Episode 4.8: Safe For Now with Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, LtGen. Speiser-Blanchet

Welcome to 2026 and to a new episode of Battle Rhythm with co-host Artur Wilczynski, retired DG of Foreign Intelligence Operations Canada and Senior Fellow GPSIA, University of Ottawa; Artur and Steve Saideman discuss rollercoasters, PM Carney’s meetings in China, Qatar and Davos and what this means for Canada’s new approach to the world, with Greenland being the first test of Canada and Europe’s resolve. While back on the continent, the US administration readies Alaska National Guard member troops with the Army’s 11th Airborne Division in to assist ICE’s strong-arming Minnesotans with impunity. In today’s feature interview, Steve interviews LtGen. Speiser-Blanchet on her approaches to leading and reshaping Canada’s Air Force for the future. Lieutenant-General Jamie Speiser-Blanchet enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces in 1990 and graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) in 1994 with a degree in Computer Engineering. Earning her pilot wings in March 1996, she served as a Rotary Wing Tactical Aviation pilot flying the CH-146 Griffon helicopter at 1 Wing Kingston. Her operational and staff postings include 430 Tactical Helicopter Squadron in Valcartier, 1 Wing Headquarters, 1 Canadian Air Division Headquarters in Winnipeg, and 403 Helicopter Operational Training Squadron in Gagetown. Lieutenant-General Speiser-Blanchet served on multiple deployments as a helicopter pilot to include United Nations and NATO missions in Haiti and Bosnia. She also served as Deputy Commander (Operations) for Joint Task Force-IMPACT in Kuwait in 2019. In Canada, she has deployed on numerous domestic operations in response to regional emergencies and in support to other government agencies. Lieutenant-General Speiser-Blanchet has commanded at multiple levels, 403 Helicopter Operational Training Squadron, the Canadian Forces Intelligence Group, and the Cadets and Junior Canadian Rangers Group. Strategic level appointments include Military Assistant to the Minister of National Defence, Special Advisor to the Chief of the Defence Staff, and Deputy Commander of the RCAF. A graduate of the Joint Command and Staff Programme and the Defence and Strategic Studies Course in Australia, she holds a Master of Defence Studies from RMC and a Master of Politics and Policy from Deakin University. Lieutenant-General Speiser-Blanchet is a Commander of the Order of Military Merit (CMM). She was promoted to her current rank in July 2025 and appointed Commander of the RCAF on July 10, 2025. She is married to Janin Blanchet, a retired tactical aviation pilot, and they have three amazing children, Emma, Zachary and Samuel.