Sailor Profile: Meet Sailor 1st Class Michael P. Gallant

Navy News / July 5, 2021

Sailor 1st Class (S1) Michael P. Gallant, a Marine Systems Engineer from Fleet Diving Unit (Atlantic), is one of 24 Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel participating in Exercise Sea Breeze 21 in Odesa, Ukraine from June 28 to July 10, 2021. The CAF’s participation in this year’s iteration of the exercise is part of Operation Unifier, the CAF military training and capacity-building mission in Ukraine.

Born and raised in Cole Harbour, N.S., S1 Gallant joined the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) to follow the footsteps of his father.

“My motivation to join the RCN was that I always wanted to travel and my father was in the Navy and this inspired me to follow him,” he said.

A marine systems engineer is an important naval trade as they are responsible for such things as the readiness, operation and maintenance of propulsion and ancillary systems, power generation and distribution, auxiliary systems, ship’s service systems, ship and machinery control systems, hull structure, ship’s stability and damage control.

“My job at Fleet Diving Unit is the maintenance of jet boats, dive tender, rigid-hulled inflatable boats and Mambas (inflatable boats), as well as support equipment such as generators, outboard motors, and compressors,” said S1 Gallant. “The biggest challenge is that my trade never stops learning, for ranks there is a board you must pass to move on. As well, technology is always changing, so learning never stops.”

Over the years, the RCN has taken S1 Gallant all over the world. A highly experienced sailor, some of his deployments include Operations Endeavour 2012, Reassurance 2012 and 2016, Nanook 2016, Projection 2017 and 2018, and Nanook-Nunalivut 2020, and Exercises Bold Alligator 2017 and Neptune Trident 2017.

“Each deployment had its own challenge based on where we were in the world, but it was great to be able to work alongside people from different regions around the world,” he said.

During this exercise, S1 Gallant is providing engineering support to the Clearance Divers Team.

“My role in Sea Breeze is to maintain the Mambas and outboard motors, generators and the compressor in order to enable the divers to complete their mission,” he noted.

Co-hosted by the United States Navy (USN) and the Ukrainian Navy (UN), with the support of NATO’s Partnership for Peace program, Exercise Sea Breeze 21 is about training together and making new friends based on a shared commitment to peace and stability in Europe. This exercise has global participation with more than 30 countries training together to enable and enhance collaborative naval operations amongst maritime security partners in the Black Sea.

“I’m truly honoured to be part of this multinational exercise,” said S1 Gallant.

Asked about his message to young Canadians who are perhaps considering joining the RCN, S1 Gallant advised, “The RCN offers many challenging jobs that can take you to many places around the world. It also provides you the tools and trains you to meet the high standard that it places on you. Being a sailor in the Navy is a rewarding career to many people, and I recommend it to someone that enjoys to be challenged.”