Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Michael John Hood is a retired senior

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

officer who was

Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force The Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force ( French: ''commandant de l'Aviation royale canadienne'') is the institutional head of the Royal Canadian Air Force. This appointment also includes the title Chief of the Air Force Staff and is based ...

from 2015 until 2018.

Early life and education

In addition to holding a master's degree in International Relations from

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

, Hood also holds certifications from Canada's National Security Program and the United States' Air Force Command and Staff College.

Career

Hood joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1985. He earned his Air Combat Systems Officer Wings in 1988. Most of his flight career was spent on the

C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 ...

. Hood also served a tour as an

Electronic Warfare Officer In the U.S. Air Force, an electronic warfare officer (EWO) is a trained aerial navigator who has received training in enemy threat systems, electronic warfare principles and overcoming enemy air defense systems. These officers are specialists in f ...

on the CC-144 Challenger. After serving as Commanding Officer of both 429 Tactical Airlift Squadron and 436 Tactical Airlift Squadron, he became Plans Officer at

Canadian Expeditionary Force Command Canadian Expeditionary Force Command (CEFCOM, French: ''Commandement de la Force expéditionnaire du Canada'' or ''COMFEC'') was an operational element of the Canadian Forces for operations outside of Canada, created in 2006 and merged into the Ca ...

Headquarters in January 2006. Following this, he became Commander of

8 Wing Trenton Canadian Forces Base Trenton (also CFB Trenton), formerly RCAF Station Trenton, is a Canadian Forces base located within the city of Quinte West, Ontario. It is operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and is the hub ...

in June 2007. Hood went on to become Director General Air Force Development in 2010, Deputy Director General of International Security Policy in June 2011 and Deputy Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force in September 2012. After that he became Director of Staff of the Strategic Joint Staff in June 2013 and finally

in July 2015. He retired from the Canadian Armed Forces in May 2018.

Post-retirement

Following his career in the military, in 2018 Hood went on to become an executive in a Vancouver-based energy and mining firm. In May 2020, Hood wrote an op-ed in the

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

entitled "Securing Canadian sovereignty in a post-

COVID Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

world."

Awards and decorations

As witness the photograph by the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', Hood had received as of his appointment to RCAF Commander in July 2015 the following Orders and Decorations:

BRA Ordem do Mérito Aeronáutico Grande Oficial

He was a qualified RCAF Pilot and as such wore the Royal Canadian Air Forces Pilot Wings.

Notes

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hood, Michael Living people Royal Canadian Air Force generals Commanders of the Order of Military Merit (Canada) 1967 births Date of birth missing (living people)