Private (Trained) captures Sailor of Quarter award

Pte(T) Alison Tso

Peter Mallett
Staff Writer
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HMCS Calgary was in the final leg of its deployment last July when Pte(T) Alison Tso was called to the Coxswain’s office on board the ship. She was surprised to find CPO1 Mark Chambers and the entire ship’s command team assembled, so her first thought was a worried “Uh oh.”

That thought turned to astonishment when the Fleet Chief told her she was nominated and selected for the Maritime Forces Pacific’s Sailor of the Third Quarter. 

“My mind was still in deployment mode, so being told I had won the award felt like it was a dream,” she says. “I was a Private winning the Sailor of the Quarter Award and it was really nice to have been recognized for the work I was doing.”

In an internal document, Cdr Mark O’Donohue, Calgary’s Commanding Officer, said Pte(T) Tso’s “professionalism and dedication, both on and off duty, reflects the morals and ethics expected of a service member” and that her “strong work performance and initiative makes them an outstanding candidate for this award.”

CPO1 Chambers described Pte(T) Tso as “one of those sailors that seems to be wherever she is needed and never hesitates to roll up her sleeves and lend her assistance whenever it is required.”

The award most certainly stems from her leadership skills mentoring of junior members; streamlining the communications process for casualty clearing, which earned her a Commanding Officer’s Coin from Sea Training Pacific; volunteering to assist physician’s assistants and medical technicians to deliver the COVID-19 vaccine in foreign ports; and volunteering for a promotional video about her position on board Calgary that was meant to educate university students in Vietnam on gender-equality in the Royal Canadian Navy that appeared on its Facebook page.

The 25-year-old grew up in Burnaby, B.C., and studied Human Resources Management at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. She initially joined the civilian workforce as a corporate head hunter for C-suite level employees.

“I joined the CAF because I wanted to serve a higher purpose than just sitting at my desk in a glass office tower in the middle of downtown Vancouver,” she says. “I wanted adventure, a sense of excitement when I went to work, and a job that I didn’t necessarily need to take a vacation from.”

She chalks up her recognition to keeping her focus and determination during the COVID-19 pandemic, and offers this advice to others.

“In these tough times of the pandemic, it’s easy to lose focus on how far you’ve come and how much you’ve accomplished to this point. Remember to take a breath, refocus, and get ready to absolutely crush your next goal.”

She is now on board HMCS Regina as a Human Resources Administrator.

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