Biographies
 

Commander R. Mountford, CD
Commanding Officer, Regional Cadet Support Unit (Pacific)

Commander Rick Mountford was born in Nelson, England in 1963.  He immigrated to Canada with his family in 1966 and was brought up in Longueuil PQ.  He was a proud member of 643 Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron in St-Hubert, where he was awarded his glider pilot wings before he was licensed to drive a car.

Commander Mountford joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1981 under the Regular Officer Training Plan and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Military and Strategic Studies from Royal Roads Military College in Victoria in 1985. Upon completion of initial naval training in Esquimalt in 1986, then Sub-Lieutenant. Mountford joined HMCS GATINEAU and conducted a coastal transfer with HMCS HURON where he obtained his Certificate of Competency Level II.  Following this, he qualified as an Above Water Warfare Director and Deck Officer and served in these capacities as a Lieutenant(N) in HMC Ships HURON and SKEENA.  In 1990 he was posted to Canadian Forces Fleet School Halifax as the Electronic Sensors Officer and course officer for the Above Water Warfare Directors Course. Commander Mountford completed the Operations Room Officer and Anti-Air Warfare Controller courses in 1993 and was appointed to HMCS TERRA NOVA as Combat Officer and participated in Operation Forward Action, the United Nations Embargo against Haiti. Promoted to Lieutenant Commander in 1995 he then spent a year as Executive Officer of Maritime Operations Group Seven in Halifax. Commander Mountford was posted to the Joint Staff in Ottawa in 1996 serving first as a watch keeper in the National Defence Operations center and subsequently as a Desk Officer for a number of overseas operations including the Disaster Assistance Response Team’s (DART) deployment to Western Turkey in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake in 1999. Returning to sea and to Halifax in 2000 as Combat Officer of HMCS ATHABASKAN Commander Mountford participated in the operation to retrieve military vehicles and equipment form the GTS KATIE. In 2001 Commander Mountford was posted ashore to the Canadian forces Maritime Warfare Centre in Halifax, serving as the Anti Submarine Warfare Training Officer until his appointment as Executive Officer of HMCS IROQUOIS from 2002-2004 during its deployment to the Arabian Gulf as Flag Ship for Operation APOLLO. Upon completion of this exciting and rewarding time, Commander Mountford was promoted to his current rank and attended the yearlong Command and Staff course in Toronto, graduating in June 2005 .