Lieutenant-Colonel Thompson returns 20 years later to take command of his first squadron

July 25, 2022 - Defence Stories

By: Alice Twa

In a ceremony at the beginning of July, Lieutenant-Colonel (LCol) Steve Thompson officially took command of the 440 Transport Squadron (440 (T) Sqn), the squadron where he was first posted after getting his pilot wings in 1999.

LCol Thompson was first introduced to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) after joining the 155 Borden Gray Squadron, an air cadet unit in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

“I fell in love with aviation there and really liked the organization, really liked the military,” he said.

After participating in an air experience flight on a CC-130H Hercules, he joined the air force with the one goal of flying the aircraft himself one day.

While that never happened, LCol Thompson counts himself lucky to have gotten the chance to fly the CC-138 Twin Otter in Yellowknife instead.

“[I] fell in love with the place, met my wife here and we started our family. My first daughter was born here. [I] just fell in love in Yellowknife.”

After his first posting at 440 (T) Sqn was finished, LCol Thompson completed a variety of positions including a flight instructor for the C-90B King Air in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, flying as Snowbird 10 for three years in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and working at the Canadian NORAD Region headquarters in Winnipeg.

“Coming back home here to Yellowknife was definitely a treat. I consider myself very fortunate to come back,” said about his second posting to 440 (T) Sqn, as the Deputy Commander in 2012.

To stay in Yellowknife, LCol Thompson took a posting at Air Component Coordination Element, and then as the Director of Readiness at Joint Task Force (North).

“Yellowknife is one of those places that there’s a lot of misconceptions about what Yellowknife is. They think it’s a very expensive to live here, it’s extremely isolated, and there’s nothing here. Nothing could be further from the truth,” he said.

Yellowknife means family for LCol Thompson and he credits them for being able to tour with the CF-18 Demonstration Team or deploying to Qatar on Operation FOUNDATION, which is the CAF mission to counter terrorism in different regions of world, along with Allies and Partners.

“Having that support network co-located with the family it’s basically a game changer for me. It allowed me to do everything I wanted to do, whatever the [Royal Canadian Air Force] wanted me to do.”

Now back at 440 (T) Sqn for the third time, LCol Thompson describes taking command over the squadron where he was first posted to as a “unique situation”.

“It’s just a blessing to do this, to come full circle,” said LCol Thompson. “Here it’s just one of those places that everybody leans on everybody, everybody knows that if you need help, you pick up the phone and you call and someone from the greater family, the 440 [(T) Sqn] family will be there to help you out.”