Crowe, Leanne

Commander Leanne Crowe is a currently serving member of the Canadian Forces; she is on staff at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto and visited Crestwood twice during the 2022-23 school year.  She was born in Vancouver in 1964 and grew up in different parts of Canada, including Montreal and Oakville, Ontario.  In high school she joined the naval reserve; she was sports-oriented and was looking for an active job to do.  Her interest was piqued, and she never looked back from there, going on to be a naval warfare officer and eventually a clearance diver, the first woman to serve in that role in Canada.  Commander Crowe has had multiple deployments:  she served with NATO forces in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, aboard the HMCS Nipigon.  She also served in the Arabian Gulf aboard the HMCS Protecteur, and in 2010 she took part in the Afghanistan mission, Operation Athena.  She served as the Chief of Counter-IEDs, working in Kandahar province.  All through her career she has confronted and conquered the realities and obstacles of being a female officer, and she has brought her experience to the next generation of officers in the Canadian Forces.  Commander Leanne Crowe visited Crestwood in April 2023, when she was interviewed by members of the Politics 12 class and MUN club.