Robert Lewis-Manning, vice-president of operations for the Canadian Shipowners Association, was invested as an Officer of the Order of Military Merit in a ceremony at Rideau Hall on Dec. 2.
Created in 1972, the Order of Military Merit recognizes meritorious service and devotion to duty by members of the Canadian Forces. The Order has three levels of membership: Commander (C.M.M.), Officer (O.M.M.) and Member (M.M.M.).
Governor General David Johnston presented the insignia of the Order of Military Merit to Mr. Lewis-Manning for outstanding meritorious services in duties of responsibility.
“I’m very humbled by this experience,” Mr. Lewis-Manning said. “So much of what I did as a senior officer in the Navy was because I really loved it. There are so many members of the Navy that go beyond the regular call of duty. To me, this honour is really representative of a much wider group of dedicated people.”
Before his retirement from the Royal Canadian Navy in 2010, Mr. Lewis-Manning was Commander of HMCS Vancouver. Based in Victoria, Mr. Lewis-Manning was in charge of bringing HMCS Vancouver and its crew to its highest state of readiness for deployment in Libya.
As fleet manager on the West Coast for the Navy, he was also involved with the planning of security in the marine environment in the run-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Following 23 years in the Navy, Mr. Lewis-Manning, 44, relocated to Ottawa to join the Canadian Shipowners Association as vice-president of operations. The CSA advocates in the development of marine policy, regulations and operational matters for shipowners operating vessels on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence waterway, in the Arctic and on the eastern seaboard of the United States and Canada.