Our people: Corporal Teri Brown

News Article / March 25, 2020

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By 12 Wing Public Affairs

“I very much wanted to break from the 9-to-5 work routine,” says Corporal Teri Brown about joining the military. “I explored the Canadian Armed Forces website and was immediately called to the Aircraft Structures Technician trade as it involved a lot of things I already enjoyed doing. To me, it was a perfect match.”

Corporal Brown is an aircraft structures technician (ACS Tech) currently serving with 12 Air Maintenance Squadron (12 AMS) at 12 Wing Shearwater, Nova Scotia. She grew up in Greenwood, Nova Scotia. From a very young age, she loved making things. She also has a great passion for painting, which played a role in her following her heart to the ACS Tech trade.

After completing her degree in public relations at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and working in the field for nearly 10 years, Corporal Brown decided to try a new path and follow her passion for working with her hands. She enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in Halifax in 2014. After basic training, Corporal Brown went on to complete a year-long course in aircraft structures at the Canadian Forces School of Aerospace Technology and Engineering at Canadian Forces Base Borden, Ontario. There, she gained the basic knowledge for her trade, such as working with sheet metal and composite materials, machining, working with painting, and upholstery.

“There really isn’t one thing I don’t love about my trade,” Corporal Brown says. “There are so many ways the skills you learn as an ACS technician that apply to life at home; having a large skill set makes life that much easier.”

Among the many jobs of her trade, she really enjoyed working in refinishing, specifically painting and working with composite materials. While employed in the 12 AMS upholstery shop she was responsible for making stencils for aircraft, material work for various wing projects and creating banners to promote wing events. Currently, Corporal Brown is training in the Aviation Life Support Equipment (ALSE) shop.

Outside of her duties as an ACS Tech, Corporal Brown trains with the 12 Wing Combat Shooting Team, and competed at the Canadian Forces Small Arms Concentration in September 2019. “I finished somewhere in the middle of the pack, which I am happy with considering I had only been training for a few months and was competing with people who have been shooting for years. I hope to go back in the years to come, and continuously improve my standing,” she says. She describes how the other members of the team have really helped her: “The guys on the team are ridiculously knowledgeable and so easily approachable, which is amazing, because I was really nervous when I first joined the team – it was a big step outside of my comfort zone. They are fantastic coaches and have really helped improve my shot.”

Recently, Corporal Brown completed her training for the ACS section financial representative at 12 AMS. She will now be training a few others for the busy role of purchaser.

One of her greatest passions is working with the mentoring program Techsploration, where she is a member of the Board of Directors. Techsploration is a hands-on, mentor-led program that introduces girls in grades 9 through 12 to in-demand careers in science, engineering, trades, and technology. In February 2020, Techsploration expanded and is set to run their program in Ontario in the coming year. “The staff at Techsploration have been working hard for years to make this happen, and it is finally coming to fruition,” Corporal Brown says. “We can now say Techsploration is a national organization. I’m really proud of them.”

“Each year, the program reaches 3,500 students from more than 40 schools. The program is successful due to its 350 volunteers at over 50 events.”

Corporal Brown is a firm believer that the program makes a great difference for its participants. If they remain with the program through all four years, each girl will have been exposed to around 125 mentors in various fields of science, trades, and technology.

“Techsploration has afforded me a lot of great opportunities and inadvertently led me to my new career path,” Corporal Brown says with a laugh. “I love working with them; it wasn’t something I wanted to let go of.”

She says she arrived at 12 Wing during the transition from the CH-124 Sea King to the CH-148 Cyclone. It’s been a unique opportunity to complete her apprenticeship using more traditional methods on the Sea King and then seeing how these methods are evolving with the Cyclone.

“I have not had the opportunity to deploy with the Canadian Armed Forces yet,” Corporal Brown says. “However, if the opportunity arose, I would welcome the opportunity to deploy in any theatre of operations, in any direction—north, south, east or west.

“I know the importance of learning everything that you can because you never know what’s over the horizon.”