PTE SARINA MCNEILL, FIS
Sailor of the Quarter proved herself during Exercise FORMIDABLE SHIELD
By Ryan Melanson,
Trident Staff
AB Jasmine Abdi may not technically be a member of the ship’s company of HMCS St. John’s, but that didn’t stop her from becoming a key member of the crew during a recent overseas exercise.
PTE SARINA MCNEILL, FIS
She is a member of HMCS Charlottetown, but volunteered for an attach posting to St. John’s as the ship sailed to Ex FORMIDABLE SHIELD 2019 this past spring near Scotland. Her performance during that deployment, which saw her excel mentoring junior sailors and excelling at tasks above her rank level, has earned AB Abdi the title of Canadian Fleet Atlantic’s Sailor of the Quarter for Q2 2019.
FORMIDABLE SHIELD was an air missile defence exercise involving more than 3,000 personnel from a dozen different countries, with 13 warships and 10 aircraft at sea, and included a number of successful live-fire and simulated engagements. The exercise also saw the RCN’s first successful engagement of a supersonic target with an Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile.
For AB Abdi, this meant making herself useful and taking on any task that was presented to her during the two-week exercise. She was credited for performing MSO duties, for her expertise with cryptographic material and devices, for her professionalism on the bridge, and for providing advice and mentorship to her Ordinary and Able Seaman colleagues. High praise was also given for her knowledge of high-frequency circuit setup, allowing her to troubleshoot UHF data and contact another NATO unit that was out of UHF range, while teaching others at the same time.
She was previously awarded a Brazo Zulu from Canadian Fleet Atlantic for her work during FORMIDABLE SHIELD, and on July 6, Cmdre Craig Skjerpen, then Fleet Commander, and Fleet Chief CPO1 Tom Lizotte, visited her on board St. John’s to present the Sailor of the Quarter certificate.
Criteria for the award involves performing duties above and beyond what’s expected, and that doesn’t just include operations. It was noted that AB Abdi has participated in a number of valuable outreach and public relations events with HMCS Charlottetown, and that she’s also become involved in her community with volunteer work and fundraising for Feed Nova Scotia.
Cmdre Skjerpen described AB Abdi an excellent example of what a strong, smart, and organized Naval Communicator can achieve in the in the RCN and the CAF, while her supervisors noted she acts as a strong example to her crewmates, and her versatile nature allows her to be employed in any position as a naval communicator.
