Interview with Rear Admiral (Ret'd) Roger Girouard (March 21, 2022)

Interviewer: Jack Withers Interviewee: Retired Rear Admiral Roger Girouard, 1956- An interview/narrative of Roger Girouard's experiences serving in the Canadian Armed Forces. Interview took place on March 21, 2022 over a video call. ABSTRACT: Girouard begins by speaking about his career in broad terms, from cadet to Rear-Admiral, before talking about life as a junior officer, and how it changed as he moved up the ranks. He discusses changes in the RCN as a whole, including digitalization, and his command of HMCS Chaleur, Miramich and Iroquois. He spends considerable time discussing INTERFET and East Timor, before switching to the broader performance of Maritime Forces Pacific, discussing its role and contrast from the Maritime Forces Atlantic. Finally, he answers perceptions on resources and funding of the RCN. 00:00 – 0:49 Introduction 00:49 – 2:39 Overview of Career 02:39 – 5:48 Junior Ranks of RCN in 1960s 05:48 – 10:54 Moving up the Ranks: Changes 10:54 – 16:18 Changes in the organization 16:18 – 22:03 Command of HMCS Chaleur and HMCS Miramich, HMCS Iroquois 22:09 – 35:13 East Timor Mission 35:13 – 43:46 Experiences in the Maritime Forces Pacific 43:46 - 49:39 Differences between the fleets, International Missions in Pacific 49:39 – 53:34 Resource distribution in the RCN 53:34 – 55:41 Reflections on career 55:41 – 56:11 Closing procedure

In Collection:

• Canadian Military Oral Histories

Contributor

• Withers, Jack
• Girouard, Roger, 1956-

Subject

• Personal narratives
• Military history
• Personal narratives--Canadian
• Girouard, Roger, 1956-
• Canada. Royal Canadian Navy

Language

• eng

Identifier

• Interview #SC141_GR_903

Keyword

• Funding
• Halifax
• International Trade Missions
• Maritime Forces Pacific
• Reserves
• HMCS Miramich
• Minesweepers, INTERFET
• HMCS Chaleur
• Maritime Surface Officer
• HMCS Iroquois

Date created

• March 21, 2022

Relation

• Part of the Military Oral History Class collection of interviews (HIST 426, Spring 2022).

Resource type

• Moving Image

Rights statement

• In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Extent

• 00:56:11

Geographic coverage

• Maritime Provinces
• Timor-Leste

Coordinates

• 46.0, -64.0
• -8.83333, 125.75

Physical repository

• University of Victoria (B.C.). Library

Collection

• Canadian Military Oral History Collection

Provider

• University of Victoria (B.C.). Library

Genre

• interviews
• reminiscences
• oral histories (literary genre)
• video recordings (physical artifacts)

Archival item identifier

• Accession Number: 2022-020; Series: VII; Item: 903

Fonds title

• Military Oral History collection

Fonds identifier

• SC141

Is referenced by

• Special Collections Finding Aid: https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/military-oral-history-collection

Date digitized

• March 21, 2022

Technical note

• Interview done through an online video call, MP4, 90 mb. Metadata by KD.

Rights

• This interview has been posted with the understanding that it may be used for research purposes only. Should the interviewee or their heirs have any objections to this interview being accessible on the Internet, it will be removed promptly. Contact UVic Special Collections for permission if using for other than research purposes: speccoll@uvic.ca

DOI

•  https://doi.org/10.58066/rz1m-e586