Lt(NL) Russ Golbourn
In 1993, Lt (NL) Russ Golbourn joined #22 Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps (RCSCC) Undaunted in Calgary, AB as a cadet under his father’s recommendation that he give cadets a try. He enjoyed it for 4 years before deciding it was time to move on. During his 4 years, he completed General Training (GT) & Basic Sail courses at Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Qu’Appelle. During the first 2 summers of his sea cadet career he completed the last Junior Leadership Course (JLC) course ran at HMCS Quadra in 1996. In that short time as a cadet, a sense of leadership developed along with self-discipline and self-respect that has served him well in life.
In September of 2000, while working at McDonalds, Lt (NL) Golbourn greeted a person that would end up bringing him back into the cadet program but to a different side of the uniform. He signed up with Navy League Cadet Corps (NLCC) Captain Jackson as a Cadet Instructor (CI) where he would meet someone else that would convince him to join the naval reserves. At HMCS Tecumseh, in Calgary, he became a Cook, wearing a 2nd rank of Ordinary Seaman. He held the positions of instructor, assistant stores officer and briefly the Guard Officer. From November 2004 till October 2005, after being promoted to Leading Seaman, he was tasked to 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters & Signal Squadron at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Edmonton to develop his military cooks training. While there he continued his work with the Navy League program by working with NLCC T.E. Waddington, after which he would return to Captain Jackson for another year and a half.
After Joining the Regular Force in February of 2006, he was demoted to Ordinary Seaman and posted to HMCS Calgary in Esquimalt, B.C. While there he would sign on with NLCC Admiral Rayner where he worked his way up the ranks to Lt (NL) and held the positions of Assistant Training Officer, Training Officer, Stores Officer, Deck Officer and Executive Officer from 2007-2015.
After going through the ranks in the navy and reaching the appointment of Master Seaman in 2015, Russ was posted to the Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadian) back in Edmonton. When he returned to Alberta Division Russ would join the ranks of #55 NLCC C.B. Hill where he has held the position of Colour Guard Officer from 2016-2018. To this day he continues to apply the skillsets he learns from both uniforms to benefit both organizations and promotes the cadet program every chance he gets.
1. I signed on as an Officer in September of 2000 and love working with the kids.
2. I’ve been asked why I joined the Navy League as an officer and the first response that pops into my mind is that Cadets gave me so much in such a short time and I wanted to give back the positive experience and skills that I received to a new generation.
3. The best part about being a Navy League Officer is working with the kids and the different personalities that each one brings to the corps and the program as a whole. Some return to the NL Program, others join the Cadet Instructor Cadre (CIC) world, some join the military and others just go into the world as functioning adults and future leaders.
4. The worst part of everything is that I can’t be as involved as I’d like as my commitment to the Military and to our Country takes me away as often as it does.
5. I believe the criteria for a Navy League Officer is a want to work with youth for starters but also a willingness to learn and a drive to help make your corps thrive. You also need to be able to work well with others and promote the team environment. Without teamwork nobody can thrive.
6. Anyone considering joining the program as an officer needs to know that it’s not just showing up on a parade night once a week. It’s also the weekends, the extra circulars like band and drill, the fundraisers i.e. poppy drives and the public parades i.e. Battle of the Atlantic, that requires a commitment as well as a dedication to the kids that show up each week looking up to you for advice and guidance.
7. My greatest accomplishment happens every year when I watch the kids learn, grow and move on to become better people than when they first arrived on our parade square. I hope my son gets out of the program what I got or more when he turns 9, if that happens that will truly be my greatest accomplishment.
Lt (NL) Russ Golbourn
