Commanding Officer of CFAWC

LIEUTENANT-COLONEL
J.W. MacAleese, CD

Lieutenant-Colonel MacAleese was first exposed to the military through five years as an Air Cadet and another five years as a CIL officer instructing Cadets. He enrolled in the Canadian Forces in 1977 under the Officer Cadet Training Plan. After basic training, he underwent pilot training, graduating in 1980 as a helicopter pilot. His first posting was flying CH147 Chinooks with 450 Transport Helicopter Squadron at CFB Ottawa. He was subsequently posted as the Canadian Exchange Officer to the 159th Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne (Air Assault) Division in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, again flying Chinooks and performing instructional and staff duties.

He returned to Canada in 1985 and joined 403 Helicopter Operational Training Squadron, Air Ground Operations School at CFB Gagetown, filling the Medium Transport Helicopter Directing Staff position. Lieutenant-Colonel MacAleese attended the Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff College in 1986 and returned to the school as Deputy Flight Commander and Standards Officer. In 1988, he was posted to 427 Tactical Helicopter Squadron in Petawawa and held appointments as Deputy Flight Commander, Adjutant and Squadron Operations Officer while flying the CH135 Twin Huey. He also completed two six-month peacekeeping tours, the first in 1988 with the Multinational Force and Observers in Sinai, Egypt and in the second 1990 with the United Nations in Central America. In 1991, Lieutenant-Colonel MacAleese was posted to St Hubert and attended the year long French Language Course before serving with 10 Tactical Air Group Headquarters as Staff Officer 2 Operations and then Staff Officer Operations on promotion to Major. From 1994 to 1997, he again spent time with the US Army as the Canadian Forces Liaison Officer to the US Army Aviation Center in Fort Rucker, Alabama.

Lieutenant-Colonel MacAleese was then posted to 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron in Edmonton and filled the positions of Operations Officer, Deputy Commanding Officer and Flight Commander. He was a member of the first helicopter unit into Kosovo in 1999 and served as the Deputy Commanding Officer of the Kosovo Rotary Wing Aviation Unit. In 2000, he attended the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College in Toronto. After completion, he was posted to 1 Wing HQ Kingston as A3 Operations and then assumed the duties of A3 upon promotion to his current rank. In June 2004, Lieutenant-Colonel MacAleese had the privilege of commanding 9 Wing/CFB Gander for three years before being posted to the Canadian Forces Aerospace Warfare Centre in Trenton. There he held the position of Deputy Commanding Officer before assuming the appointment of Commanding Officer in October 2009.