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New CONR deputy commander named

  • Published
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Canadian Air Force Col. Chris Coates has been slated to take over as the new deputy commander of Continental U.S. NORAD Region here sometime this summer, Canadian officials announced March 24.

Colonel Coates, who will also be promoted to brigadier general, is currently serving as the commander of 1 Wing, Kingston, Ontario. He will replace Brig. Gen. André Viens, who is being reassigned to the National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa.

Colonel Coates, a graduate of the University of Calgary and the Institut Royal Supérieur de Défense in Belgium, previously served as the first commander of Joint Task Force-Afghanistan Air Wing in Kandahar.

Brig. Gen. Viens, who has been with CONR since July 2007, will assume the responsibility of Director General of Military Careers for the Canadian Forces.

As the Continental U.S. command region for NORAD, the bi-national North American Aerospace Defense Command, CONR provides air defense in the form of airspace surveillance and airspace control. It has sole responsibility for ensuring the air sovereignty and air defense of the continental United States, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.