The Pilot

Jim Hildebrand twillingatepilot@hotmail.com

Description

Jim Hildebrand is the Pilot's freelance reporter for Twillingate. His father served in the RCAF, so his travelling started in early youth. Born in North Bay Ontario, Jim moved with his family to Marville France and lived also in Florenville Belgium. Next the family moved to Comox British Columbia where he lived until he was 13. The next move was to Baden West Germany where he lived and graduated from Baden Senior High School on the Canadian Forces Base. The Hildebrand family next moved to Greenwood Nova Scotia where it wasn't to long before Jim joined the Canadian Forces following in his father's footsteps. He was trained as a Teletype and Cypher Technician at the Communications and Electronic School in Kingston Ontario. After trades training he was posted to the Communication Squadron in St John's Newfoundland. He was deployed to Ismalia Egypt with the United Nation Emergency Force in 1978 and upon his return he set eyes on a young reservist from the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. Jim was posted to the "Diefenbunker" at Carp Ontario and Jane joined the Canadian Forces and was posted to National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa. In 1982 they were married. Jim and Jane moved next moved to Kingston Ontario where their daughter Sarah was born and then back to the Communications Squadron in St John's where their son Jeremy was born. Jim was sent over to Cyprus with the United Nations and on his return from the deployment Jane left the military. They were next posted to the Communications Squadron at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa and then to the Communications Squadron in Halifax. Jim's military trade morphed several times, where he was a Strategic Informations System Technician and then finally a Aerospace Telecommunications and Informations System Technician. He was sent to the Airforce Base in Comox followed by a posting to the Canadian Forces Base in Shearwater. After a year long french course Jim was next moved to 1 Canadian Air Division Headquarters in Winnipeg where he finished his career after 33 years as a Master Warrant Officer. Jim and Jane retired to Twillingate Newfoundland in 2009. Jim and Jane love to travel. The military sent Jim on many trips and courses to places in the United States, Germany and Italy. They have holidayed across Canada, the States, the Dominican Republic, taken a Mediterranean Cruise, Malta, Costa Rica, the Canary Islands and now Phuket Thailand. Jim hopes you enjoy his blog as he writes about their trip to Phuket.