Command team of Maritime Forces Pacific

Rear-Admiral Robinson grew up in Hudson Québec. He began his military career in the Canadian Army Reserves as a Combat Engineer serving in the 3rd Field Engineer Regiment in Montréal. He subsequently joined the Royal Canadian Navy and underwent Naval Warfare Officer training aboard patrol craft, mine-sweepers, and destroyers before volunteering for the silent service.

He served aboard the Canadian submarines Onondaga, Ojibwa, Victoria, Corner Brook, Windsor, and the British submarine Unseen. He was privileged to command Corner Brook between 2007 and 2009. During this command tour, in addition to normal fleet duties, Corner Brook deployed to the Canadian North for Operation Nanook and the Caribbean Sea to conduct a counter-drug patrol as part of Operation Caribbe. In recognition of its outstanding contribution to Canadian sovereignty, Corner Brook was awarded the Canadian Armed Forces Unit Commendation in 2008.

Rear-Admiral Robinson was appointed as the inaugural Commander Submarine Sea Training in 2011 and served in that role until 2014. He was delighted to be appointed as Commander of the Canadian Submarine Force and Commander 4th Maritime Operations Group in 2017 and relinquished the appointment two years later. Feeling fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve as the Commander Canadian Fleet Atlantic between 2021 and 2022, he was appointed Commander Maritime Forces Pacific & Joint Task Force Pacific in May 2022.

His ashore assignments have included the Joint Command and Staff Programme at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, the Naval Command College at the United States Naval War College in Rhode Island, and serving three times on the Naval Staff, initially as the Submarine Requirements Section Head, next as the Director of Naval Requirements, and most recently as the Director General Naval Force Development.

Rear-Admiral Robinson is a graduate of the Royal Norwegian Navy’s Submarine Command Course, the United States Navy’s Submarine Command Course, and the Royal Australian Navy’s Submarine Executive Officer Course. He holds a Master of Business from the University of Ottawa, a Master of Defence Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada, a Bachelor of Commerce from Concordia University, and a Certificate in Fire Service Leadership from Dalhousie University.

Chief Petty Officer 1st Class Arvid Lee was born and raised in Saskatoon, Sask., and joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1991. He has had an extremely rewarding and successful career in the Royal Canadian Navy as a Naval Combat Information Operator (NCIOP) and within his new occupation, CPO1/CWO Corps.

Starting in 1992, upon completion of his QL3 course, his first posting was to Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Restigouche for a small time prior to being posted to HMCS Yukon until decommissioning in 1993. A mariner at heart, most of his career has been at sea, conducting several operational deployments to the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, South America, Atlantic and Indo-Asia-Pacific.  His missions included enforcing United Nations’ sanctions against Iraq, counter-terrorism operations in the Persian Gulf region, two deployments to South America to operate with the Chilean, Peruvian and Ecuadorian navies, participation in piracy disruption patrols in the Arabian Sea, and Operation Projection and Operation Neon in 2018 where he participated in exercises with allied nations and United Nations’ sanctions against North Korea.

One of the most memorable highlights in his career includes being a member of the commissioning crew of HMCS Calgary, circumnavigating the globe and taking HMCS Calgary on the first deployment overseas as a young Leading Seaman in 1995.  He finally had the honour of returning to HMCS Calgary between 2017 and 2019, serving as the Coxswain.

CPO1 Lee has occupied positions ashore, including Senior Instructor at Canadian Forces Fleet School Esquimalt, a French Language student in 2013 at the Language Training Division, Personnel Coordination Center (Pacific), and Honours and Recognition Coordinator for Maritime Forces Pacific and Joint Task Force Pacific. In July 2022, CPO1 Lee was named Maritime Forces Pacific Formation Chief Petty Officer 1^st Class.

