It would appear soldiers from the Cornwall area are some of the best ideas guys in the Canadian military.

A pair of local soldiers each recently received prestigious commendations from the Royal Canadian Navy for taking the initiative to implement separate initiatives that have benefited the military or its members.

Cornwall firefighter and retired member with the SD&G Highlanders, Sgt. Kevin McHardy has been awarded the Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy’s Commendation, Meanwhile, local cadet instructor, school teacher and navy member Lieut. Ron Holla has been awarded Vice Chief of Defence Staff Commendation.

McHardy received his commendation for his work as the acting medal distribution manager at the directorate of honours and recognition.

He realized sailors on deployed naval ships were not getting the medals they had earned in a timely manner and devised a new system of making sure they did. Implementing this new distribution system required plenty of consultations with departments the military’s joint operations command and navy itself, but in the end, it worked.

“His actions resulted in an expedited medal ordering process or many medals to be presented to ships’ companies during or immediately after their deployment,” reads the citation that came with McHardy’s commendation.

McHardy himself was invited to Cornwall city council’s meeting on Monday, where he signed the city’s Book of Remembrance and was congratulated by councillors.

“It was a team effort. I had 10 amazing people working for me when this happened. I don’t want to let success go to my head or be someone who rests on their laurels. I am very excited to begin working for the city (as a new firefighter) and make sure I keep the trajectory that I’m on going,” he said.

Holla received his commendation for his work on creating the Cadet Co-Op Credit Program where local sea, air and army cadets could earn high school credits by attending training programs at one of six Cadet Training Centres in Ontario during the school year or over the summer.

Holla combined his work as a cadet instructor and a teacher with the Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) when he conceived the co-op program in 2011. His idea also took quite a lot of consultations with the headquarters of the cadet program, school board principals and trustees and Ontario Ministry of Education contacts, and it was made into a pilot project that same year.

That pilot project turned out to be quite successful and now the UCDSB administers the program, but it is open to students from any Ontario school board.

“Yearly, over 500 high school credits are granted to cadets who complete their training programs. There have been cases of cadets throughout Ontario being able to graduate from high school a semester early or be able to take additional courses they would not have previously had time for with their already full schedule at school thanks to the credits they earned through cadets,” reads the citation for Holla’s commendation.

A date for the ceremony for Holla to officially receive his commendation is still to be confirmed.

ahale@postmedia.com

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