Courtnay Pooley has successfully made the journey from Merritt’s dry, Interior grasslands to sailing the seas of the Middle East, now achieving the Junior Officer’s rank of Sub-Lieutenant (SLt) in the Royal Canadian Navy. 

“I grew up just outside of town on a farm in between Merritt and the Shulus Reserve,” said Pooley.  

“I was raised by my mother, Catherine, and my father, Gordon. I was raised alongside my twin brother Hayden and my older sister Erin. Growing up on a farm in Merritt, I could not have asked for a more positive childhood. I feel I learned the value of work and doing the small things right.”

Pooley attended Central Elementary and Coquihalla Middle School, which closed in 2012, before graduating from Merritt Secondary School. After high school, Courtnay and his brother were eager to get out and explore the big wide world. 

“My twin brother and I both joined the Navy at the same time and have had parallel careers all along,” said Pooley. 

“He is also now an Officer having formerly been a technician like myself. For me, I grew up knowing that the Nicola Valley was a fairly small place, and I felt I needed to explore the world a bit. My first major posting was to St. John’s, Newfoundland for school. That was definitely a culture shock, I was very lucky to have my brother as a roommate there.”   

Courtnay and Hayden both graduated from the Marine Institute, a campus of Memorial University dedicated to maritime trades schooling, with Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technician Diplomas in 2013. 

At that time, Courtnay was posted to the HMCS Calgary as a Junior Weapons Engineering Technician. 

“I did my apprenticeship under those that I still believe are the best technicians in the Canadian Navy,” said Pooley. 

“I worked and sailed on the Calgary until the end of 2016. My brother and I had both applied for our commissions, the legal document designating you as an Officer in the military. We were very fortunate to get selected in the same year and on our first year applying, which made us both very happy.”

Both Courtnay and Hayden then changed from Weapons Engineering Technicians to Naval Warfare Officers, after which they were both expected to pursue a degree. Applying for the University Training Plan for Non-Commissioned Members, Pooley attended UVic. 

“I chose to go to the University of Victoria and study Economics,” explained Pooley.  

“I grew up having long conversations with my father about global affairs and I thought economics would round out my education very well for me to keep up to him. I graduated in 2019 and began the Naval Warfare Officer Phase 3 course shortly after. This course teaches the core skills required of a mariner and bridge watchkeeper. After finishing that, I did what was a very challenging Naval Warfare Officer Phase 4 course. This course takes those universal mariner skills and adds the complexity of warfare to them.” 

Pooley’s personal life was also complex at this time, as the world was suddenly thrown into the COVID-19 pandemic, and he and his wife welcomed a baby girl to their family. 

“Training was essentially paused for six months, and my daughter was born two days before I was scheduled to proceed to sea for navigation assessments,” said Pooley. 

“The Navy and the Venture Division (the officer training school) were extremely understanding and allowed me to take a month off without any penalty to my training. I completed my course with a different set of students than I started with, but I did not have to do the entire phase over.  This cannot always happen this way and I still get quite emotional thinking about how much consideration I was granted during this time.”

After completing his Phase 4 training, Pooley was once again posted to the HMCS Calgary, this time as an officer. 

“Like most ships, a warship is commanded by its Captain,” explained Pooley. 

“At sea, 24 hours a day, a warship must be able to conduct operations ranging from search and rescue to drug interdiction, to exercises with foreign navies. The captain is ultimately responsible for the direction, coordination, and control of all of these things, this is called Command. They must get the ship from point A to Point B safely, effectively, and while maintaining the wellbeing of the crew and the ship. It is a quite a lot to ask of one person.” 

Because the Captain of a ship cannot be everywhere at once, or perform all of their tasks singlehandedly, he relies on others, such as Pooley, to delegate some of these responsibilities. Pooley is currently working towards being a certified Officer of the Watch.   

“It is my job to move the ship to where the mission dictates, do so safely and effectively, provide an immediate response to any emergencies that occur, and take responsibility for the safety of the entire crew on board while doing so,” said Pooley.  

“This is called Charge. The Captain exercises Command and delegates Charge to the Officer of the Watch. Charge is a legal status placed on the Officer of the Watch, which gives them command of everyone on the ship except for the Captain and the Executive Officer, who is the second in command, for the duration of their watch, until the watch is taken by another Officer of the Watch. At sea there is always an Officer of the Watch on the bridge, looking out the window and considering all of these requirements, and issuing orders to complete them.”   

Pooley is currently under training to hold Charge, working under a qualified watchkeeper while on the bridge. When it is determined that Pooley is a competent and effective watchkeeper, he will be issued a Bridge Watchkeeping Ticket.  

“Once I achieve this, I will go ashore and stand before a board of very senior Officers who will evaluate all of my knowledge gathered from my time at sea,” Pooley explained.

“If I pass this board, I will be certified to be an Officer of the Watch on any Canadian Warship. My job is to pursue this status relentlessly and demonstrate that I can be trusted with the responsibility of Charge.”

Holding this responsibility is no small task on a ship like HMCS Calgary, which, recently made the single largest heroin seizure in Combined Maritime Forces history, seizing 1,286 kg. of heroin during Operation Artemis, of which SLt. Pooley was a part. HMCS Calgary also holds the record of the most busts overall as a single ship. 

“HMCS Calgary’s success has had a lot to do with how willing we are to investigate suspicious vessels despite the fact that it is quite a lot of work for the ship to operate at the tempo we are operating at,” said Pooley.

“The most rewarding confirmation of all of this, is when an American Navy Admiral admitted that we were the most effective ship to ever conduct Operations of this nature in the Middle East. It was very humbling to be at sea with such capable people.”

SLt. Pooley continues to make great strides in his training and pursuing his career as a Naval Officer, and encourages anyone, even those born in the semi-arid small towns of south-central British Columbia, to consider that the Navy may be their calling. 

“This job truly is for the person who wants to prove to themselves that they aren’t only book smart, but they are able to apply their knowledge to reality,” said Pooley.  

“It is also for the person who wants to do their best to do the right thing and tell the truth. Lying in this occupation is the most capital of offenses, respect is generally earned by effort and the willingness to own your mistakes. These principles sound great to anyone but I have not found them better practiced than in the Naval Warfare Officer trade.”

Despite a career in far flung lands and seas, Pooley will always have a soft spot for his hometown.   

“After eleven years in the Navy, I still miss home all the time, and while I do love being at sea, my heart will always be with the mountains.”