A Conversation on Operation IMPACT with Col. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet

Описание: The Centre for International Policy Studies was very pleased to host a virtual exchange with Colonel Jamie Speiser-Blanchet who recently returned from a tour as deputy commander of Canadian Armed Forces operations in the Middle East.

This exclusive online event for students was moderated by Prof. Thomas Juneau and was held on Monday, June 8, 2020 from 1:00 to 2:00 pm.

Speaker’s Biography:

Colonel Jamie Speiser-Blanchet joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1990 and graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) Kingston, in 1994 with a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Engineering. Upon receiving her pilot wings in March 1996, she was posted to 430e Escadron tactique d’hélicoptères (ETAH) at CFB Valcartier, Québec to fly the CH146 Griffon helicopter.

In 2001, Colonel Speiser-Blanchet was employed at 1 Wing Headquarters, Kingston, as the A3 Operations Task Officer before her posting to 403 (Helicopter) Operational Training Squadron (403 (Hel) OTS), in Gagetown, New Brunswick, in 2003. There, she was employed as a line pilot and Aviation Tactics Flight Project Officer prior to her appointment as Squadron Operations Officer. Operational deployments include UN and NATO peacekeeping tours in Haiti (Op STABLE) and Bosnia (Op PALLADIUM), and domestic missions in response to forest fires, floods and other regional emergencies.
Moving on to National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa in 2007, she served as a Military Assistant to the Minister of National Defence until 2010. At the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, she completed the Joint Command and Staff Program (JCSP 37) and earned a Masters in Defence Studies in 2011 before proceeding to 1 Canadian Air Division (1 CAD) Headquarters in Winnipeg, Manitoba. As the Senior Staff Officer Tactical Aviation, she coordinated operational level support for the generation of the Canadian Armed Forces’ tactical aviation capability and was the operational airworthiness authority responsible for the CH146 Griffon and CH147F Chinook fleets.

Colonel Speiser-Blanchet assumed command of 403 Helicopter Operational Training Sqn in July 2014 and remained in Gagetown until 2016. As the Commanding Officer of 403 Sqn, she oversaw all CH146 Griffon operational aircrew training (pilots and flight engineers) for 1 Wing and other RCAF units while personally contributing to flying instruction and other training missions. She subsequently worked as a Senior Staff Officer for the Canadian Forces Aerospace Warfare Centre prior to selection for the Defence and Strategic Studies Course (DSSC) at the Australian Defence College in Canberra, Australia. She graduated from DSSC in December 2017 with a Masters in Politics and Policy from Deakin University.

Colonel Speiser-Blanchet recently served as special advisor to the chief of the defence staff at NDHQ before deploying to Kuwait in the autumn of 2019 as the Deputy Commander (Operations), Joint Task Force – IMPACT which is Canada’s training and capacity building mission in the Middle East.