Born and raised in St John’s, Newfoundland, John enrolled in the Canadian Forces in June 1988 at CFS St John’s with other Newfoundlanders, one of whom he later married.

He started his military career in Aug 1988 at College Militaire Royale de St Jean, studying engineering and moved to RMC in Kingston, ON for his final year in order complete his degree. While in school he played hockey at CMR with the Remparts for three years, winning one Collegial championship and with the RMC Redmen for his final year. He graduated in 1994 with a baccalaureate degree in Civil Engineering.

As a military engineer (MILE) he spent many summers in Chilliwack, BC on phase training. After training his first posting was CFB Gagetown where he held positions of 21 Armoured Engineer Troop Commander and 22 Field Troop Commander. During his tour in Gagetown he spent a couple of weeks filling up sand bags in Winnipeg while the city was under water.

After Gagetown he was fortunate to be posted to CFB Halifax and performed the jobs of Central Maintenance Officer, Contracts Officer and Environmental Officer. Additionally he had the opportunity to work at Camp Maple Leaf in Haiti, as Camp Engineer. Once back in Canada, he applied for his post grad. He was accepted and spent another two years in Halifax to attend Dalhousie University and completed his Masters of Applied Science.

An avid hockey player, John played on the Base Teams in Gagetown and Halifax and boasts that he made the trip to CFB Borden to play in the National Championship every year. In fact he made the trip to the nationals more than 12 times in total winning 5 gold medals and 5 silver.

After completing post-grad in Halifax, John was posted to 1 ESU in Moncton, this time taking his wife along as the Adjt. Initially working as the Force Protection officer, John very quickly transitioned to Commander of 1 Specialist Engineering Team (SET). He was very lucky to be the SET Commander for two years, which he considers to be one of the best positions in the Canadian Forces. While in Moncton, he deployed twice to Afghanistan, the first to Kabul responsible for engineering tasks in both Camp Warehouse AND Camp Julien. He later returned to Afghanistan to help prepare KAF for the movement of the CF from Kabul to Khandahar.

After Moncton, John moved to Ottawa where he worked as Project Director with the Land Staff. Again, hockey was always close at hand, this time with the Old Generals.

John is currently teaching at Algonquin College part time and is hoping to become full time later this year. He currently teaches courses in Reinforced Concrete Design, Structural Design and Water and Waste Water Technology. He is enjoying his time as a professor and is hoping to have his summers off.

John lives at CFB Orleans, is married to Rosalyn going on 15 years and has two great kids, Josh currently in grade 4 and Jacob in grade 2, he coaches both in hockey and baseball, they both love the sports and playing piano…just like their dad.