Wallace (Wally) Woodward
Lieutenant Commander (Ret'd) · Royal Canadian Navy · Kingswood
More than 42 years in the Royal Canadian Navy
Lieutenant Commander (LCdr) Wallace (Wally) Woodward was born and raised in the small farming village of Lestock, Saskatchewan. In 1968, at the age of 17, he joined the Canadian Navy as an Ordinary Seaman Signalman and retired in 2010, on his 60th birthday, at the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
As a Signalman he achieved the rank of Petty Officer First Class and held various senior signalman positions both at sea and ashore. In 1989 Petty Officer Woodward was commissioned as a Maritime Surface Officer (MARS). As a MARS Officer he achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander, again holding a variety of positions at sea, ashore and internationally.
At sea
LCdr Woodward spent more than 23 years at sea on both the east and west coasts of Canada. While at sea he held various positions including Yeoman of Signals, Bridge Watchkeeper, Deck Officer and Combat Officer.
During these years he spent much of his time deployed. His deployments included, but are by no means limited to:
Also numerous NATO and UN peacekeeping missions, NATO interoperability and training deployments, fisheries patrols, coastal protection patrols and search and rescue missions.
Service ashore
- Maritime Command Ops Centre
- Fleet Maintenance Group Atlantic
- Air Command Winnipeg, as Sea Cadet Coordinator for Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario
- Canadian Forces Naval Operations School, Halifax, as Seamanship Training Officer
- National Defence Headquarters, Ottawa, as Maritime Strategic Communications Requirements Staff Officer
- Canadian Forces Experimentation Centre, Ottawa, as Experimentation Coordinator for Joint Fires
- Maritime Security Operations Centre, as Engineering Detachment Deputy Commander and Solution Engineering Manager for the MSOC (em-sock) project
Exchange officer at the Pentagon
LCdr Woodward served Canada as a Naval Exchange Officer at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, for six and a half years (1999-2005). There he was the Permanent Secretary for the Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and United States (AUSCANNZUKUS (aus-can-zoo-cuss)) Naval C4 Interoperability Group, and then the Naval C4 Special Projects Officer for AUSCANNZUKUS.
Honours and awards
During a naval career that spans more than 42 years, LCdr Woodward was awarded the following medals and awards:
- Order of Military Merit
- Gulf and Kuwait Medal, with bar
- Somalia Medal
- NATO Special Service Medal
- Canadian Peacekeeping Medal
- Former Yugoslavia Medal
- Canada 125 Medal
- Canadian Forces' Decoration (with 3 bars)
- Commander Maritime Staff Commendation
- United States Navy Distinguished Service Medal (foreign award)
- Kuwait Liberation Medal (foreign award)
Family
Wally met his wife Mary and, after a whirlwind romance, married the love of his life in April 1973. After more than 52 years of marriage, they are enjoying a well-deserved retirement together in Kingswood.
Their daughter Shannon lives in Kingswood with her husband Dylan and their three children, Zoe, Ruth and Virginia. Their son Jeffrey, his wife Vanessa and their children Jason, Jeremy and Violet live in Ottawa.