Major-General Alain Pelletier assumed command of 1 Canadian Air Division (1 CAD), Canadian NORAD Region (CANR), and the Joint Force Air Component (JFAC) from Major-General Christian Drouin at a parade and ceremony held outside in front of the Air Division Headquarters Building in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on May 16, 2019.
The triple commands meant that the parade had three separate signing ceremonies with three lieutenant-generals in attendance.
Lieutenant-General Al Meinzinger, commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, presided over the change of command for 1 CAD and was also the reviewing officer for the parade. Lieutenant-General Christopher Coates, deputy commander of NORAD, signed the change of command for CANR and Lieutenant-General Mike Rouleau, commander of Canadian Joint Operations Command, signed the change of command for the JFAC.
After the parade was formed up on the sunny but gusty morning, but before the ceremony began, a low and slow flypast in front of the seated VIP guests and dais by a pair of noisy Canada geese drew a laugh from everyone.
After the review of the parade, Major-General Drouin addressed the crowd at the ceremony and reflected on his experiences.
“I will repeat here what I said at my change of command in 2016,” he said. “Aren't we living in a great country? I came from a modest upbringing and barely spoke any words of English. I got the opportunity to fly helicopters and they paid me to have that much fun—pretty cool. To eventually…
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Having heard you speak at the Manitoba Canadian Aviation Historical society I thought you would be the best RCAF officer to direct my comments regarding today’s article in the Winnipeg Free Press,”RCAF eyes recruiting commercial pilots”. I know the Aviation world is suffering badly over the COVID-19 virus and the RCAF could benefit from recruiting those suffering from lost of employment in the commercial world; but, is this really a solution to the RCAF and world shortage of pilots ? When the virus solution has been solved and the economy rebooted I suspect that the RCAF complement will need a program to solve the shortages predicted. Has the RCAF ever looked at the old 5 year short service commission as a solution. It worked well in the past when we built the service in response to the Korean and Cold Wars. I have often thought that we strayed from a great program which filled our every need and developed some superior pilots and officers using our own expertise and educational systems. As you are aware, Most of these individuals were recruited right out of high school and were well motivated to succeed. Such as system kept us fluid with only the best retained for the long term. I would appreciate your thoughts on possibly returning to such a program.