Brigadier-General Omer Lavoie was born and raised in Marathon, Ontario. He joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1983 as a private soldier in the Lake Superior Scottish Regiment. Upon high school graduation, he transferred to the Regular Force and attended Royal Roads Military College from 1985 – 1989. Upon completion of infantry phase training, he was posted to Second Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment. Brigadier-General Lavoie’s regimental employment includes service with 2RCR, 1 RCR and as the Regimental Adjutant. As […]
Brigadier-General Omer Lavoie was born and raised in Marathon, Ontario. He joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1983 as a private soldier in the Lake Superior Scottish Regiment. Upon high school graduation, he transferred to the Regular Force and attended Royal Roads Military College from 1985 – 1989. Upon completion of infantry phase training, he was posted to Second Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment. Brigadier-General Lavoie’s regimental employment includes service with 2RCR, 1 RCR and as the Regimental Adjutant. As a member of 2 RCR, he was employed as a platoon commander, Officer Commanding reconnaissance platoon and as a company second-in-command. While posted to 1 RCR, he served as the Battle Group Operations Officer, Officer Commanding the Duke of Edinburgh’s Company and Commanding Officer.
Brigadier-General Lavoie’s extra regimental service has included postings to Canadian Forces Northern Area Headquarters in Yellowknife, Director General Strategic Planning at National Defence Headquarters, and as the first commander of the Canadian Forces Counter-Improvised Explosive Device Task Force. He has served in all three of the Canadian Army’s mechanized brigade groups and commanded 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group from May 2010 to June 2012. Brigadier-General Lavoie’s operational experience includes employment as a rifle platoon commander during the Oka Crisis, as a company second-in-command in Croatia and Bosnia in 1992-1993, as a battle group operations officer in Kosovo in 1999 – 2000 and as a Battle Group Commanding Officer of the 1 RCR Battle Group in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2006-2007.
Brigadier-General Lavoie has been awarded the Meritorious Service Cross for his role in leading the First Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group in Afghanistan and has been awarded the NATO Meritorious Service Medal for leading NATO’s first offensive ground operation at the Battle Group level, Operation Medusa. Brigadier-General Lavoie was appointed to the Order of Military Merit as an Officer. His formal education includes an Honours degree in Military Leadership and Applied Psychology from Royal Roads Military College and a Master’s degree in Defence Studies from Royal Military College.
Brigadier-General Lavoie assumed Command of 4th Canadian Division and Joint Task Force Central in Toronto on 28 June 2012. He completed a highly distinguished tenure of command on 11 July 2014. Brigadier-General Lavoie is currently the Director General Defence Force Planning, at NDHQ, in Ottawa.
http://podcast.canadianmilitaryhistorypodcast.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/CMHP-Episode-049-BGen-Omer-Lavoie.mp3Brigadier-General Omer Lavoie, OMM, MSC, CD, Director General Defence Force Planning
Col Lavoie and CWO Bobby Girouard take a break in Afghanistan in August, 2006.
Brigadier-General Omer Lavoie, commander of Joint Task Force Central/Land Force Central Area, inspects members of the 21st Electronic Warfare Regiment at a ceremony where more than two dozen members of the regiment received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal at CFB Kingston.
Brigadier-General Lavoie presents the patch of the 4th Canadian Division to the Command teams at a ceremony held at Fort York Armoury on April 25, 2014,
Brigadier-General Lavoie addresses members of the media in Wainwright, Alberta after a tragedy on Ex Maple Resolve in 2014.
Brigadier-General Lavoie addresses the soldiers who served with him in Afghansitan via YouTube.
Command of 4th Canadian Division officially changed hands on July 11, 2014 during a ceremony held at the Lieutenant-Colonel George Taylor Denison III Armoury in Toronto. Brigadier-General Omer Lavoie was succeeded by Brigadier-General Lowell Thomas during the ceremony presided over by Lieutenant-General Marquis Hainse, Commander Canadian Army.