5 Wing Commander

Lieutenant-Colonel (LCol) William Brake grew up in various communities in Newfoundland and Labrador and in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, including a five-year stint on the base in Goose Bay during the 1990s. He joined the Canadian Forces in St. John’s in 2001 and completed a Bachelor of Science (Physics) at Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2005 via the Regular Officer Training Program.

After Second Language Training in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec, LCol Brake was posted to Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Kingston in 2006 to train as a Communications and Electronics Engineering (Air) Officer before heading to Ottawa, Ontario, in 2007 to work within the Directorate of Air Programs in the Chief of the Air Staff organization. LCol Brake was then posted to 14 Wing Greenwood in 2008 to serve in 14 Wing Telecommunications and Information Systems (TIS), including deploying as the Communications and Information Systems (CIS) Officer with 14 Mission Support Squadron to Op ATHENA in 2009. In 2011, LCol Brake was posted to CFB Borden as the 16 Wing TI Officer and Deputy Operations Officer. A year later, LCol Brake went to Ottawa, Ontario, as a Senior Program Evaluator at Chief Review Services, and then to Comox, British Columbia, in 2014 as the 19 Wing TIS Officer.

LCol Brake deployed to Op IMPACT from Comox in 2015 as the Air Task Force-Iraq A6, returning to assume the role of 19 Wing Logistics and Engineering Officer in 2016. LCol Brake moved to Belgium in 2017 to serve within the J5 Directorate at NATO CIS Group Headquarters, then within the J1 Directorate in Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). LCol Brake came back to Canada in 2020 to complete the Joint Command and Staff Program and a Master of Defence Studies, at Canadian Forces College and Royal Military College, respectively, before being posted in 2021 as the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) Branch Head in the Project Management Office for Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) in Ottawa.

Most recently, in 2023, LCol Brake was posted to North American Aerospace Defence (NORAD) and United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) Headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado. There, LCol Brake served as a J6 Branch Chief supporting systems and services that enable NORAD’s mission, and pulled shifts as the Domain Chief for NORAD’s Missile Warning mission at the NORAD and USNORTHCOM Joint Operations Center at Peterson Space Force Base and Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station.

LCol Brake, his wife, Daphne, and their three awesome daughters, Sarah, Lauren, and Alison, are ecstatic that their military family journey is bringing them back to their home province and its wonderful people. LCol Brake assumed command of 5 Wing Goose Bay on July 8, 2025.