“I Have the Watch!”: Change of Command at HMCS Venture

The Change of Command

Michael McWhinnie
PA Advisor, NTG

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During the forenoon of July 26, Captain (Navy) (Capt(N)) Matthew Coates, Commander Naval Training Group, presided over a ceremony that saw the command of HMCS Venture pass from Commander (Cdr) Mike Stefanson to Cdr Darren Sleen.

Guests, including friends, family, and military colleagues past and present, gathered before the Collier Building at Work Point. The site was selected for its proximity to an important artifact, the mast of a past HMCS Venture that served as a naval officer training vessel just before the outbreak of the Second World War.

The outgoing Commandant reflected on the many intersections between his career and Venture.

“Like most current-serving Senior Naval Officers, I received my initial MARSS training at Naval Officers Training Centre (NOTC) Venture,” said Cdr Stefanson.

He returned as a student a second time to earn the Fleet Navigation Officer qualification. He later served as an instructor before returning once more as the Naval Warfare Officer Division Commander. As the end of his first Command appointment approached (Commanding Officer of HMCS Winnipeg, 2017 – 2021), Cdr Stefanson was presented with a unique opportunity. During the intervening years since last serving at NOTC Venture, the task of officer training had been assigned to Naval Fleet School Pacific. He learned of the Royal Canadian Navy’s plan to create a new training establishment dedicated not only to the professional formation of Naval Technical Officers and Naval Warfare Officers but to include a ‘leadership, culture and conduct’ element aimed at adapting and instilling those military values essential to the Navy’s future success.

The name of Venture was revived, and a little over a year ago, Cdr Stefanson began leading the effort to create and launch the envisioned ‘centre of leadership excellence’ while, at the same time, continuing to deliver established officer training.

“My time at Venture has been extremely rewarding. It has allowed me to continue exercising leadership in a way that directly engages with people and is closely connected to the business conducted by our sailors on ships,” he said. “I am very proud and grateful for the professionalism, dedication and passion exhibited by the Venture team this past year.”

Cdr Stefanson will soon be promoted and posted to the East Coast to assume the duties of Deputy Fleet Commander, Maritime Forces Atlantic.

As officers progress through assignments of increasing responsibility, they eventually cross a threshold that demarcates ‘leading people’ from ‘leading the institution’. Cdr Sleen made clear he understood and was eager to accept the obligations entrusted to him by this command appointment.

Having served as Deputy Commander Naval Training Group, Cdr Sleen enters the job with a strong awareness of the successes and challenges Venture faces one year into its reconstitution.

“I am grateful and humbled to have been selected for this appointment,” Cdr Sleen started his address. “I want to recognize the tremendous progress Mike and his staff have achieved this past year and intend to build on that momentum. Today’s Navy is the product of the many contributions by those who have served before us. In the same way, how we fulfill our duties today and what we build going forward will have consequences well beyond the horizon of our own careers. I have the watch.”

The second portion of the ceremony entailed a military parade. Participants walked to the parade square, where more than 300 students and staff had assembled to present themselves to the Commandant for the first time. Sporting a conspicuously new HMCS Venture ball cap, Cdr Sleen took the salute. The command had well and truly been passed.

Over 300 HMCS Venture staff and students (and the Executive Officer’s new baby) fall-in on the parade square during the Change of Command Ceremony held at CFB Esquimalt (Work Point) on Aug. 26. Photo: MARPAC Imaging Services