The Go Bold podcast features senior leaders of allied forces so we can bring personal insight to important topics and events, and preserve those voices for generations to come.

Today's episode continues on our objectives as we are honored to welcome Royal Canadian Air Force Colonel Jeremy Hansen to Go Bold!

Col. Hansen is a CF-18 Hornet fighter pilot, and he is one of only 4 active astronauts in the Canadian Space Agency.

In the years ahead you'll hear a lot about Astronaut Hansen because he has been selected to fly on the Artemis II mission, which will be the first crewed flight test of the Orion spacecraft which will launch atop the SLS rocket.

As part of the Artemis II crew, Jeremy Hansen will become the first Canadian to venture towards the Moon, and in doing so he will be the first non-American to leave low earth orbit.

There is a lot to Astronaut Hansen's path to space as one might expect, but in short, here are some highlights:

In 1988, at the age of 12, he joined the Air Cadets.

In 1999 he graduated with a bachelor's degree in honours space science from the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario.

He completed Fighter Pilot Training in 2003, after which he served as a CF-18 fighter pilot with 441 Tactical Fighter Squadron, and 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron.

In 2009 Colonel Hansen was one of two recruits selected by the Canadian Space Agency.

In 2011 he graduated from Astronaut Candidate Training and started working at NASAs Mission Control Center in Houston as CAPCOM — which is the voice between the ground and the International Space Station.

In 2017 Astronaut Hansen became the first Canadian to be entrusted with leading a NASA astronaut class, and that meant that he is in charge of training astronaut candidates from the United States and Canada.

And in 2023 he was assigned to the Artemis II mission.

This episode focuses on Astronaut Hansen's Air Force career, training for the Artemis II mission, and his perspective on flying to the Moon and being the first non-American to leave low earth orbit.

It's an awesome chat with a great Canadian, so I really hope you'll enjoy this discussion.

NOTE: We have also had the privilege to interview another Canadian fighter pilot and Astronaut, and Jeremy's colleague, and that is Josh Kutryk, who we featured in Episode 3 and Episode 22. They are wonderful chats which we highly recommend.

Our thanks to Astronaut Hansen for his time and kindness. We wish him and his crewmates a safe journey on their mission towards the Moon!

Go Bold!

This episode is part of our Bleeding Edge series were we discuss new products, platforms, concepts, technologies and ground breaking events.

We are all aware of the dire geopolitical security events that are taking place around the world, including the War in Ukraine, and the Israel-Hamas conflict and the instability of that region.

Of particular note is the security situation in the Red Sea where naval vessels and commercial shipping have come under attack from ballistic missiles, and from Unmanned/Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAV), which are also known as Unmanned/Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) or drones. These events have disrupted global shipping and that has far reaching implications for us all.

The threat posed by drones is very real and it is a concern to navies and to ship operators around the world. Companies like Federal Fleet Services, which owns and operates the Combat Support Ship Asterix - and lease its capabilities to the Royal Canadian Navy - have recognized this growing problem and have invested their own money to research, select and integrate a counter-UAS, (counter-drone) system onto the Asterix.

After looking at various options, Federal Fleet Services selected the MARSS NiDAR counter-UAS system as the best solution available.

In this episode we visited the Combat Support Ship Asterix when it was in port at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, and we had the privilege to interview John Schmidt, the President and CEO of Federal Fleet Services who spoke about the selection of the MARSS NiDAR counter-UAS system which will protect Asterix; and we spoke with Ryan Walker, who is also from Federal Fleet Services, and he discussed the components, capabilities and the installation of the NiDAR system, and working with the Royal Canadian Navy to validate and implement new tactics, techniques and procedures for using the system.

This cutting edge counter-UAS technology is of critical importance for the threats faced by ships around the world, so it will be interesting to see how the system will do, and how its modularity will enable future enhancements if needed or desired.

It's a great chat about new technology and new capabilities that will extend the eyes and ears of the Asterix.

We want to thank Federal Fleet Services and the crew of the Combat Support Ship Asterix for their kindness and hospitality during our visit.

Go Bold!

2024 is the 100th Anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), so happy 100th to the RCAF and our respect to all those who have served and are serving in the Air Force.

To mark this milestone year, we plan to publish a number of episodes featuring the men and women who are serving in the RCAF, and as we do here at Go Bold, that means we will be speaking with senior leaders in the Air Force including the Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, so we encourage you to keep an ear out for those episodes.

Central to the efforts to celebrate their 100th Anniversary are the men and women that make up the CF-18 Demonstration Team, which travels across Canada and further abroad to demonstrate the capabilities of Canada's fighter force.

Our guest for this episode is Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot, and the pilot for the 2024 CF-18 Demo Team, Capt. Caleb "Tango" Robert.

