Photo: Mona Ghiz, MARLANT PA
New Commanding Officer at BIS
By Virginia Beaton,
L’équipe du Trident
Cdr Eric McCallum assumed command of Base Information Services (BIS) from Cdr Seana Routledge during a change of command ceremony on the Bridge in Juno Tower on Tuesday, February 13, 2018.
“The last 18 months of command have been the most exciting and rewarding of my career,” Cdr Routledge told the audience.
She listed numerous events and large initiative that BIS had supported during that time, including HMCS Montreal’s Harpoon missile firing, and praised BIS personnel’s “drive, dedication, and determination.”
She thanked RAdm Baines, Cmdre Page, Capt(N) Forget, and in particular Capt(N) Stephane Lafond, Commandant of FMF Cape Scott, observing, “If I were to name my greatest mentor, it would be you.”
She also thanked her fellow Commanding Officers, colleagues at MARLANT HQ, and the N6 team, as well as her family, including husband Cmdre Skjerpen, and her mother.
“You’ve been a stellar Commanding Officer,” Capt(N) Forget told Cdr Routledge. “You accomplished so much in only 18 months at BIS.” Capt(N) Forget welcomes Cdr McCallum, saying, “It’s now yours to choose, what the next stage of BIS well be.”
RAdm Baines also thanked Cdr Routledge, noting that she is an engineer by profession and added, “A lot of the best jobs are engineering jobs.”
Cdr McCallum thanked BIS personnel “for making me feel welcome.” He observed that Cdr Routledge’s passion for the job and for her team, as well as her administrative skills, “led to an extremely well organized handover package.”
Dignitaries at the event included RAdm Craig Baines, Commander JTFA and MARLANT;Cmdre Simon Page, Director General DGMEPM; Cmdre Craig Skjerpen, Commander Canadian Fleet Atlantic; and Capt(N) Paul Forget, CFB Halifax Base Commander, who presided over the ceremony.
