There was a change of command ceremony at 8 Wing Trenton Tuesday where Lieutenant-Colonel Dana Sliwinski assumed her new position as Commanding Officer of Royal Canadian Air Force’s (RCAF) 437 Transport Squadron from Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Willrich.
Lieutenant-Colonel Sliwinski enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in 2007 and was posted to CFB Trenton after earning her wings in 2010, to fly the CC-150 Polaris aircraft.
In 2013, she upgraded to Aircraft Commander and shortly thereafter, became a Tanker Commander, Instructor Pilot and Sim Instructor.
Her tour at 437 (T) Sqn included air-to-air refueling deployments to Sicily in 2011 as part of Operation MOBILE (CAF’s participation in the international response to the popular uprising in Libya against the regime of Moammar Gadhafi) and to Iceland in 2013 as part of Operation IGNITION (CAF’s role in a NATO security mission for Iceland). She finished her tour as the Deputy Operations Officer, planning and managing VVIP missions for the squadron.
In 2016, LCol Sliwinski was posted to the Multi Engine Utility Flight as the Deputy Flight Commander to fly the Beechcraft 350 aircraft.
Promoted to Major in 2017, she moved to 1 Canadian Air Division Fleet Readiness in Winnipeg as Air Mobility Readiness Staff Officer.
After nine months, she transferred into the Combined Air Operations Centre as the Air Mobility Division Chief, responsible for generating the airlift plan for all air mobility fleets.
In 2018, the Lieutenant was recognized as one of the Top 20 Women in Defence.