Capt. Robert is a combat qualified element lead on the CF-18 Hornet, and is assigned to 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron, the "Alouettes" which is based at 3 Wing in Bagotville, Quebec.

In this episode you'll hear about Tango's motivation to serve, flying the CF-18 Hornet, and his operational history. You'll also hear details about this year's CF-18 Demo Team, the jet he'll fly, and Tango's focus for the air show season ahead.

It's a great chat with a frontline warfighter of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Go Bold!

On 27 December 2023, a Twin Otter aircraft operated by Air Tindi crashed in Canada's high North, approximately 300 km Northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

10 people were onboard, with some suffering injuries. It was night time, and there was blizzard conditions.

This episode is a first-hand account of the Search and Rescue (SAR) response to this incident by the Canadian Armed Forces, and specifically the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and its 435 "Chinthe" Transport and Rescue Squadron which is based at 17 Wing in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Search and Rescue at 435 Squadron is a 24 hour-a-day, seven day-a-week responsibility. The Squadron operates the venerable CC-130 Hercules aircraft, some of which are permanently equipped and dedicated for search and rescue missions. During working hours on weekdays, the search and rescue standby aircraft and crew are ready to respond within 30 minutes of being notified. At all other times, the response time is extended to two hours.

435 Transport and Rescue (T&R) Squadron; and 424 T&R Squadron at 8 Wing in Trenton, Ontario, provide primary search and rescue response for the Trenton Search and Rescue Region, the largest in Canada, which extends from Quebec City to the British Columbia/Alberta border, and from the Canada/United States border to the North Pole.

In this episode you will hear a first-hand account of the SAR response from 435 Squadron members Capt. Jason Shaw, who was the aircraft commander, and Sergeant Vincent C. Benoit, who was the senior Search and Rescue Technician (SARTech) on the mission. They are 2 of 8 RCAF members who flew on this rescue mission.

You'll hear about the C-130 in its SAR role, you'll hear the distances the crew had to fly, you'll learn about the challenging conditions they encountered, you'll hear about parachuting from the aircraft in blizzard conditions, and you'll hear about the care they gave to the occupants of the aircraft that crashed.

Our tag-line at Go Bold is Talking to Real Life Heroes, and this episode is exactly that.

Our guests, and the rest of their crew, the men and women at the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, the men and women than maintain and support the RCAF aircraft, and the rescue team from the Diavik Diamond Mine are all heroes. We honor them with this episode which preserves their actions for others to hear and remember.

Thank you to my guests, and thank you for serving and helping those in need!

Go Bold!

Our focus for this episode is Exercise Cutlass Fury, a biennial Canadian Navy-led multi-national exercise that provides an opportunity for allied forces to train in a joint maritime environment. This training includes anti-submarine warfare, air defence, and surface warfare to name a few.

Joining for this episode is Commodore Trevor MacLean of the Royal Canadian Navy. Commodore MacLean is the Commander of Canadian Fleet Atlantic, and he was the senior officer at sea leading Exercise Cutlass Fury 23. 

The principle focus of Exercise Cutlass Fury is anti-submarine warfare (ASW) but it's certainly not limited to that alone. Also exercised is air and maritime integration, and interoperability between Allies and joint elements.

The exercise happened in September, and there were approximately 1,400 participating sailors, soldiers, and aviators from the armed forces of Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.

Eight ships from the Royal Canadian Navy and US Navy took part this year. Canadian ships included HMCS Charlottetown, HMCS Fredericton, HMCS Max Bernays, HMCS Glace Bay, HMCS Moncton, and for a short time the Victoria class submarine HMCS Windsor. US Navy ships comprised the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Porter (DDG 78) and USS James E. Williams (DDG 95), and a US Navy Virginia class attack submarine. Also participating was the support ship USNS William McLean.

In addition, multiple classes and types of aircraft participated, including the CP-140 Aurora and CH-148 Cyclone from Canada, the P-8 Poseidon from the UK, the P-3 Orion from Germany, and the Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft from France.

There was a lot to the exercise, but some key things to listen for include the opportunity for the Royal Canadian Navy to use one of its new Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel's as a target launching platform; using the Royal Canadian Navy's Distributed Mission Operations Center (DMOC) in the exercise; and exercising Link 11 and Link 16 connectivity.

You'll also hear about the Royal Canadian Navy's need to modernize its Halifax class so it stays relevant into the future, and you'll hear about the distributed training that's planned for the future.

It's a great chat with a lot of insight, so we thank Commodore MacLean for his time, and we hope you'll enjoy this episode of Go Bold!

This episode focuses on the the Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) first ever participation in Exercise Cobra Warrior, a Royal Air Force (RAF) led Large Force Employment exercise.

Cobra Warrior is hosted by the UK's Air & Space Warfare Centre which is located at RAF Waddington.

