It was a Monday and as such, a parade night for air cadets in Oxbow, SK and during Irene Doty's usual inspection of the squadron that night, she came across an intrepid 12 year-old girl. Doty noticed the girl's pride in donning the cadet uniform and asked her "what would you hope to achieve as an air cadet?" The girl diligently responded, "Ma'am, I want to be an Air Canada pilot," and Doty advised her that once she worked hard enough during her cadet years she would surly achieve her dream. Ten years later, Irene Doty was on her way from Halifax on an Air Canada flight when a woman seated next to her said, "Mrs. Doty?" She responded with a dubious "yes," it was then that the woman identified herself. "I'm Jill Quinn, I thought it was you." This was the same 12 year-old girl who Doty advised some ten years before. She was on her way to Toronto to write an Air Canada exam to become a pilot.
"I'll never forget that because she had such a dreamevery time that I meet young people who are successful, not in military but business world, they will tell you that over and over again today they have achieved their goal in life because of the training they received in the Air Cadet program," Doty remembers.
This is just one example of the impression the Air Cadet Movement and Irene Doty, 77, has made on youth in Canada over the years. And after 39 years of service Irene Doty received the Air Cadet League of Canada Medal of Honour at a ceremony in Charlottetown, PEI on June 22nd for her work in the Air Cadet Movement.
She recalls the encounter with Quinn and said there were many similar instances when she saw people who were impacted by the league. Doty admits that receiving the medal is an honour but was quick to highlight the volunteers who are involved in the organization and how their work and influence has helped many young people across Canada.
"I'm only a small spoke in a wheel; there are thousands of people across Canada that work with our young people.," she said.
Doty joined the movement in 1974 when her daughter wanted to become an air cadet and with any program that the Doty's children were a part of, she and her and husband Jack would get involved. That year, the program had evolved allowing girls to become members. And the organization that began 73 years ago as an initiative to train young men to become pilots during the time of the Second World War started to grow in numbers. It went beyond aeronautic training and became a means to promote good citizenship and leadership among young people and today there are about 25,000 cadets across Canada. Doty admitted that if it wasn't for her daughter wanting to become a cadet she wouldn't have volunteered but she heard so many good things about the program that she thought she would give it a try. "My work went on here(Carlyle) at the local level, then I became an area director representing the Air Cadet League of Canada and worked not only with the local squadron here but one in Oxbow and Estevan and so these three became sort of my babies to look after ," she said.
As an area director and being involved at the provincial level she was nominated in 1984 to the national body of the movement becoming the first woman ever to be nominated. "My journey began sort of locally but it really advancedthe longer I was involved the more I realized what a wonderful youth program it is," Doty said.
"Often when I'm flying across our great land of Canada I often wonder 'I wonder if the pilot in this plane was an air cadet?"
She took the prestige of firsts further ten years later when she became the first woman to hold the office of national president in 1994-95. She believes it was her biggest challenge and attributed a lot of her success to the support of her husband.
"I could never have done it without my husband's support, always at my side whenever we traveled to meetings across Canada He was always there because I always needed him," Doty remembers.
Her goal at the time as president was to have better communication between the national level of the Air Cadet Movement and the local level within provinces. "So I decided that as soon I became president that my goal was during every month to phone each provincial chair and to discuss with them any problems they might be having or just to share (information) - show that we cared enough, "she explained.
Another first that she added to list was her journey to the Northwest Territories when she was the first national president to visit the Air Cadet League in Yellow Knife, spending three days in the city."They just rolled out the red carpet, they kept saying, 'Irene, how come you've decided to do this?' I said 'well, when I heard that in all these years that no one had ever visited you, I thought you needed a pat on the back, you work under such adverse conditions here in the north," she recalled explaining to cadet leaders in the area. During her time as president she had to almost set her personal life aside Doty explained, as the role involved an ample amount of work. At the time communication was done only by phone and fax and this in its self she said posed its own challenges as the main office was in Ottawa.
"That's all we had, we didn't have computers we didn't have email," she said.
But she remembers another highlight during her time as president was attending an international conference in Sweden, representing Canada as a delegate in an exchange program for cadets. She recalls the rave reviews she got from representatives from countries about the Air Cadet League and its influence.
"Mrs. Doty, we want you to take back this message to all your people 'that we feel the program you have for your young people is the best," she recalled representatives telling her during the conference.
She explained that one reason behind the program being so successful is its promotion of confidence, teaching responsibility and self-discipline. This she describes as the qualities that over the years, adds to the finished product and says through summer camps and involvement in aviation young people learn the concept of setting and achieving goals.
"What do we expect from a young person, first we teach them that their uniform should be pressed and tidy and their boot shone till you can see yourself in them" she said.
In 73 years since the Air Cadet League was founded Irene Doty is the sixteenth person to receive the Medal of Honour award and her dedication she says comes from wanting to do her best to help. And if that help has to come from volunteering her time, she is willing and if the help comes in form of just reassuring someone's dreams with solid advice just as she did years ago with Jill Quinn then she will. About seven weeks after Doty ran into Jill Quinn on the flight to Toronto, she received a phone call from Quinn. It was to confirm that she achieved her dream and she was now an Air Canada Pilot.
