By Capt. Christine MacNeil
for The Irish Loop Post
Off the coast of Hawaii – a long way from home, Sailor First Class (S1) Katie Balsom is currently part of a six-month deployment on board HMCS Winnipeg.
Raised in Petty Harbour and Hodge’s Cove, Balsom grew up on the water. She spent hours in the boat with her poppy, and partook of the recreational fishery every year with her parents. This love of the water led Katie to the #3 Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps, Terra Nova. She attended various cadet camps every year from 2010 – 2015, and learned knots, jackstays, drill and deportment, and First Aid. She also earned her radio certificate and Small Boat licence. In May 2016, she thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool to get paid being on the water, just like what I do already?”
So, she joined the Naval Reserves at HMCS Cabot as a boatswain (bos’n).
After graduating from St. Kevin’s High School the Goulds in June of 2016, Balsom was sent to Valcartier, Quebec for eight weeks to complete her Basic Military Qualification Training, more familiarly known as Boot Camp or Basic Training. After completing BMQT, then-Sailor 3rd Class Balsom returned to HMCS Cabot briefly, and in January 2017 was sent to Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Esquimalt, B.C. for her three-month Boatswain training course.
As a bos’n, her job consists of a variety of interesting jobs.
“We work primarily on the upper decks doing anchor work, mooring, slipping and berthing, tending the small boats (Zodiac and Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat, or RHIB), and Replenishments at Sea (RAS),” said Balsom. “We also stand watches on the bridge as lookout, bos’n mate, and throttles; below decks we do rigging, sewing, and maintaining the cleaning gear locker. Every day is something new, and we never do the same thing twice.”
As a reservist with a full-time contract, then-Sailor Second Class Balsom sailed with the Royal Canadian Navy for eight months, participating in the Great Lakes deployment and sailing up into Hudson Bay. One of her most memorable moments was from that trip. Balsom was sailing the North Atlantic from Greenland, and out of nowhere the ribbons of the Northern Lights lit up the night sky; it went from pitch black to bright as day with green, blues and pinks. Her second most memorable moment happened after she transferred to the Regular Force and was posted to HMCS Winnipeg in CFB Esquimalt. S1 Balsom deployed in 2021 as part of Operation PROJECTION, and during that deployment, HMCS Winnipeg was part of one of the largest carrier strike groups assembled since World War II.
“Seeing all the ships and aircraft flying by was so cool,” said Balsom.
On June 14, 2022, S1 Balsom again set sail on HMCS Winnipeg. This trip will be six months and has included the Rim of the Pacific exercise, or RIMPAC, which takes place off the coast of Hawaii and is the largest international maritime warfare exercise in the world. Having just completed RIMPAC, HMCS Winnipeg now transitions to Operation PROJECTION, where she will conduct forward naval presence operations in the Indo-Pacific region as well as conduct cooperative deployments and participate in international naval exercises with partner nations. Operation PROJECTION shows Canada’s ongoing commitment to global peace. The deployment of sailors, ships and submarines shows how the RCN is ready to defend Canada’s interests around the world.