The Exercise is held twice a year, and it takes place across the UK and over multiple domains including air, sea, land, space and cyber.

We published a detailed overview of Exercise Cobra Warrior in Go Bold #48, so we encourage you to listen to that episode as a compendium to this episode where we are focused on Exercise Cobra Warrior 23-2.

This iteration of Cobra Warrior involved more than 50 aircraft from 6 allied countries including: Canada, USA, Italy, Norway, Australia and the UK, along with a NATO E-3A Airborne Warning & Control System (AWACS) which managed large areas of battlespace and provide surveillance and communications. These aircraft worked together to support a fictional country in conflict to regain sovereign territory.

According to a senior officer at the Air & Space Warfare Centre, the intent of Exercise Cobra Warrior was to bring allied forces together in order to enhance the ability to work collaboratively on demanding missions and in dynamic threat environments.

Cobra Warrior 23-2 was the first time the exercise conducted operations at night, so that added an entirely new aspect to the operations.

For its first ever participation at Cobra Warrior, the Royal Canadian Air Force dispatched an Air Task Force which included CF-18 Hornet fighter jets and the CC-150 Polaris air refueling tanker. RCAF C-17 strategic airlift aircraft also supported the deployment into Europe.

Numerous other types of aircraft participated during the exercise, including the RAF’s F-35B Lightning which took part from the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth. Also participating were RAF Typhoon fighter jets; F-35s from the United States and Norway, F-16s, Voyager MRTT air refueling tankers, HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters and many more.

Our guest to speak about the Royal Canadian Air Force's participation is Lieutenant-Colonel Tom Lawrence, the Commanding Officer of 433 Tactical Fighter Squadron, and the Commander of the Air Task Force for Canada's participation in Cobra Warrior 23-2.

We have a great discussion where we speak about leadership, fighter pilot training, the CF-18 Hornet, and combat operations, and then we dive into the happenings of Exercise Cobra Warrior 23-2.

It's an awesome chat with a ton of great information, so we hope you'll enjoy this conversation.

Our thanks to LtCol Lawrence for his time and insight.

Go Bold!

Our guest for this episode is Rear-Admiral Brian Santarpia of the Royal Canadian Navy, who at the time of our chat was Commander of Maritime Forces Atlantic, Commander of Joint Task Force Atlantic, and he was also the Maritime Component Commander who advises the Commander of Canadian Joint Operations Command (CJOC). 

In addition to being a graduate of the National Security Program, RAdm Santarpia holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Royal Roads Military College Victoria, and a Masters of Defence Studies from Royal Military College of Canada Kingston.

RAdm Santarpia was promoted to Commodore in July 2013 and appointed Director General Naval Personnel. He led the transformation of that organization and assumed the duties of the first Director General Navy Strategic Readiness in April 2014. From December 2014 until April 2015 he was deployed to Bahrain where he commanded Combined Task Force 150, a multi-national group of ships and aircraft conducting counter-terrorism operations. Upon his return to Canada, he was appointed to Chief of Staff to the Vice Chief of Defence Staff and later appointed Director General Plans at the Strategic Joint Staff in July 2016. In May 2018, he joined the Canadian Joint Operations Command as the Chief of Staff.

RAdm Santarpia was appointed as Commander Maritime Forces Atlantic in June 2020. His position as Maritime Component Commander makes him one of the most informed Naval Officers in the Royal Canadian Navy -- this position enables him to have acute insight into the maritime security picture of the day.

Our discussion spans a number of topics from service and leadership, to naval warfare and naval platforms like submarines, the future of the Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel capability, and the future Canadian Surface Combatant. We also talk about important capabilities like Cooperative Engagement Capability.

Our chat took place shortly before RAdm Santarpia's retirement, and it predates the Israel/Hamas war in Gaza.

It's a wide ranging chat with great insight, so we really hope you enjoy this episode.

Our thanks to Rear-Admiral Santarpia for his time and kindness, and we thank him for his service to Canada.

Go Bold!

We here at Go Bold pride ourselves on bringing senior leaders to you, and we also pride ourselves on preserving history, which is what the last two episodes and this episode does to a tee!

In our last 2 episodes, we had the pleasure to visit with Commander Corey Gleason of the Royal Canadian Navy, who at the time was the Commanding Officer of HMCS Harry DeWolf (AOPV 430), Canada's first Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel, and the namesake of the class.

Our previous chats were from Commander Gleason's quarters aboard HMCS Harry DeWolf when it was at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt in British Columbia. That marked the half-way point of HMCS Harry DeWolf's historic first operational deployment in 2021 which circumnavigated North America in a counter clockwise direction.

The first half of the circumnavigation started in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and then went up and into the Northwest Passage, and then around Alaska before heading south to Victoria.

