Go Bold #41: Lieutenant-Colonel Tim Kenney, CO of the Canadian Army Advanced Warfare Centre

Our guest is Lieutenant-Colonel Tim Kenney of the Canadian Army. LtCol Kenney is an Infantry officer by trade, and he has served in combat theatres in the Middle East. Today LtCol Kenney is the Commanding Officer of the Canadian Army's Advanced Warfare Centre (CAAWC), which is the functional center of excellence for the Canadian Army's myriad of environmental domains including Arctic, jungle, and other complex terrains.The Advanced Warfare Center is also the functional center of excellence for technical domains like Patrol Pathfinders, Airborne, helicopter insertion and aerial delivery.The Colonel shares his motivation to serve, and he kindly shares his personal reflections on the NATO and Allied forces campaign in Afghanistan; as well as his thoughts on the current war in Ukraine.We then do a deep dive into the Advanced Warfare Centre that LtCol Kenney leads. We discuss the breadth, reach and scope of the Unit, and the various tasks they are charged with, including training specialists for various domains like the Arctic.We learn that the Advanced Warfare Centre is the only Canadian Army Training Establishment with an operational mandate where it is responsible to have a two member liaison team on two hour notice to move, and a 12 member parachute team on 12 hour notice to move to force generate for Contingency Plan SOTERIA. SOTERIA is a joint contingency operation aimed at preserving life following a major air or sea accident in the Arctic. The plan involves parachuting into an incident site with survival equipment, supporting the efforts of the lead Search and Rescue Technicians, and providing shelter and sustenance to survivors. This capability was recently exercised by the Advanced Warfare Center, so LtCol Kenney shares his assessment of that evolution.LtCol Kenney is passionate about what he does, and he is rightly proud of the diverse Unit that he commands. We thank LtCol Kenney for his time and insight, and we hope you enjoy this episode of Go Bold.