Biography

Lieutenant (Navy) Petra Smith - Public Affairs Officer

November 10, 2005

Lieutenant (Navy) Petra Smith, 28, is in her second year as the Canadian Forces Snowbirds Public Affairs Officer. Her duties include media relations, community outreach, website and imagery coordination, and internal communications.

Lieutenant (Navy) Smith joined the Canadian Forces in 1995 as a Maritime Surface and Subsurface Officer and graduated from the Royal Military College in 1999 with a First Class Honours English degree. While attending the Royal Military College, Lieutenant (Navy) Smith completed two training courses with the Navy and sailed on HMCS Oriole, Canada's oldest commissioned ship, from Victoria to Maui. Upon graduation, she was then posted to Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, where she continued with Navy training, worked at the Base Public Affairs Office and, subsequently, an occupational transfer to Public Affairs.

Upon completion of basic public affairs training at the National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa and at the Defense Information School in Fort Meade, Maryland, Lieutenant (Navy) Smith was posted to Land Force Western Area Public Affairs in 2001. In 2002, she was posted to 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, Edmonton, Alberta, and deployed on Operation GRIZZLY in support of the G8 Summit.

From October 2002 to April 2003, Lieutenant (Navy) Smith deployed on Operation PALLADIUM in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the First Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Battle Group. Upon returning home, she deployed on Operation PEREGRINE in support of the forest fires in British Columbia in August and September 2003.

Lieutenant (Navy) Smith has a Masters Degree in War Studies from the Royal Military College.

More Biography