Away from the military, CPO1 Lee is extremely active within his community participating in local events. Between 1995 and 2000, CPO1 Lee saw the need and seized the opportunity to provide sports for children within the local military community. Starting a Little League Sports program and coordinating his efforts with several outside agencies, he was able to provide soccer, softball and T-ball for the military families within the western communities of Victoria. Since 2006 he has volunteered as a foster parent and respite provider where he and his family open their home to help families whose children and adults have developmental disabilities.

In 2018 CPO1 Lee was invested into the Order of Military Merit. The success of CPO1 Lee’s career could not have been possible without the support of his wife, Lisa, and their three children Alexandria, Kaleb and Meghan. They all currently reside in Langford, B.C.

A native of Kitchener Ontario, Commodore (Cmdre) Mazur enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces on completion of High School, completing his Basic Officer Training in Chilliwack, BC in December 1988.

Following training ashore and at sea, Cmdre Mazur went on to specialize in Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), in Her Majesty’s Canadian (HMC) Ships Skeena and Gatineau.

After instructing ashore, and fulfilling various sea going positions, Cmdre Mazur was posted to the West Coast to join HMCS Regina as the Operations Officer for a deployment to the Middle East. Successfully challenging his Command Board during this period, Cmdre Mazur was employed in the Pacific Coast Fleet Staff, before returning to sea in 2006 as the Executive Officer in HMCS Vancouver.

In 2007, he was promoted to Commander, and after a short period in Maritime Forces Pacific Headquarters (MARPAC HQ), he was posted to Canberra Australia to attend the Australian Command and Staff College where he also completed a Master of Maritime Studies from the University of Wollongong. Upon graduation, he and his family were posted to Ottawa where he served as the Senior Staff Officer Maritime in the Canadian Special Forces Command (CANSOFCOM) HQ.

Cmdre Mazur returned to the Navy fold in January 2012 and assumed Command of HMCS Vancouver. After a short but intense 18 months of sailing, he relinquished Command of the ship and assumed Command of Sea Training Pacific. Promoted to the rank of Captain(N) in May 2015, Cmdre Mazur assumed the duties of N3/J3 in MARPAC/Joint Task Force (Pacific). In September 2016, Cmdre Mazur was posted to Ottawa as the Director Strategic Plans within the Strategic Joint Staff. In 2018, Cmdre Mazur was posted to Halifax, where he spent the next two years as the commander of Canada’s largest base.

Most recently, Cmdre Mazur graduated the year-long National Security Programme (NSP) designed to prepare selected military, public service, international and private-sector leaders for future leadership responsibilities.

Promoted on completion of the NSP course in June 2021, and supported by his wife and two sons, Cmdre Mazur assumed Command of Canada’s Pacific Fleet based in Esquimalt in August 2021

Captain(N) Kevin Whiteside was born in Scarborough, Ontario on 12 March 1979. He joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1998, graduating in 2002 from the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario. He was first commissioned as an Infantry Officer but medically transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in 2004. He is the father of three awesome children, and married to his life partner, Lesley Whiteside, an elementary school teacher in Victoria, BC.

Since joining the Fleet in 2005, Kevin has served on many different ships in his roles as Frigate Navigator, Fleet Navigation Instructor, Deep Draft Navigator, Operations Room Officer, Operations Officer Sea Training (Pacific), and in his various Command roles. His operational experiences span the globe and many of the missions in which the RCN participate, including Operations Altair, Artemis, Active Endeavour, Caribbe, Projection, Reassurance, and Neon.

Kevin’s Command level appointments have included Executive Officer (XO) His Majesty's Canadian Ship (HMCS) Winnipeg (October 2014 - May 2016), XO Sea Training (Pacific) (June 2016 - December 2017), Executive Secretary to the 35th and 36th Commanders of the RCN (January 2019 - December 2020), and most recently, Commanding Officer, HMCS Vancouver (January 2021- February 2023).

Kevin has a Masters degree in Military and Defence Studies from the Australian National University and is a graduate of the Australian Command and Staff College. His amazing family has been active members of the Greater Victoria community for over 15 years. They look forward to furthering their involvement and strengthening their relationships with the community as they enter this next stage of their journey.