon the number in the program and the number who reach the maximum age for the program.
The value of all scholarship will continue to have a value of $1,000.00. There will be no change in the criteria for any of the awards.
Sea Cadet Scholarship
The name of the additional scholarship to be awarded to a sea cadet has not been confirmed at this time. When the decision has been made it will be included here.
New Air Cadet Scholarships
Flight Sergeant Fred Marean Award
Flight Sergeant Fred Marean was the eldest son of homesteaders from Iowa who settled in Saskatchewan.
Fred graduated from Boyle School in Estlin, SK and then continued his education at Balfour Technical and Success Business Schools in Regina, where he studied accounting.
At various times he worked as a farm hand, truck driver, store clerk, and service station attendant as well as for his father to help support himself while attending school in Regina.
One of Fred’s interests was athletics. He played for local hockey and baseball teams, but his greatest love was badminton.
He was called for service under the National Resources Mobilization Act in 1941 and was assigned to the Royal Canadian Artillery in Shilo for training as a gunner. Three months later, he transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force for pilot training. He completed his initial flight training in Virden, MB and Yorkton, SK before proceeding to England.
He was assigned to 78 Squadron, Royal Air Force, where he flew Halifax bombers.
During the night of March 12, 1943, he was the pilot of DT774, one of about 1,000 aircraft whose mission was to bomb the Krupp factories in the Dortmund and Essen areas that had been manufacturing tanks, artillery, naval guns, armour plate, munitions and other armaments. His return trip took him over Holland, where his aircraft was brought down by a night fighter near Nijmegen. It was his sixteenth mission.
He was the only Canadian aboard the aircraft. The others were all members of the Royal Air Force. They are all buried in a small cemetery near Uden, Holland. Fred was twenty-three.
The residents of Uden wanted to pay tribute to the many Allied airmen who had lost their lives near their town, but they wanted to focus on one aircraft. They chose FSgt Marean’s Halifax bomber because they could remember it flying low and trailing fire. Some were afraid it might fall on their house. That did not happen, but one engine did fall through the roof of a farmer’s barn before it crashed in an open field.
In 1977 the people of Uden dedicated a plaque to the one aircraft they could remember so well. The plaque was installed on the home of the farmer that lost his barn that evening. It includes the names and appointments of all of the crew of Halifax Bomber DT774.
Marean Lake in Saskatchewan is named for him.
Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) James Randolph Popplow, SBStJ, CD, BSc, BEd, MD, MSc, ABPM (AM), FACPM, Award
Lieutenant Colonel (Ret'd) James Randolph Popplow, was born in Kitchener in 1942 and first served as an Army Cadet in the 56 Field Regiment Cadet Corps and the 56 Field Regiment Reserve before joining the Royal Canadian Air Force at age 18. He trained as an Air Navigator/Radio Officer at the Air Navigation School at RCAF Stn Winnipeg and received his Air Navigator Wings in July 1962. After further training at the Operational Training Unit, RCAF Stn Summerside PEI, he was posted to 415 Maritime Patrol Squadron and flew maritime patrols in the CP-107 Argus aircraft out of Summerside.
In 1966 he was accepted by Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. and joined the Princess of Wales Own Regiment Reserve. After receiving his BSc and BEd degrees, he rejoined the CF, and received his MD degree all from Queen's. During his early service as a CF Flight Surgeon he completed a Masters degree in aerospace medicine at Wright State University, Dayton Ohio. He was elected a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine in 1983, a Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association in 1989 and a Fellow of the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute in 2001. LCol Popplow went on to serve for 31 years in the RCAF/CF retiring as the Air Command Flight Surgeon in 1995 followed by11 years as Senior Medical Advisor with Manitoba Public Health Dept. In 2007, in response to the CF Medical Service staffing needs during the Afghanistan War, he returned as the 1 Canadian Air Division Aeromedical Standards and Clinical Services Flight Surgeon until his 2013 retirement. Dr Popplow was appointed Honorary Colonel of 16(Regina) and 17(Winnipeg) Field Ambulance from 2006 to 2012.