Biography Major John B. Page, CD, Plog As at January 2015

Biography – Major John B. Page, CD, PLog as at January 2015

John is currently serving, with more than 39 years in the Canadian Armed Forces/Canadian Army, the last 28 as a commissioned Logistics Officer. His current post is with Assistant Deputy Minister (Materiel) as a Strategic Planner responsible for Government Reporting. Secondary duties include National Military Co-Chair for the Departmental Advisory Group for Persons with Disabilities and President of the Ottawa Service Battalion Association.

John was born in Barrie, Ontario in 1959; and grew up in Angus, Orleans, Germany (Soest and Hemer), Borden and Aylmer/Ottawa;going to several civilian and DND schools;completing High School and College in Hull, Quebec. John was quite familiar with the Army, not only as a Dependant Son (D/S) but having served with Army Cadets from 1971 in Borden and Ottawa, until January1976,when he joined the militia with 28 (Ottawa) Service Battalion. While with the unit he qualified and worked as both a Weapons Technician (Land) (RCEME/LORE) and a Supply Technician. He transferred to the Regular Force after completing college and summer training in August 1979.

Following basic training and a stint with the Infantry, John remustered to Supply Technician and was posted to Supply Company, 2 Service Battalion, Special Service Force Petawawa, in March 1981. He was accelerated to the rank of Corporal in May 1983 and selected for University Training Plan for Men (UTPM) at College Militaire Royal in St-Jean, appointed Officer Cadet in May 1984. John graduated with an Honours Baccalaureate in Administration in May 1987 and was concurrently commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Logistics Branch.

His first posting was to 4 Service Battalion, Lahr,West Germany where he was employed for one year as the Assistant Adjutant in Battalion Headquarters and two years as Supply Platoon Commander in S&T Company. In August 1990 John had to pay his penance and was posted as Regular Support Staff to Northern Ontario Militia District Headquarters, in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario for three years. This was followed by a posting to 1 Service Battalion, Calgary as 2IC Supply Company, then employment as the G1 at Headquarters, Canadian Contingent, United Nations Protection Force in Zagreb, Croatia from April to November 1994. Returning to Canada, John was posted to Headquarters, 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group as the G4 Supply (Brigade Ordnance Officer) in January 1995 and after completing the Army Command and Staff Course in December 1995, was appointed Brigade G4 Operations; a position he maintained through the move to Edmonton;Forest Fires, Floods, Ice Storms, and Mounting Battle Groups into Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo; until promotion to the rank of Major in April 1999.

John assumed command of Base Supply, CFB Edmonton as Base Supply Officer and within six months had formed Supply Company, 1 General Support Battalion and moved the Company from the old Base Ordnance Depot lines in Griesbach to new quarters in a section of 7 Canadian Forces Supply Depot on Steele Barracks. The battalion formed the nucleus of Task Force Bosnia-Herzegovina’s National Support Element for Roto 7, the first deployment of contracted civilian support services under ATCO-Frontec and Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency. For this deployment, John was the Deputy Commanding Officer and directly responsible for the working relationship between military and civilian components of the unit. Following the deployment, John was posted to Headquarters 1 Area Support Group, Edmonton as the G3/Operations Officer on time for 9/11 and thedeployment of 3 PPCLI Battle Group by air into Kandahar and the formation and deployment of the first ever Strategic Line of Communication Unit based in Doha, Qatar. The next major event was planning and conducting Operation GRIZZLY: Canadian Forces support to the G8 Summit, Kananaskis, in July 2002.

John was selected to be the Deputy Task Force Commander for Task Force Golan and concurrently employed as the Deputy Commanding Officer of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force Logistics Battalion, a joint Japanese and Canadian unit, deploying from June 2003 until June 2004. John remained outside Canada, selected to be the first Canadian NATO Logistics Staff Officer posted into the Headquarters, Joint Logistics and Support Command of the Hungarian Armed Forces in Budapest from August 2004 until August 2007. Returning to Canada on Queen Mary II, John was posted to Canadian Operational Support Command (CANOSCOM) in Ottawa and employed on the NATO support and Force Planning portfolio of the Operational Support Transformation Directorate.

In 2009 John received a late posting to CFB Wainwright as Deputy Base Commander and stayed there until transforming the Base into a Garrison of 3 Canadian Division Support Base, Edmonton and the elimination of the Base Command positions. John assumed his current duties at NDHQ Ottawa in September 2012. He is looking forward to transitioning into a civil service position in the near future (April 2015?) and remaining in the Ottawa area indefinitely. He is married to Maryanna Hemming of Ottawa and they live in Stittsville with their three cats – Kaydee, Lucy and Tally.