Master Corporal Leslie Blair headed to Aerospace Maintenance Competition in Atlanta

News Article / April 2, 2019

Click on the photo under “Image Gallery” to see more photos.

By Jason Miller

“Great leaders are developed through experiences, by mentors, and by seeking out educational opportunities,” says Master Corporal Leslie Blair. “I believe that continuous education and reflection will allow for a lifetime of personal growth.”

Master Corporal Blair, an aviation systems (AVN) technician at 12 Wing in Shearwater, Nova Scotia, has an upcoming opportunity to showcase her impressive technical training and expertise. She and six other RCAF technicians will be competing as the “RCAF Spitfires”, an all-female team in the Aerospace Maintenance Competition in Atlanta, Georgia, from April 8 to 11, 2019.

The annual event is in conjunction with Aviation Week’s MRO (maintenance, repair and operations) Americas. It features teams representing schools, military, airlines, repair and manufacturing companies, general aviation and space—all battling it out for top maintenance bragging rights.

“There are 31 different events at the competition, which are trade specific, but any of us can be assigned do them and they don’t necessarily correlate with our training or trade background,” says Master Corporal Blair. “That is part of the competition: to challenge our ability to adapt, following the technical manual for making repairs.”

Challenging herself has been an ongoing theme in Master Corporal Blair’s 12-year career in the Canadian Armed Forces. After completing her AVN trades training in 2009, she started working on the CC-130 Hercules at 8 Wing Trenton in Ontario. During her time there, she received her Level A authorization and participated in several operations and exercises, including, to name just a few, Operation Boxtop (a resupply mission conducted twice annually to our most northern post in Alert, Nunavut); Operation Sicily (commemorating the 70th anniversary of Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943), and as a member of the Tactical Airlift Unit in support of Task Force Afghanistan.

In 2014, Master Corporal Blair was posted to 12 Wing, where she is employed at 12 Air Maintenance Squadron. She works as a level C weapons releaser, overseeing many maintenance actions on the CH-148 Cyclone maritime helicopter. One of her memories, of a trip across Canada, left a lasting impression.

“Shortly after receiving this authorization [level C weapons releaser], I was sent as the lead technician on a cross-country trip to deliver the second CH-148 Cyclone to Patricia Bay, British Columbia,” she says. “The trip took a total of 14 days. We faced numerous snags and roadblocks, but we dealt with them all as a team. Seeing the entirety of Canada from the birds-eye-view of a CH-148 Cyclone helicopter will go down in the books as one of the coolest opportunities that I have ever experienced.”

When not at work, Master Corporal Blair spends a lot of time giving back to the community. She has organized and participated in many initiatives, including raising money for Camp Trillium (a camp for children with cancer), growing potatoes for the 12 Wing Soldiers Helping Soldiers Potato Project, and leading and making deliveries for the Santa for Veterans program.

In her spare time, she spends time with her spouse and four dogs and she is working on her Bachelor of Arts in psychology at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Master Corporal Blair describes herself as “disciplined and competitive” with high expectations for herself as a leader. Just the right fit for the RCAF Spitfire team.

“I was a little worried and nervous about the competition and how I was going to do,” she says. “But then I thought, ‘Why should I worry about it? Let’s laugh when we stumble or fall on our faces and let’s laugh even harder when we surprise ourselves and do really well.’

“It’s all about having fun, learning, and growing as a team.”