Col Jody Hanson was born and raised in Bright Sand, Saskatchewan where she learned how to drive a stick shift and operate machinery before the age of 12. Naturally, she is a Roughriders fan.
Col Hanson joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1996 and obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration with Honours from the Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario in 2000. Later in 2013, she completed the Joint Command and Staff Program 39 at Canadian Forces College, Toronto, Ontario. Additionally, she holds two Master’s Degrees: the first in Defence Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada, and the second a Master’s in Business Administration from the Australian Institute of Business.
Col Hanson has operationally qualified in two RCAF occupations: Air Combat Systems Officer and Aerospace Control Officer. She acquired 2000 hours on the CC130 Hercules over the course of her postings at 436 Transport Sqn and 413 Search & Rescue Sqn, and she qualified as an Instrument Flight Rules Air Traffic Controller at 8 Wing Trenton. Col Hanson’s deployment experience includes tours on Op APOLLO (UAE, Middle East and Afghanistan), Op CARAVAN (Uganda/DRC), Op ATHENA (Kandahar, Afghanistan) and Op CALUMET (Sinai Peninsula, Egypt).
Throughout her career, Col Hanson has been privileged with command opportunities such as 15 Wing Air Traffic Control Unit in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and NORAD Canadian Detachment Western Air Defense Sector, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, USA.
She has served in a variety of staff positions in Canada and the US to include posts within RCAF Aerospace Warfare Center, Canadian Joint Operations Command, and NORAD-USNORTHCOM Headquarters in Colorado Springs, CO as the Commander Center Director. She recently completed her tenure as the A3/Combined Aerospace Operations Center Director at 1 Canadian Air Division/Canadian NORAD Region Headquarters, where she was responsible for the execution of RCAF operations across Canada and the world.
Col Hanson is an avid traveler, hiker, camper, and fitness enthusiast; her happy place is in the backcountry with granola bars and no cell service. Looks like Springer Lake will have a new guest during the summer season!
She is humbled by, and excited, for the opportunity to be the Commander of Canadian Forces Base/17 Wing Winnipeg, and truly looks forward to working with the 17 Wing team.
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