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News Article / June 11, 2015 / Project number: rcaf-2050611-02

From 3 Wing Bagotville

The commander of 3 Wing Bagotville (Quebec), Colonel Sylvain Ménard, and the commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Lieutenant-General Yvan Blondin, participated in a ceremony restoring the squadron colour to 433 Tactical Fighter Squadron on June 9, 2015.

433 Squadron was disbanded on July 14, 2005 after 62 years of operation in Bagotville. Since that time, all CF-188 Hornets at Bagotville have been flown by 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron, nicknamed “Alouettes”. Lieutenant-Colonel Billy Mitchell is the commanding officer of the reactivated 433 Squadron, whose members are nicknamed the “Ti-pics”.

The return to four fighter squadrons is an important change for the Royal Canadian Air Force. "Recent and numerous world changes have required a change to our country’s fighter force,” said Colonel Ménard. “The implications for Canada as part of coalition forces such as NATO have resulted in a busy time for our personnel. The return to four fighter squadrons will give us more resilience and greater operational flexibility.”

Lieutenant-General Blondin presided over the ceremony. “I am myself a ‘Ti-pic’," he said. “I began my career flying the CF-188 at 433 and it was with heavy heart that I retired the squadron colour in 2005. You’ll understand, then, that I am very happy today to participate in the rebirth of this famous squadron ".

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Seventy-five years after battling the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain, 401 Tactical Fighter Squadron has been reborn.

The squadron was reactivated during a June 30 ceremony at 4 Wing Cold Lake.

Known as the Ram Squadron, 401 will fly the CF-18 Hornet.

Maj.-Gen. David Wheeler, commander of 1st Canadian Air Division, was on hand to stand up the new squadron.

“This is a day we’ve been waiting for a long, long time,” Wheeler said. “It’s a great opportunity... (it’s) not every day that you get to stand up a new squadron, especially one with the history of 401.”

Wheeler said the need for 401 Squadron came out of the need to move away from “super squadrons.”

For the past several years, Canada has had only two active tactical fighter squadrons - 409, based in Cold Lake, and 425, based in Bagotville, Que.

With the rebirth of 433 Tactical Fighter Squadron in Bagotville on June 11 and the reformation of 401 in Cold Lake, Canada once again has four active fighter squadrons.

“I’m very pleased to see such a historic squadron come to life once again and in Cold Lake – the home of the fighter force,” Wheeler said in a press release. “Transitioning to four tactical fighter squadrons will provide the RCAF with a better structure to maintain operational effectiveness and flexibility.”

Lt.-Col. Joseph Mullins, who previously served as acting 4 Wing Commander, will take over as 401’s commanding officer.

“We will not let you down,” he said Tuesday. “I assure you we will be ready.”

Mullins said that it’s appropriate that 401, “Canada’s oldest and newest fighter squadron ... will now make their home in fightertown Canada, 4 Wing Cold Lake.”

During the ceremony, it was announced that current Edmonton-Centre MP Laurie Hawn would become the squadron’s honorary Colonel when his current term is up.

Before going into politics, Hawn served in the air force for over 30 years. Thirteen of those were spent in Cold Lake “flying the (CF-104) Starfighter or CF-18,” he said.

Hawn is a former commanding officer of 416 Sqn. in Cold Lake and spent time as Wing Operations Officer. He was also the honourary Colonel of 417 Sqn. from 1998-2003.

“It’s very exciting, it’s a real honour,” Hawn said. “This was not expected - it happened very quickly...over the past six days.”

Hawn stressed the importance of the newly-reformed 401 squadron.

“We went from two operational squadrons at each of Cold Lake and Bagotville down to one at each place, that proved a bit unwieldy so this is going back to where it was before,” he said. “It gives the air force a lot more flexibility in meeting requirements It really strengthens the command and control within the squadron, so you can send a whole unit away instead of sending part of a bigger squadron.”

The newly-reformed 401 Squadron “complements the duties of 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron and...deploys tactical fighter forces to meet Canadian and allied defence needs,” according to a description on the air force website. “ Under the umbrella of the NORAD mission, fighter crews are on stand-by 24/7, ready to respond to any aerospace threat.”

The new squadron was created by “separating equal portions of personnel and equipment from (409 Squadron).”

401 Squadron was originally formed as No. 1 Squadron in Trenton, Ont. in 1937, flying the Siskin, an early, single-seat British-built biplane single-seat fighter, used extensively in the 1920s.

It later graduated to the Hawker Hurricane in 1939. From 1940-1941, the fighter unit destroyed 30 aircraft and damaged another 34, with nine other probable victories in the Battle of Britain.

The squadron was later renamed 401 to avoid confusion with the Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) No. 1 squadron.

In September 1941, the unit was equipped with Spitfires. It participated in several other battles in WWII, including Dieppe, and bombed several Nazi targets.

The squadron ended the war as the highest scoring unit in the RAF Second Tactical Air Force, credited with 186.5 aerial victories.

After the war, the squadron was disbanded. It was reactivated in 1946 and later redesignated to an auxiliary role, flying the de Havilland Otter. When that was retired, the squadron flew the Kiowa helicopter in an observation role before being disbanded in 1998.

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thanks for posting that Bill. I wonder why they chose to reactivate 401 vs. 416 or one of the other deactivated hornet squadrons?

