Alison Lucas was born in Ottawa to parents that moved around frequently, since her father was in the Air Force. Her mother was an Emergency Room nurse who took a “break” to manage the 3 kids and all the moves. By the time she was in high school, she had moved 8 times, but was lucky enough to do all her high school in one place – Winnipeg. Her school had some great international trips; she went to South Korea and was in the International Baccalaureate program. Alison joined the military for many reasons: to get a good education, to travel the world, and to get a few years of experience in her chosen field. She went to the military college in Kingston, and took a history degree with a few business courses: The mixture of academics with military training was challenging at times, and it was added to summers of infantry training, logistics training, and other military employment – it meant a busy few years. After graduation from RMC, she was posted to Edmonton, where she spent five years in two very different units. The first was a logistics unit, and she deployed to Afghanistan during that time. She spent time both at the main base at the Kandahar Air Field, and a smaller base further west called Ma’Sum Ghar, organizing support for the other military units there. When she returned she was posted to a medical unit as their lead support officer, and advised them on how to sustain their unit when they deployed to the field. She submitted a request for an out of Canada posting while she was with the medical unit, and was posted to the UK, specifically to Bath – an hour and a half west of London – to be an exchange officer with a Supply Regiment there. She deployed with the Brits as well, to Afghanistan again, though this time to Helmand province. On her return to Canada, she was in Ottawa with a staff job at our Operational Headquarters, specifically planning international exercises, so she ended up traveling quite a bit: to Hawaii three times to help coordinate Exercise RIMPAC; to Kingston, Jamaica, to facilitate a summer exercise there; and to both Whitehorse and Yellowknife to coordinate the Canadian northern exercise. She was posted as unit commander in Montreal of the joint (not just army) movements control unit. While at the unit she deployed to teach a course in Kenya on the military planning process, a NATO course on the Joint Logistics Support Group and to Senegal to coordinate the movement of helicopters in support of the Mali Peacekeeping Mission with the UN. Presently she is studying at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, at which time she agreed to visit us at Crestwood to share her experiences with Mr. Masters’ Politics 12 class.
