Message from the Chief of the Air Staff

An Effects-based, Network-enabled, Expeditionary Air Force

The Chief of the Air Staff examines the cockpit of Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, in Fort Worth Texas on 6 Sep 2006. Canada continues to participate in the JSF program. Photo: Lockheed Martin.

Canadians have been reminded throughout the summer of the dedication and sacrifice of the men and women of the Canadian Forces who carry out their daily duties on behalf of Canadians, whether at home or abroad. The Air Force was saddened by the heartbreaking news of the tragic Cormorant accident in late July. The aircrew were practising a routine rescue mission when their aircraft struck the water, taking the lives of three dedicated members of the search and rescue community.

Our losses at home, or in places like Lebanon and Afghanistan, reinforce the commitment of the members of the Canadian Forces and highlight the difference they make on a daily basis in the lives of others. We appreciate the outpouring of support by both the Government and the people of Canada.

That support is also evident in the way the Government is re-equipping the Canadian Forces. The tremendous news we received in June, that Canada will acquire new strategic and tactical airlift and new heavy lift helicopters, was another step in the continuing transformation of the Air Force. The decision to provide the Canadian Forces with improved air mobility will have an immediate and long lasting impact on the Air Force and the Canadian Forces.

As it transforms, the Air Force vision continues to be aligned with that of the Canadian Forces. The Air Force has already begun moving towards becoming an increasingly effects based, networked-enabled and expeditionary force. In fact, air power very much enables the Canadian Forces vision. This is being recognized in many ways. The men and women of the Air Force continue to provide a lifeline to our personnel in Afghanistan, permitting them to accomplish their critical mission there, while our fully integrated units operating in that theatre of operations provide vital intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to commanders on the ground. In fact, those units operating the Sperwer tactical unmanned aerial vehicles have been continuously providing more support than originally planned while our aircrew, ground crew and other support elements have tireless contributed quietly in the background to the Afghanistan mission ever since the Canadian Forces first became engaged in that country. Our Mission Support Squadron from 17 Wing Winnipeg has deployed to Camp Mirage in South-West Asia as the first formed Air Force expeditionary support organization. At home, the Air Force continues to take a lead role in fulfilling the “Canada First” mission of the Canadian Forces, providing security in the skies over Canada, maintaining a presence in the North and monitoring the maritime approaches of the country with the Navy. Our search and rescue (SAR) units remain continuously on standby and are called upon frequently to respond to Canadians in distress

LGen Steve Lucas, Chief of the Air Staff, with guests and technicians from L3 Communications, celebrate the delivery of the last of the CF-18 Hornets from Boeing’s Phase 1 of the Modernization program in Mirabel, Quebec. Photo: WO Peters, DND

All the while we are called upon to perform myriad other missions, such as the evacuation of Canadians from the war in Lebanon earlier this summer.

There is no doubt that the Canadian public benefits tremendously through the Air Force’s contributions to the economic, environmental and physical security of the country.

While the Air Force continues to maintain a high operational tempo both at home and around the world, transformation of the Canadian Forces continues unabated and remains on track. Much of the initial work focussed on reorganization. Since then, the Commander of 1 Canadian Air Division has functioned as the Combined Force Air Component Commander to other commands, operationally both in Canada and abroad, validating concepts of operations put forth by the Air Force earlier in the process and producing the effects that are wanted by the Canadian Forces and the Government of Canada. With sound practices being established and refined, we are turning our attention to the second tenant of transformation: recapitalization.

We are moving quickly – in fact, at an unprecedented rate - to acquire four C-17 Globemaster III strategic lift aircraft to help rebalance our airlift requirements and reduce the stress on the the venerable C-130 Hercules fleet of tactical transport aircraft. Air Force personnel are already training on the aircraft and, thanks to the great relations we have been able to establish and maintain with our colleagues in the United States Air Force, we are optimistic Canada will be flying its first Globemaster as early as next year. We are also aggressively pursuing the purchase of 17 aircraft to replace the oldest of our Hercules fleet. At the same time, we are moving ahead with the plans to acquire 16 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters to meet our needs in supporting Canadian Forces operations both in Canada and around the world.

Other major projects underway include the continued modernization of the CF-18 fighter aircraft. At the end of August, the 80th CF-18 fighter aircraft completed Phase I of a two-phase modernization program, which will ensure that the CF-18 remains relevant to Canada’s security needs until 2017. As we begin to look at potential replacements for the CF-18 we continue to participate in the Joint Strike Fighter program. We are also conducting studies to determine what kind of integral capacity will be needed to support the employment of heavy-lift helicopters in deployed operations. The Aurora long range patrol aircraft, employed in monitoring the expanses of the Canadian North and approaches to our country’s coastline – the longest in the world – for illegal immigrants, violators of our environment laws, drug runners and illegal fishing, continue to be upgraded to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities over land and water. Fixed-Wing SAR and other aircraft for the North are being planned and other aircraft, such as the new Cyclone helicopter and Polaris air-to air refuelling aircraft are due to arrive in the near future.

This is, indeed, an exciting time to be in the Air Force! With new aircraft and equipment, new missions and new challenges arriving almost every day, it is an extremely opportune time for those who desire rewarding challenges and an opportunity to do something truly special, to consider employment or a career in the Canadian Forces. I encourage you to suggest to anyone who may be interested to contact us in order to find out what opportunities and benefits could exist for them. With all of these new initiatives underway, we are going to need a number of good people to build and sustain the Air Force of the future.

I hope you will find this newsletter useful and informative. I encourage you to continue to provide your feedback as they often spark new ideas and encourages discussion within our Air Force community.

Feedback

I would like to encourage you to send your comments, questions and suggestions to crewbrief@forces.gc.ca in order that we can address issues of concern to you in future publications of this newsletter.