Very easy, it was for harmony.

When 433 was disbanded and all the ex-433 members were sent to 425 there was a lot of division between the two groups.

So 409 was formed as they didn't want to make the same mistake by keeping one of the numbers of the two Squadrons that formed it (either 441 slugs or the greatest fighter Squadron in history - 416).

So when they split 409 in two they didn't want to form a unit with a mix of ex-416 & ex 441 and utilize one of those two numbers. It was best to use a new number.

I'd have loved to see my beloved 416 reformed, but the fists would have flown.

Scotty, the CO of 401, served with me in 416. He was a young Captain them.

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Good to see them coming to their senses and dividing the fleet into more manageable chunks. From all I've ever read, the "super squadron" concept could be a logistical nightmare in a lot of ways.

It's also good to see a historic unit like 401 getting back to its fighter roots like this. With their history, they never should have been taken out of the fighter role at all.

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So what's the 'honorary Colonel' position?

The Honourary Col position is selected through the Units own made selection committee. A number of names are brought forward from many sources, from unit members and other outside sourcs within the military. The Honourary Col plays a time honoured role to the Unit. The HC are a liason of sorts. They get to see the first hand, up close workings of their Unit. A civilian is selected to help "spread the word" of the HC experiences to his circle of friends or network. The HC is usually an individual of influence within the community, usually of high standing and of a high profile. Celebrities on a large scale ( Tom Cochrane, Ed Robertson, Sass Jordan, Lawrie Hawn...etc etc - to name a few) and I have seen individuals who are CEOs, Business owners, TV personalities, Sports personalities (Glen Suitor), former Military members and so on. We typically wish to have someone who can spread their experiences they have had back out to the community of what we do. Also the HC are invited to all the Units events (Change of Command, Military Parades, Mess Dinners, Family Days, Sports days, Promotion to mbrs of the Unit, etc.)Typically the HC stays on the Unit for approx 4 years, some are shorter, some longer. But that is abit unusual outside of 4 years.

This is just a small bit of info of the Units HC role.

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Very easy, it was for harmony.

When 433 was disbanded and all the ex-433 members were sent to 425 there was a lot of division between the two groups.

So 409 was formed as they didn't want to make the same mistake by keeping one of the numbers of the two Squadrons that formed it (either 441 slugs or the greatest fighter Squadron in history - 416).

So when they split 409 in two they didn't want to form a unit with a mix of ex-416 & ex 441 and utilize one of those two numbers. It was best to use a new number.

I'd have loved to see my beloved 416 reformed, but the fists would have flown.

Scotty, the CO of 401, served with me in 416. He was a young Captain them.

I would like to say there was a healthy rivalry within the Units of 425/433 and 441/416 when both 3 EMA and 4 Wing Sqns were amagalmated. As a proud mbr of 416 Sqn, I have has some very good friends there back then and are still good friends today. Although I do tend to remind the 441 Sqn friends of the pure awesomeness of 416 Sqn and sing the 441 Sqn chant " Checker, checker, checker little tiny ****" and then walk away roaring like a true Lynx while laughing...then we drink our beers and nostalgia sets in with stories that will make us both laugh and sometimes to tears. Good times.

When 409 was split...there is very few 416 and 441 mbrs remaining. The 441/416,401 Sqn selection, was way beyond the rivalry of a few mbrs of days gone past.

Edited by AlienFrogModeller
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Hi everyone.

Just an FYI, that I'm in the process of updating my FIP CF-18 schemes to include the 401 tail crest. I have the decal printing finished, just need to update the placement guides. There will be no extra cost for the updated set vs the existing set, they'll just have an extra little insert. My FIP set already comes with 433 markings (assuming they don't change the tail crest which they probably will.)

thanks

David

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I would like to say there was a healthy rivalry within the Units of 425/433 and 441/416 when both 3 EMA and 4 Wing Sqns were amagalmated. As a proud mbr of 416 Sqn, I have has some very good friends there back then and are still good friends today. Although I do tend to remind the 441 Sqn friends of the pure awesomeness of 416 Sqn and sing the 441 Sqn chant " Checker, checker, checker little tiny ****" and then walk away roaring like a true Lynx while laughing...then we drink our beers and nostalgia sets in with stories that will make us both laugh and sometimes to tears. Good times.

When 409 was split...there is very few 416 and 441 mbrs remaining. The 441/416,401 Sqn selection, was way beyond the rivalry of a few mbrs of days gone past.

Were you working the day we loaned 441 three jets so they could maintain their flying schedule for the day? At the same time we had jets in the Q and were flying a 4 turn 4 schedule.

441 PA'd over the base that day they achieved 100% serviceability! Yeah, flying our jets. 441, All Talk, No Skill!

I was going to add there likely wasn't any of us old-timers left. I still think it had to do with the split out East though. Policy makers are always years beyond reality.

I should have added that was my theory. I know quite a few people on the Hornet Facebook page that thought my theory was sound.

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Hi everyone.

Just an FYI, that I'm in the process of updating my FIP CF-18 schemes to include the 401 tail crest. I have the decal printing finished, just need to update the placement guides. There will be no extra cost for the updated set vs the existing set, they'll just have an extra little insert. My FIP set already comes with 433 markings (assuming they don't change the tail crest which they probably will.)

thanks

David

I sent as message to you...we should talk.

Cheers

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