Rod Hughes

Membership Director
Rod Hughes
rhughes@shaw.ca
250-472-8905

Rod is our contact for HMCS MALAHAT and the BC Sea Cadets programme, as well as the Naval Officers training at Venture Division of the Naval Fleet School Pacific (at Work Point).  Rod also leads us in the area of Veteran Affairs Canada and will be the primary contact if you have any needs or concerns in that area.

Commander (RCN) Rod Hughes, CD (Retired)

The RCN has been a major influence on my life. Many long-lasting friendships were forged during my years in the Navy. My father was a career naval officer and I married into a naval family. In short, the Navy is in my blood. I started my career with the Naval Reserve in 1974 while I was in school, but transferred to the Regular Navy shortly thereafter and retired nearly 38 years later in March 2012. I was a cold warrior for the first half of my career, followed by years of helping to organize deployments for what has been euphemistically called the “hot peace”. Highlights of my career were my SNFL and international deployments, three years on exchange with the RN, being the last XO of HMCS Kootenay and the XO for commission HMCS OTTAWA, being the Executive Assistant for two Commanders of MARPAC, and finally, CO for the cadet programme in BC. I thoroughly enjoyed these varied appointments and embraced the challenges and opportunities that each of them presented. In addition, in my career, I returned to University as a mature student and completed my Bachelor of Commerce degree from Royal Roads University. I am a graduate of the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College in Toronto. Serving in a mix of ships on both coasts and on the staffs of six different Headquarters made me proud to call myself a member of the RCN. Even if most of Canada doesn’t know it I believe the Navy is one of Canada’s cornerstone institutions. It has a long and proud history and my membership in the Naval Association of Canada is an extension of my years in uniform. It is a way of maintaining those friendships; after all, the navy is foremost all about people. I see my position on the Board of NAC-VI as a way of giving back to the naval community locally. I strongly believe in community involvement and volunteer as a Board Member and as the Treasurer of Legion Manor a not-for-profit low-income senior living community in Saanichton BC. I live in Victoria BC with my amazing wife, Barb, who has put up with me for over 40 years. We have two wonderful adult daughters, one an engineer, the other a teacher, and we have three marvelous grandchildren.