Lt.-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet of Chicoutimi becomes first woman to lead RCAF
She took the reins from Lt.-Gen. Eric Kenny at a change-of-command ceremony, presided over by the Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jennie Carignan, in Ottawa on Thursday.
Kenny is retiring after three-and-a-half decades of service in the air force.
Speiser-Blanchet, a Chicoutimi native, has served as a Griffon helicopter pilot and in various command roles, most recently as deputy commander of the air force.
Her operational deployments included UN and NATO peacekeeping tours in Haiti and Bosnia, along with domestic deployments in response to emergencies such as forest fires and floods.
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