Skills competition an all-women affair for the RCAF
News Article / November 2, 2021
Avr.(B) Aiden Patterson, 12 Wing Public Affairs
“I like solving problems,” says Master Corporal Sarah Getz about her decision to be an avionics systems technician (AVS) in the Royal Canadian Air Force.
It’s also one of the reasons she was selected for an all-women Elevate Aviation team at the 2021 Ontario Aircraft Maintenance Conference Skills Challenge. The Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (AME) Association of Ontario will host the competition on October 28, in Mississauga, Ont. during its annual conference.
It is a civilian-run competition but the AME Association invites military personnel to attend. The Elevate Aviation connection is through the organization’s formal relationship with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), with its goal to promote interest in STEM and aviation among women. Elevate Aviation has entered two teams of four in the event.
Master Cpl. Getz, who works on CH-148 Cyclone helicopters at 12 Wing Shearwater, is on one of those teams of four. She sees the skills competition as a great opportunity to improve her knowledge and skills in her trade.
Corporal Lindsay Wallace, an aviation systems technician (AVN) at 8 Wing Trenton, will be Master Cpl. Getz’s teammate for the competition, with Sergeant Stephanie Angrand from 438 Tactical Helicopter Squadron at 1 Wing, and an AME student. The CC-130 Hercules is the airframe Cpl. Wallace works on these days.
“It'll be cool to see what the civilian side of my job does,” says Cpl. Wallace. She says she’s a hands-on learner and her supervisors at 436 Transport Squadron think she would be a good addition to the Elevate Aviation team.
Cpl. Wallace is proud of the fact that her nine-year-old daughter is bragging about how her mom is going to be on the women’s team at the skills competition. “That’s the real reason I’m excited to go, it shows that the message is getting through to young woman that even though aviation and mechanics is a male-dominated field, this is a career that they can get into and succeed in.”
Both Master Cpl. Getz and Cpl. Wallace joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 2008, but they have had different career paths over the past 13 years.
Master Cpl. Getz grew up in McBride, B.C., and joined as a sonar operator in the Royal Canadian Navy, spending most of her Navy time on Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Calgary. In 2013, she decided to switch to the RCAF as an AVS technician because she wanted something that would give her a skill set that could transfer to a civilian job on retirement. As an AVS tech, she is responsible for maintaining all electronic systems onboard RCAF aircraft and for first line servicing operations in launching and recovering various types of aircraft.
Posted to 12 Wing Shearwater in 2015, Master Cpl. Getz enjoys her role as a supervisor at 12 Air Maintenance Squadron, teaching and mentoring new members in the trade and in the RCAF. She takes pride in their work when her team does well on a task.
“Some of the most challenging, but also rewarding, parts of my job are the constant evolution of the work scope and the changing of the day to day job,” she says. Her career highlights include being part of counter drug operations off of South America in the fall of 2009 onboard HMCS Calgary, and Operation REASSSURANCE from July 2018 to January 2019 on HMCS Ville De Quebec, helping the Air Task Force part of the mission and working with other NATO partners. “Seeing people in difficult times and knowing they will put aside their differences and come together to ensure success.”
In contrast to Master Cpl. Getz’s experience, Cpl. Wallace has spent a lot of time working with the Canadian Army. Before her posting to Trenton in 2019, she spent nine years working at 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron at Canadian Forces Base Edmonton.
“It was a very unique experience,” says Cpl. Wallace. “I learned how to maintain the helicopters remotely in order to provide support to the infantry for their training exercises. It all goes to show that we are all one team working together towards a common goal.”
Her career highlights include her deployment to Iraq on Operation IMPACT and now working on her second fleet as an A-level technician. But throughout her career she has noticed a lack of women around her. “Up until we had a female gunner, I was one of the only women in Canada to shoot the GAU.” (The GAU-21 .50 calibre door mounted machine gun used on the CH-146 Griffon).
Cpl. Wallace grew up in Greenwood, N.S., and was exposed to military life early because her parents were members. That’s part of the reason she joined the CAF in 2008 as an Aviation Systems Technician. “My father was an avionics systems technician,” she says, joking about her decision to do a different trade from her dad. According to him, “I went to the dark side.”
Despite their different backgrounds, both women are excited about the upcoming skills challenge.
“It’s great for networking, team building, and professional development,” says Master Cpl. Getz. “There are multiple workshops that improve your knowledge of the aviation world. These events are fantastic ways to get more women in competitions, and into the aviation industry.”
MCpl Getz and her team won 6 of the 7 awards, including Best Team Spirit, Best Score on Composite Repair and 1st place overall!
Photos: Avr. Jaclyn Buell, 12 Wing Imaging Services, and Master Cpl. Darcy Lefebvre, 8 Wing Imagery