By Ken Pole | August 28, 2012 Estimated reading time 3 minutes, 15 seconds.
When RCAF LGen Tom Lawson is promoted to General and sworn in as Chief of the Defence in a few weeks, succeeding Army Gen Walt Natynczyk, he will become the seventh air force officer to assume the military’s top job since the post was created in the mid-1960s. The former CF-104 Starfighter, CF-18 Hornet and C-144 Challenger pilot also comes from a family with a proud air force heritage.
Deputy Commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) since July 2011, Lawson previously had been Assistant Chief of the Air Staff since 2009. A 1979 Royal Military College (RMC) graduate, he was frequently in the public eye during Operation Mobile, last year’s seven-month Canadian Forces combat deployment from Italy as part of Task Force Libeccio against Libya. The former CF-18 pilot’s other senior postings included Commanding Officer at CF Base Trenton, Ont., and RMC Commandant.
“LGen Lawson is the right leader for the Canadian Armed Forces and will bring a clear vision and strong values to the role,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in announcing the appointment Aug. 27. “His experience, team-building skills and collaborative approach will help position the Canadian Armed Forces for the future.”
The Lawson family’s air force commitment was highlighted in January 2009 at a parade and colours ceremony in Gatineau, Que. for 414 Electronic Warfare Support Squadron, now part of 3 Wing Bagotville. Three generations participated, the eldest being retired Flight Lt George Lawson, 88. He and his son, who was RMC Commandant at the time, were joined by Lt Ben Lawson, a 414 Squadron air combat systems officer who had the honour of unveiling the colours.
George Lawson joined the RCAF in 1941 and, after training on Tiger Moths and Harvards, was deployed to England and assigned to Royal Air Force 239 Squadron, which flew P-51 Mustangs. He was reassigned by the RCAF in 1943 to 414 Squadron, flying reconnaissance P-51s and Spitfires. He retired from the RCAF after the war, recollecting that “unless you were taking a fighting stance, it just wasn’t the same.”
He told Air Force News that he never really encouraged Tom to join up, saying that while he had shown his son an RMC ad and suggested the air force as a career option, “it was pretty much his own idea.” Tom Lawson agreed, but acknowledged that he had been influenced by his father’s war stories.
Ben Lawson, who watched fighter training and exercises at bases such as Cold Lake, Alta., joined up in 2002 and after four years at RMC, earned his navigator’s wings and was posted to 414 Squadron. Now a Captain, he is an Electronic Warfare Representative (Tactical Aviation Fleet) at A3 Operations, 1 Wing Headquarters in Kingston, Ont. Another son, 2Lt Jack Lawson, is a student with 1 Canadian Forces Flying Training School.
