Canadian Army Aviation
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Dave Completed High School in Calgary and entered ROTP at Royal Roads in 1964. He completed his Science degree at RMC Kingston in 1968 and joined 2 RCHA in Gagetown. After two years in Troop duties, he was posted to 1 RCHA in Hemer Germany, and later moved South with the Regiment to Lahr. He was accepted for pilot training later the following year and returned to Moose Jaw and Cold Lake, completing his Wings training on the T-33 aircraft.
Dave was then posted to 408 Squadron in Edmonton and following the Basic Helicopter course and the CH-136 OTU settled into flying duties with 408. In 1975 he was posted to 444 Squadron in Lahr. On promotion to Major he was sent to 3 CFFTS Portage to command the Helicopter Training Unit and later to lead the Standards Unit. In 1978 he moved to 10 TAG HQ as the Group Flight Safety Officer and instruct the Reserve Units in Montreal and Toronto as they transitioned from the Single Otter to the Kiowa. While in St. Hubert he completed the French Block Course to functional status. He was selected for Staff College and attended the United States Marine Corps Command and Staff College in Quantico Virginia in 1984-85. He was promoted to LCol out of Staff College and assigned to Command 403 Squadron in Gagetown. During his three years of command at 403, Dave deployed the unit to the MFO in the Sinai as the fourth Rotation of the Rotary Wing Aviation Unit. He was promoted to Colonel in 1988 and posted to Air Command HQ in Winnipeg as DCOS Operations, and in his final year there as COS Ops. In 1990 Dave was posted to NDHQ Ottawa as J3 Operations (during the first Gulf War and the Oka Crisis). In 1991 he took command of the Canadian Contingent of the MFO as Chief of Liaison for the Force. In 1992 he attended the National Defence College as a member of Course XLVI. The following year he was selected to Command 5 Wing Goose Bay in Labrador and continued to fly there with 444 Squadron on the Twin Huey. He opted for retirement under the Force Reduction Plan in 1995 and settled in Kingston Nova Scotia with his family. Retirement didn’t take, and he began a second career with the ATCO Group of companies in business development, as the Airport Manager in Shearwater (as the fixed wing side transitioned to civilian control), and Moose Jaw as Program Manager for Technical Services under the newly formed NATO Flight Training in Canada Program. While in Moose Jaw, Dave led the ATCO team in Bosnia as the first contractor provided Support company to support Canadian Military deployed troops. He moved to Ottawa with ATCO in 2004 and deployed to Kabul and Kandahar to set-up and manage support for NATO. Dave Joined SNC-Lavalin in 2008 to support and later run the CANCAP Contract with DND (long-term contract to support deployed operations). During his time with SNC, Dave set up and managed world-wide heavy lift (AN-124 aircraft) operations and established a helicopter/fixed wing operation (Mi-8/Mi-171/AN-26) with contracts in Cyprus, Mali, Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Somalia. He finally retired in 2020. Dave is married to Marie, and has one daughter, Lara. |
