Master Corporal Kyle Blanchard

West Coast Technician, CF-18 Demonstration Team

Master Corporal (MCpl) Kyle Blanchard was born and raised in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, where he attended Holland College for the Aircraft Gas Turbine Engine Repair and Overhaul Course.

Upon graduation he began working at Atlantic Turbines (now Standard Aero) located in Slemon Park (formerly Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Summerside). During his time there he was inspired by a colleague to check out the Canadian Armed Forces. Although working primarily with engines at the time, he decided to try something new and applied for a position as an Aircraft Structures Technician.

MCpl Blanchard would receive an offer to join the Royal Canadian Air Force in 2010. After completing his Basic Military Qualification (BMQ) in Saint-Jean-sur-Richeleau, Québec, followed by Basic Occupational Qualification Training in Borden, Ontario, and Advanced Occupational Training in Cold Lake, Alberta, he was posted to 1 Air Maintenance Squadron (AMS) at 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alberta.

During the four years MCpl Blanchard spent at 1 AMS he gained valuable life support equipment and metal fabrication experience, along with being part of the paint crew for the 2018 NORAD 60^th Anniversary CF-18 Demonstration Team jet.

MCpl Blanchard would be promoted to his current rank in 2018 and posted to 10 Field Technical Training Squadron (FTTS) as an Aircraft Structures Instructor.

After three years at 10 FTTS, MCpl Blanchard was posted to 401 Tactical Fighter Squadron, 4 Wing, Cold Lake, where he would spend the next two years maintaining the CF-18 Hornet in support of flying operations at home along with multiple training deployments to San Diego, Alaska, Yellowknife, Inuvik, Arizona and Key West, Florida.

In 2023, MCpl Blanchard was posted to 409 Tactical Fighting Squadron, 4 Wing, Cold Lake.