Season 1 | Episode 5

Eva Martinez: We had to demobilize the URNG guerrillas and have them turn in their weapons and their uniforms and in return they would be prepared for integration back into civilian life.

Daniel: Welcome to Rough Seas, the Marine Engineering Podcast, a place where industry leaders guide us through the perilous, tumultuous, and sometimes pure crazy times of a career at sea. Together we focus on the challenges we face in the industry and how overcoming these obstacles makes the world a better place.

Daniel: On this week’s episode, we welcome aerospace engineer Eva Martinez. Prior to her role at Bluedrop Training and Simulation, Eva notably was the first female United Nations Military Observer overseeing a ceasefire in a 36-year civil war that would test the mettle of anyone. But the challenges she faced as “La Unica” (the only one) in Guatemala paved a path that reminds us that true leadership is recognizing everyone’s abilities and contributions in wartime and in peace.

Eva Martinez: I was born in Spain, raised in Toronto, and at the age of 19, I decided to run away and join the military. I went off to the Royal Military College, graduated with the class of 1993 in Industrial Engineering—what they called Engineering Management back then—and got my aerospace specialization. I spent nine years in the Air Force as an Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Officer.

Ben Garvey: Fantastic.

Ben Garvey: Yeah, I mean, there weren’t many women in that industry at the time.

Eva Martinez: No, there still aren’t very many women in that industry.

Ben Garvey: But you were a trailblazer in that?

Eva Martinez: Well, I mean, there were certainly several that came ahead of me. The first class of women to graduate from the Military College was 1984, so just nine years prior. But even so, we were still very much a minority, probably representing about 20% of the cadet population.

Ben Garvey: And that specialty, though—the aerospace specialty in itself—was pretty unique too, right? I mean, if I recall, you were in rotary craft for a long time, right?

Eva Martinez: Yeah, most of my operational time was both rotary and fixed-wing. I worked at 413 Squadron Search and Rescue, and we had a mixed fleet: the Labrador helicopter and the Hercules aircraft.

Ben Garvey: Old Labrador, wow. The twin-rotor monster.

Eva Martinez: Mm-hmm.

Ben Garvey: Very, very cool. I mean, it was hands-on, right? If I recall, you were in the helicopter handling maintenance and operational safety?

Eva Martinez: Absolutely.

Eva Martinez: And the work of the squadron—search and rescue and transport—was a pretty busy operational mandate. We saw some very interesting search-and-rescue operations take place. For instance, when Swissair Flight 111 came down, I was at the squadron. We also had a Labrador crash in Marsoui during my time there.

Eva Martinez: It was challenging work, but incredibly important for the search-and-rescue community serving Canada.

Ben Garvey: Oh, huge, yeah. Huge, huge work. I recall a story you told where you were operational at one point and had to give permission for a helicopter to fly despite a mechanical issue.