Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 43 Major (Ret’d) Lynn Doucette continued ... Despite having this important responsibility, Lynn still faced barriers as a woman. At the airbase in Turkey, local cultural restrictions banned women from entering the operations centres, which meant Lynn could not attend the intelligence debriefings once the plane landed. Her male deputy attended on her behalf. One particularly tense moment stands out from Lynn’s time in the Persian Gulf. With no real defenses, AWACS aircraft are usually protected by fighter jets. On this occasion, with the fighter jets far ahead at the Kuwaiti border, the radar suddenly detected high speed aircraft from a neighboring country coming towards them. “We were considered a high value asset so to shoot us down would have been a huge win for them. As per procedures, we performed a ‘bug out’ by executing a rapid descent, a 180 degree turn and quickly exiting the area. It definitely raised the heart rate of all the crew members.” After the war, Lynn participated in other AWACS missions including drug running patrols down in the Gulf of Mexico and intercepting Russian Bear aircraft in Alaska and Iceland. She then went on to become the first female Canadian Armed Forces Arms Control Inspectors where she helped former Warsaw Pact countries join NATO. While visiting these countries, Lynn became popular with citizens, who were not used to seeing a woman in uniform. Lynn retired from the Royal Canadian Air Force in 2014. After 35 years in the military, she struggled during her transition to life after service but she had the support she needed: “VAC picked up the ball and helped me from day one.” Lynn now volunteers in her community of Chilliwack, B.C., with the Emergency Management team and the Royal Canadian Legion. She also conducts training sessions with the local fire department at her condominium complex. With courage, integrity and loyalty, Lynn Doucette has left her mark. She is one of our Canadian Veterans. American Air Force base in Incirlik, Turkey Canadian crew in front of AWACS plane
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