Moose Jaw Times-Herald: New 15 Wing commander takes over

New 15 Wing Commander Col. Paul Goddard (left),
Reviewing Officer Brig.-Gen. Martin Galvin and former
15 Wing Commander Col. Marc Bigaouette prepare to
sign the scrolls at the change of command ceremony
at 15 Wing on Monday.
Times-Herald photo by Lisa Goudy

By Lisa Goudy

15 Wing once again has a new wing commander.

Col. Paul Goddard officially took over command as wing commander and military director of the NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) program from Col. Marc Bigaouette during the change of command ceremony at 15 Wing on Monday.

“I really want to go through a period of stability here ... I don’t think we’re going to embark on any big projects because everybody is very, very busy,” said Goddard. 

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Regina Leader-Post: Home to 15 Wing for new head


15 Wing once again has a new wing commander.

Col. Paul Goddard officially took over command as wing commander and military director of the NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) program from Col. Marc Bigaouette during the change-of-command ceremony at 15 Wing on Monday.

"I really want to go through a period of stability here ... I don't think we're going to embark on any big projects because everybody is very, very busy," said Goddard. "It'll be about monitoring where we're at and how we're doing and hopefully after two years, we're going to be stabilized, up and running and we'll be proud of what the production numbers are at."

Goddard was born in Landstuhl, Germany, into a military family. His mother is from Saskatchewan and his father retired from the military in Weyburn.

From Grade 8 to Grade 12, Goddard attended Weyburn Comprehensive High School. He enrolled in the Canadian Forces in 1980.
He earned his pilot wings in Moose Jaw in 1985, where he stayed to serve his first tour. After being posted to a variety of places in Canada and around the world, he came to Moose Jaw in 2003 as the chief of staff responsible for all 15 Wing support functions. Goddard is married to Annette Bernard and they have three children.

"Coming back to Moose Jaw is like coming home," said Goddard. "For me and Annette, we have family and friends across Saskatchewan and we look forward to being able to get reacquainted."

At the change of command ceremony, Goddard was presented with the Royal Canadian Air Force Commander's Commendation. About a year ago, Goddard said he had to make some adjustments in the program to meet the needs of the air force.
After getting a team together, Goddard said the team spent "12 hours a day, seven days a week working on this."

He said the changes affected branches such as helicopter training and recruiting and one-third of those have already been implemented.

"We had to come up with a solution to improve the pilot training and to generate the production that we needed in the future, but pilot training is very complex. You can't just change one part of it. You had to do it all," said Goddard. "All of the folks around here have a passion when it comes to training and I think it's a very important function in the air force."