As outstanding officers in their fields, CFB Shilo’s Major Melissa Marshall and Major Kristen McFadyen will address the public as special guests in a panel discussion on the progress the Canadian Armed Forces has made regarding sexual harassment, at a film screening on Nov. 29 about the experiences of the CAF’s first female infantry officer.

The movie Out Standing is a film portrayal of the 2017 memoir Out Standing in their Field, written by Sandra Perron, a CAF Army Veteran. She completed two deployments to Yugoslavia and Croatia, earning an exceptional service commendation after commanding a TOW Under Armour platoon in 1995, yet was subjected to mistreatment and constant “emotional and psychological harassment” during her eight-year career with the Regular Force.

The panel discussion will follow the 7:30 p.m. showing at the Evans Theatre, where the CFB Shilo Chief of Staff and Artillery Officer Maj. Marshall, and Commanding Officer of 11 Health Services and Champion of the Shilo Defence Women’s Advisory Group, Maj. MacFadyen will offer personal perspectives on being a woman in the CAF and the forward movement the organization has made since the real-life experiences in the film.

Maj. Marshall said she can’t speak for all women in the CAF, but this film is a valuable teaching tool.

“I believe it is always important to see where we have come from and where we are going in terms of evolving within the CAF. It is consequential to learn from the past, from both a failure and success perspective, so that we can carry forward the lessons learned, and continue to strengthen the Forces.”

The CAF has shifted in both culture and disposition since the events depicted in the film, Maj. Marshall explained.

“I think it is significant to have a CAF panel to enable discussion about the film,” she said. “[This will] provide a real-life context and narrative in terms of the personnel training, the challenges that are faced during both training and operational deployments. It will provide an insider perspective and view …”

A 1997 report concluded Perron experienced “subtle and overt sexual harassment” while in the Army. In 1998, she was appointed lead of a nine-member advisory board to the Minister of National Defence on helping women and minorities ‘blend’ into the Canadian Armed Forces. Her experiences are credited with compelling the Army to revise its procedures in an attempt to cease sexual harassment.

Perron states in her biographical recount that she was sexually assaulted during a summer training program at CFB Borden, resulting in an abortion. She did not report the issue and graduated in 1988 with a Bachelor of Economics. She then began her service with the 5th Service Battalion at CFB Valcartier.

In 1989, when the CAF first opened up occupations equally to women, she transferred to the Infantry, but reported being harassed as a student and subjected to “excessively rough” training. She didn’t complain about the treatment herself while in the Army. However, in 1996, a photograph leaked to the media showed Perron tied to a tree during a training exercise where she had been beaten and left in the snow without boots for two hours.

Maj. Marshall said she has personally witnessed many changes in the way women are trained and viewed during the 18 years she has served in the CAF.

“There has certainly been a lot of great movement in terms of equal treatment, equal responsibility, and women being afforded the same challenges and opportunities as men within the CAF. It is substantial to note that to continue to foster a cohesive and positive environment within the CAF, we must all be seen as equals, and on equal “playing fields”, to strengthen the narrative of “one team”, she said.

Perron, a Manitoba-born, ‘army brat’ was raised moving around the country with her military father, housewife mom, and sisters. After completing service in the Royal Canadian Army Cadets, she immediately enrolled in the regular forces officer training program in 1984.

After leaving the Army in 1996, she rejoined as a Cadet Instructor Cadre member in the component of the CAF until 2003, when she was promoted to Major.

Additional screenings of the film Outstanding will be on Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m., and Nov. 30 at 2 p.m. Admission is $7, cash only.