I encourage you to take the time to listen to the last two episodes to get an appreciation for the ship and its crew and everything they did up to that point -- it's all from Commander Gleason's first hand perspective -- so if you are interested in the capabilities of Canada's new Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessels, these episodes are a must listen!!

The story didn't end in Victoria though, because there's a lot more to cover for the rest of the deployment!

For this episode we are privileged to have Commander Gleason rejoin us, and this time from Halifax. Our chat happened soon after HMCS Harry DeWolf returned from its deployment, and I dare say that collectively, these 3 episodes comprise some of the most detailed accounts of the deployment that you will ever hear!

My sound was a bit compromised, but Commander Gleason comes through clearly, and he's the one you want to hear anyway, so I really hope you'll enjoy this episode because you'll hear about leadership; the ship embarking a United States Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LE Det); operating new Multi-Role Rescue Boats; chasing down drug smugglers; what it's like to go through the Panama Canal; manning the ship and comparisons to other naval vessels; dodging storms; and so much more!

All of these are first-ever events for the Harry DeWolf class ships.

There's over 4 hours of content across these 3 episodes with Commander Gleason, and that's because we believe these firsts must be preserved. It really is an epic deployment, and we have the privilege to hear all about it from the first Commanding Officer himself!

I want to thank Commander Gleason for his time and kindness in sharing his perspective of the inaugural deployment of HMCS Harry DeWolf, and I also want to thank the crew for their hospitality when I was aboard the ship.

Go Bold!

In our last episode of Go Bold we introduced you to Commander Corey Gleason of the Royal Canadian Navy. 

We spoke with Commander Gleason when he was the Commanding Officer of HMCS Harry DeWolf (AOPV 430), the Royal Canadian Navy's first Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel. 

We did the interview onboard the ship when it was in Victoria, British Columbia, which was one of the stops during its 2021 inaugural deployment to circumnavigate North America.

In this episode we continue our chat with Commander Gleason who shared his first-hand perspective of transiting the Northwest Passage, and technical aspects of operating a warship in the Arctic.

You'll learn about the capabilities of this new class of Navy offshore patrol ship, including the use of a towed array sonar to surveil the water column for underwater threats; and you'll hear Commander Gleason's personal and often emotional account of the cultural significance of the deployment.

You'll also hear about the importance of presence in the North and in the Arctic -- it is an area of growing interest to peers and competitors alike -- and all of this is straight from an expert in Arctic naval operations, our guest, Commander Corey Gleason. 

Note that this episode gets us to a mid-point in the deployment to circumnavigate North America, so please look for our next episode where we hear about the rest of HMCS Harry DeWolf's epic and historic deployment.

Go Bold!

We are really excited to bring this episode to you because it illustrates so much of what we try to do at Go Bold, and that is to inform, educate, commemorate and even entertain. 

Part of that includes preserving history from those that make it, so you'll get all of that and so much more in the next few episodes which feature my guest, Commander Corey Gleason of the Royal Canadian Navy.

We were privileged to conduct this interview in 2021 when Commander Gleason was the Commanding Officer of HMCS Harry DeWolf, Canada's first Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel (AOPV).

Commander Gleason was the first Commanding Officer of the HMCS Harry DeWolf (AOPV 430), and we had our chat on board the ship and in the Captain's quarters after it arrived in Victoria, British Columbia, which was one of its many stops as part of its inaugural deployment which had the ship circumnavigate North America.

The first-of-class deployment of HMCS Harry DeWolf marked many notable events, and high among them was the first time in decades where a Royal Canadian Navy ship transited the Northwest Passage (from East to West). The last time was in 1954 with HMCS Labrador.

In this episode you'll hear about Commander Gleason's motivation to serve, some of his career highlights, and you'll hear about his leadership style.

You'll also hear about the genesis of the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) program in Canada, and aspects of the class that make it an impressive new addition to the Royal Canadian Navy.

We are publishing this episode today to mark the Grey Cup in Canada, and we are doing so because HMCS Harry DeWolf escorted the Grey Cup trophy from Toronto to Hamilton, Ontario, where the big game is being held.

I really hope you'll enjoy these next few episodes because you'll hear all about a new class of Navy ship and you'll hear about historic firsts -- you'll hear about ship design and capabilities, Arctic sovereignty, climate change, Indigenous engagement and collaboration, and so much more, and you'll hear it all from a highly respected, highly experienced and thoughtful leader, our guest, Commander Corey Gleason (who recently retired from the Royal Canadian Navy).

We thank Commander Gleason for his time and kindness to us, and we thank the men and women of HMCS Harry DeWolf for their hospitality during our visit aboard.

Please remember that this is Part 1 of a few episodes, so be sure to like and follow so you ca listen to get the full story about the ship and its historic inaugural deployment!

Go Bold!