LCdr Damien Ciotti was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, and he joined the Naval Reserve in HMCS Griffon as a Boatswain in 2004 while attending Lakehead University. He enrolled in the Regular Officer Training Plan in 2005 as a Maritime Surface and Sub-Surface Officer (MARS), and graduated from Lakehead in 2008 with an HB.A in Political Science. Following graduation he was immediately sent to South America on an exchange with the Ecuadorian Navy in their naval tallship BAE Guayas, on completion of which he returned to NOTC Venture for completion of navigation and bridge officer training, which included sailing the Inside Passage to Alaska in HMCS Edmonton. He received his Bridge Watchkeeping Certificate in HMCS Athabaskan in 2009, and after attending the Above Water Warfare Director’s Course, was appointed as the AWWO in HMCS Iroquois and subsequently in Charlottetown, where he deployed in 2012 on Operations METRIC and ARTEMIS. During Op. ARTEMIS, he led the RCNs first UAV detachment in an operational theatre, and conducted several successful interdictions of narcotics and personnel. After selection and completion of the Operations Room Officer Course, he was appointed as the Operations Officer in HMCS Charlottetown, and deployed on Op. REASSURANCE, which included NATO operations shadowing the Russian aircraft carrier Kuznetsov. After a brief stint as the ORO Course Officer in Halifax, LCdr Ciotti served at NORAD-USNORTHCOM in Colorado Springs, USA. Following time as the Program Coordinator for the National Security Programme at the Canadian Forces College, he was selected for and is currently attending the Joint Command and Staff Programme. He is very happily married to Meaghan, and together they have three very active children. Crestwood students were fortunate to zoom with him in April 2024.