Lieutenant-Colonel Rhea MacLean, CD
LCol MacLean was born in Comox, British Columbia, and grew up across Canada as the youngest child in a military family. In 2001, she enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces through the Regular Officer Training Plan and attended the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario. Following graduation in 2005, she completed her initial Aerospace Control Officer training in Cornwall, Ontario, and was posted to 15 Wing Moose Jaw where she received air traffic control qualifications in the Visual Flight Rules (Tower) and Instrument Flight Rules (Radar) environments. In 2011, she returned to the Canadian Forces School of Aerospace Control Operations in Cornwall, Ontario, where she was employed as an Instrument Flight Rules instructor.
Upon promotion to Major in 2012, LCol MacLean was posted to 4 Wing Cold Lake as the Wing Air Traffic Control Officer where she was the officer commanding of the local Air Traffic Control Unit. Two years later, she was posted to Winnipeg where she assumed numerous positions around the base including staff officer positions at both 1 and 2 Canadian Air Divisions as well as the Senior Operations Duty Officer position in the Combined Aerospace Operations Centre. While posted to Winnipeg, LCol MacLean had the opportunity to complete the Joint Command and Staff Programme, at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, and deploy on two operations. In December 2015, she deployed to Op IMPACT, Kuwait, working in the J3 cell overseeing current operations. In January 2018, LCol MacLean deployed to Op REASSURANCE, Riga, Latvia, as the Gender Advisor to the Commander of Task Force Latvia.
Promoted to her current rank in 2018, LCol MacLean was posted to the NATO operational-level headquarters in Brunssum, The Netherlands, as the J5 Airspace Planner. In 2020, she also assumed the role of Commanding Officer of the Canadian Delegation Brunssum prior to returning to Canada in 2021. Before coming to 9 Wing Gander in 2023, LCol MacLean was a member of Directing Staff for the Joint Command and Staff Programme at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto. LCol MacLean has a passion for education and holds a Bachelors in Politics and a Masters in Defence Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada and a Master of Arts in Disaster and Emergency Management from Royal Roads University.
