April 28, 2015
Captain Gary Hatton RCN, Canadian Forces College Foundation, Independent Corporate Director, Last Post Fund Ontario Branch

Gary will speak about his 2 years in Command of HMCS MONTREAL which encompassed 9/11, the Bali Bombings, the Yemen Tanker attack, the Iraq invasion and numerous other life changing events! Among many he will describe an experience he had conducting /safeguarding a US troop ship carrying 15,000 men through the Strait of Hormuz during the Persian Gulf War. He was 6 miles from shore and threatened by the possibility of Iranian missiles.

He will give us insight on command in a war situation and the kind of threat, risk and decision making in real time that few of us have experienced. He has an outgoing, vigorous personality.

Captain Gary ‘Doc’ Hatton RCN, joined the Canadian Forces in 1977 after service in the Naval Reserve and Militia. He served in HMC Ships Donnacona, Qu’Appelle, Chaleur, Miramichi, Saskatchewan, Athabaskan, Protecteur, Nipigon, Gatineau, USS Capodanno and USS Saratoga in capacities from Weapons Director to Executive Officer. In 2001 Capt Hatton RCN, assumed Command of HMCS Montreal and St John’s (temporary) and HMCS Preserver in 2004. His shore appointments have included the CF Fleet School, CFS Shelburne, the Fleet ASW Training Center in Norfolk, Virginia, Cruiser Destroyer Group Eight, the Canadian Defence Liaison Staff – London, the First Maritime Operations Group, Queen’s Harbour Master, Formation Administration Officer in CFB Halifax and, in August 2006, the Combined Joint Operations from the Sea Center of Excellence in Norfolk, Virginia.

In February 1998, Capt Hatton RCN, was appointed to the staff of the Commander US Naval Central Command in Kuwait and Bahrain as Assistant Operations and Canadian Liaison Officer in support of Operations Determination and Desert Fox. In the fall of 1998, he was the Naval Salvage Advisor in command of naval personnel for the heavy salvage of Swissair Flight 111, Operation Persistence, off Halifax where he received the Maritime Commander’s Commendation for his efforts. While in Command of HMCS Montreal, Capt Hatton RCN, deployed for seven months on a War Patrol to the Persian Gulf as Flagship for Allied Coalition Naval Forces and Deputy Commander of TF-151 in Operation Apollo in support of Operation’s Enduring and Iraqi Freedom.

Capt Hatton RCN, was appointed an Officer of the Order of Military Merit in 2007, a Paul Harris Fellow in 2008 and was awarded the US Meritorious Service Medal in 2009. Capt Hatton RCN, was also Chairman of the Ronald Matthew Burke Memorial Fund, a member of the Board of Directors for Tall Ships 2000, the Canadian and Halifax Marine Advisory Committees, the International Sister Cities Association, Rotary International, a Volunteer at the Camp Hill Veteran’s Memorial Building, and a Board member of the Nova Scotia Branch of the Last Post Fund. He is presently 2nd Vice President of the Ontario Branch of the Last Post Fund, a Board Member of the Naval Officers Association of Canada, Toronto Branch, a Knight of the Order of St. George, a sailing member of the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron, the past Commodore of the CFSA Toronto, and may often be found aboard his other command, Doc’s Ology. In 2011 Capt Hatton RCN, founded the Canadian Forces College Foundation where he serves as Executive Director (Acting).

Capt Hatton RCN, attended John Abbott College and Concordia University in Montreal, the Canadian Forces Staff School in Toronto, the Royal Navy Staff College in Greenwich, England, and the University of London, King’s College, where he graduated with a Master of Arts in Defence Studies. He is also a 2004 Graduate with Distinction of the Naval Command Course at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

Capt Hatton RCN, was appointed to the Canadian Forces College in Toronto in July 2009, and in 2013 retired from Naval Service as Deputy Commandant with over 38 Years of Service to Queen and Country.