VISIT FROM SUB-LIEUTENANT AMANDA MURGEL
Sub-Lieutenant Amanda Murgel is a Naval Warfare Officer (NWO) in the Royal Canadian Navy, who has experience in both at-sea deployment and at-home training support. She currently serves aboard HMCS Max Bernays, an Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel (AOPV) on the west coast.
Before joining the military, she was an air cadet with 142 Mimico Squadron for one year in high school, and joined the Old Blighty trip to England, where she stayed at the air base near London. She attended Bishop Allen Academy and was the only graduate in 2019 to go to the Royal Military College for her university degree. In 2023, she moved to Victoria, BC to complete her NWO training.
In the fall of 2025, she graduated from her core NWO training and joined HMCS Max Bernays in the Indo-Pacific on her first deployment shortly thereafter. She is currently working on the ship to become qualified as an Officer of the Day (OOD), which requires developing leadership and personnel management skills, as well as a growing knowledge of the ship and damage control responses in case of an emergency.
Professional Highlights:
- Naval Operations: For six weeks throughout November and December 2025, participated in the deployment of HMCS Max Bernays on Operation Neon and Operation Horizon. Joining the ship in coastal Asia, the Operations’ focuses of increasing CAF presence in the Indo-Pacific and deepening cooperation with regional partners allowed for participation in multinational exercises with Australia and Japan’s Navy. Throughout this deployment, much effort was dedicated to developing professional skills in leadership, ship knowledge and maneuvering, combat readiness and weapon’s systems, emergency response, and especially bridge-watchkeeping, which is the forefront of an NWO’s job.
- Training Development & Teaching: For a year in between NWO courses, worked for the Leadership, Culture and Conduct Division at HMCS Venture, developing training material and teaching courses for the Leadership, Respect and Honour (LRH) program. This required extensive training and professional development, allowing certification in the Train the Trainer, Military Instructional Techniques, Alternative Instructional Techniques, Facilitative Instructional Techniques, and Qualification Standard Plan Manager courses provided by the military. The LRH program focused on training members progressively throughout their careers as their responsibilities grow from subordinate to supervisor, on topics such as character & leadership, ethical decision- making, prevention and response to harassment, history and culture in the Navy, and fostering positive follower-leader relationships. Throughout the time with this division, became established as a growing expert in Character-Based Leadership and culture change in the Navy.
Education and Credentials:
- Bachelor of Arts (Major in English, Culture, and Communication, Minor in Psychology), Royal Military College of Canada, 2023.
- Graduate Diploma in Education, Queen’s University, 2025.
