The “cycle of life” seemed to be on Major Mary Cameron-Kelly’s mind during her recent induction into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame.
In Toronto September 14, Cameron-Kelly was feted for her 43 years of service in the Royal Canadian Air Force; but remembered her dad, home in North Sydney, Cape Breton, filing down the front picks of her figure skates so she could play backyard hockey with the boys.
“At that time, girls weren’t allowed to play hockey. If the hockey opportunities available to girls back then were like what they are today, I am pretty sure my career path might have taken quite a different twist, and I may have hoped to meet you down the road – maybe at the Hockey Hall of Fame instead of here!”
Cameron-Kelly was recognized: the first female technical instructor in 1986, the first female Canadian Forces CP140 Aurora pilot in 1991, the world’s first female maritime patrol crew commander in 1995, the first female Aurora pilot instructor later that year. In her aviation hall of fame induction remarks, she talked about “proud mother bear energy,” as two young women, once 562 Cabot Air Cadet Squadron themselves, described Cameron-Kelly’s one-time reviewing officer speech to her own hometown unit as their inspiration to become RCAF helicopter pilots.
In 2003, Cameron-Kelly flew the last Aurora home after Operation Apollo, the fight against terrorism, from the Arabian Gulf. In 2009, on an exchange posting to RAF Kinloss, she was the last Canadian to fly the Nimrod. In her CAHF acceptance speech, she shared her “grandmother’s” perspective, watching pilots she’s trained cross her path again as new instructors themselves, “squirming and pulling their hair out, figuring out how to best cope with newbee pilots.”
Her dad was a Korean veteran; her mother took home movies of Cameron-Kelly running around with a plastic fighter helmet she got for Christmas; her husband, Jim Kelly, retired after his own 35-year military career – through which he often managed the home front for their now-adult children, Cameron and Amanda, while Cameron-Kelly was away.
“A very important group of people to thank – my family,” Cameron-Kelly said. “I must admit, it has been a juggle at times being a mom and wife and military officer. I couldn’t have done all I did without all the help and support from the home. At home, if I didn’t fly, Jim would notice I’d get a bit snappy or cranky and say, ‘You need to go back to work and do some flying.’”
Also in the CAHF awards audience: her brother, David, a national dart champion several times, and his wife, Michele; several cousins from Cape Breton – “the motherland;” friends from across the country and as far as the United Kingdom; aviation mentors and colleagues from Cameron-Kelly’s military world and the wider female aviation community, including the 99s, Canadian Women in Aviation and Elevate Aviation.
“Today, there are so many more opportunities for young girls to follow their dreams and aspirations,” Cameron-Kelly said. “I have had the chance over my military career to do some very, very cool things and, looking back, there is very little I would change. Especially tracking real Russian subs on operational patrols, participating in chasing – and sometimes capturing – drug boats along the Atlantic coast, being a part of search and rescue operations or just coast-crawling to have a bit of fun, ripping by Peggy’s Cove at 200 or 300 feet.
“I know I have less military flying days ahead of then behind me now. I truly love my job and being part of the RCAF. I do hope to continue to influence, torment and groom more young people – especially women, to follow their dream – whatever it is. If you hold on to it and persevere, it can come true. I’m living proof of that.”
