Yvan Blondin

Lieutenant-General Joseph Aimé Jean Yvan Blondin CMM, CD, usually given as J Y Blondin or Yvan Blondin, is Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was appointed to the position on September 27, 2012.

Career
Blondin joined the Canadian Forces in 1980 and undertook flight training on Lockheed T-33 jet trainers. He became Commanding Officer of 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron at Bagotville in 2000 (in which role he supported NATO forces in the former Yugoslavia), a member of the Canadian staff in NORAD Headquarters in 2002 and Commander of 3 Wing Bagotville in 2004. He was deployed to Afghanistan, as Director of Staff in ISAF Headquarters, in 2006 and then assigned as Deputy Commander Force Generation at 1 Canadian Air Division in Winnipeg in 2007. He attended the Space Operations Course for senior leaders at the National Security Space Institute in January 2008 and served as the Commander of 1 Canadian Air Division / Canadian NORAD Region from July 2009 to July 2011 when he was appointed Assistant Chief of the Air Staff. He became Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force on September 27, 2012.