JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- The Canadian Detachment at the Western Air Defense Sector officially changed command Aug. 4, 2022.
Royal Canadian Air Force Col. Jody Hanson relinquished command to RCAF Lt. Col. Dale Campbell. Campbell’s responsibilities will include leading the 15-member Canadian Detachment and serving as the director of exercise, plans and requirements.
Hanson will become the commander of the Combined Aerospace Operations Center, 1 Canadian Air Division/Canadian NORAD Region Headquarters at 17 Wing in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
A formal change of command ceremony is a long-standing Canadian military tradition marking the public transfer of command responsibilities. RCAF Maj. Gen. S. T. Boyle, Continental United States North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD) Region deputy commander, based in Tyndall AFB, Fla., presided over the ceremony.
Rather than exchanging flags, as is the American military custom, Boyle, Hanson and Campbell signed the change of command scrolls (formal orders).
Campbell has served in the RCAF since 1998. He graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from the Royal Military College of Canada, Ontario, Canada in 2002. In 2017, he graduated from the Canadian Forces College, Joint Command and Staff Program having completed the requirement through distance learning. In 2019, he earned a Masters in Defence Sciences.
Campbell has qualified in two RCAF occupations: air traffic controller and air battle manager. As an air traffic controller, Campbell has worked as an instrument flight rules controller at 19 Wing, Comox, British Columbia and as the wing air traffic control officer at 8 Wing, Trenton, Ontario. He has also performed IFR control duties at Thule Air Base, Greenland, as part of Operation Boxtop and worked as a staff officer within the Multinational Force and Observers (Operation Camlemet).
Within the air battle manager community, Campbell has served within a Mobile Control and Reporting Unit, 42 Radar Squadron in Cold Lake, Alberta, and onboard the USAF E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System. In these capacities, he has deployed within Operation Podium where he worked within a deployed datalink cell attached to 19 Wing.
Campbell has also performed mission crew commander onboard the AWACS within the U.S. Operation Inherent Resolve accumulating over 400 combat flying hours. As staff within 1 Canadian Air Division A7, Collective Training, Campbell was the deputy lead planner within multiple joint and combined collective training exercises. Within the Air Staff, Campbell performed section head duties within the Directorate of Air Domain Development where he oversaw a number of force development activities related to the aerospace control officer occupations. Most recently, he served as a staff officer at the Canadian Joint Operations Command in roles such as the J35, deputy chief of staff coordinator and lead of the Integrated Information Management Cell.
Campbell was awarded the Canadian Peacekeeping and the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) Medals in 2006. In 2019, for his flying duties in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, he was awarded the General Campaign Star– Expedition.
The Western Air Defense Sector is headquartered at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and is staff by active-duty Washington Air National Guardsmen, Royal Canadian Air Force, U.S. Navy liaison officers, and Federal civilians. The unit supports the NORAD integrated warning and attack assessment missions and the U.S. Northern Command's homeland defense mission. WADS is responsible for air sovereignty and counter-air operations over the Western United States and directs a variety of assets to defend 2.2 million square miles of land and sea west of the Mississippi River.