Mr. John Bell’s association with the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets began in 1961 when he joined RCSCC Bonaventure in Cartierville, Quebec. After four years in Cadets he joined the RCNR as an Able Seaman and then a year later the RCN as an Officer Cadet at Queen’s University. He retired as a Commander in 2003 after serving in eleven different ships and on sea going and shore based staffs in Halifax, Esquimalt, the United Kingdom and finally Ottawa. His final appointment was as the senior Naval Officer on the Directorate of Cadets Staff. Since then he has completed an eight year term as a member of the National Board of the Navy League of Canada. Now as Vice Chairman of the RCSCEF he is supporting Cadets as a member of the third organization in the triangle of support (DCdts/DND, NLOC, RCSCEF) for the movement.

John is a past member of the board for the Ottawa Branch of the Naval Association of Canada and is currently on the board of Ottawa Alternative Trade, which operates a Ten Thousand Villages store in Ottawa. He and his wife Janet live in Ottawa. They have three children who now have families of their own.