Paul Hale began his military career as a Reservist in July 1970 and transferred to the Regular Force in January 1976. Mr. Hale completed 30 years of service with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) and eight overseas deployments in Cyprus(2), Angola, South Africa, the Balkans(2) and Afghanistan(2). The highlight of his deployments was as an election observer for the first democratic elections in South Africa in the spring of 1994. Upon retiring from the Regular Force in 2006, he transferred back to the Reserves until reaching compulsory retirement age. Mr. Hale has a total of just under 42 years of military service.

Since retirement, in 2014 he has been very active in the PPCLI Association and he is a strong advocate of Mental Health, Peer Support and Suicide Awareness.  Many people in all walks of life both military and civilian face Mental Health challenges.  Mental Health is an invisible injury that many do not understand.  Mr. Hale stated the following: “I am not a Mental Health expert, but I do believe in helping others.”