Richelieu Squadron

Richelieu Squadron is a Squadron of the Royal Military College Saint-Jean that is named jointly in honour of both Cardinal Richelieu and Richelieu, Quebec.[1]

Cardinal Richelieu, the namesake of Richelieu Squadron

History

Richelieu Squadron was formed after the closure of the Royal Military College Saint-Jean in 1995, on the site of Fort Saint-Jean to provide training and education to Naval and Officer Cadets that needed to complete a preparatory year before attending the Royal Military College of Canada.[2] During this time Naval and Officer Cadets of Richelieu Squadron would undergo military training alongside academics in order to meet the academic requirements of RMC.[3][4] Richelieu Squadron during these years would typically be made up of around 130 officer cadets each year who would graduate and transfer to Royal Military College of Canada to continue their military education.

In 2007, it was announced that the Royal Military College Saint-Jean (RMCSJ) would re-open and instead of disbanding Richelieu Squadron it would become one of 3 squadrons alongside Tracy and Iberville squadrons. RMCSJ would be inaugurated by Governor General Michaëlle Jean in 2008, changing the role of Richelieu Squadron.[5] With the reopening of RMCSJ it was restricted to only the preparatory year and first year of university education, meaning that people would only be a part of Richelieu Squadron for a maximum of two years.

Richelieu Sqn's Portrait of Cardinal Richelieu held by OCdt Faille

In 2017 a full 4 year bachelor undergraduate degree was introduced to RMCSJ what was the International Studies program, seeing expansion to the college and to Richelieu Squadron. This would mean that individuals could be a part of Richelieu for 4–5 years. This period of the squadron's history has been dubbed as the "Era of Beaudry" as OCdt Beaudry who unprecedentedly maintained his position in the top 5 of the sqn for a period of 3 years due to the period of expansion.

Structure

Today the squadron is broken into two flights, named Cardinal and Mousquetaire. Cardinal Flight is named in honour of Richelieu's position as a Cardinal. and Mousquetaire Flight is named as a reference to the prominent role of Cardinal Richelieu in the story of The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. Each flight is commanded by a Cadet Flight Leader (CFL) and is composed of around 30 members.

In addition to the two flights, there is also an HQ element that is composed of various positions in charge of different aspects of the Richelieu Squadron.[6][7]

CSLs of Richelieu Squadron

The Richelieu Cadet Squadron Leader is an Officer or Naval Cadet who is placed in command of the squadron as part of their training. CSLs were only introduced in 2019 with expansion of the College.

Name Period Significance Photo
OCdt Aurélie Godard-Paquette[6] August 2019 – December 2019
  • 1st CSL of Richelieu Squadron
OCdt Ryan Brady[6] December 2019 – June 2020
  • 1st 2nd year CSL of Richelieu
OCdt Oliver Chagnon[7] June 2020 - January 2021
Lt Anastasia Ichim[7] January 2021- May 2021
  • 1st Graduate CSL of Richelieu
OCdt Felix Beaudry May 2021- January 2022
  • Namesake of the Era of Beaudry
  • 1st CSL to receive an official portrait
2Lt Cameron Pinto January 2022 – May 2022
OCdt Athena Pucovsky May 2022 – January 2023
OCdt Philippe Thérien January 2023 – Present

References
  1. Departement of National Defence, Chief Military Personnel (2015-06-23). "Backgrounder - Royal Military College Saint-Jean (RMC Saint-Jean)". www.cmrsj-rmcsj.forces.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  2. Kennedy, Gregory (2006). Military Education : Past, Present and Future. Information Age Publishing. ISBN 978-1-59311-407-7. OCLC 923173916.
  3. "L'Escadron Richelieu". www.cmrsj52.ca. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  4. Dawe, Peter.N (2001). Truth Duty Valour: Serving Canada Since 1876. Kingston, Ontario: Quarry Press. ISBN 1-55082-284-5.
  5. General, Office of the Secretary to the Governor (2008-05-24). "Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean - Speech on the Occasion of the Reopening of the Royal Military College Saint-Jean". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  6. Royal Military College Saint-Jean (2020). Royal Military College Saint-Jean 2019-2020 Yearbook. Laurentien.
  7. Royal Military College Saint-Jean (2021). Royal Military College Saint-Jean 2020-2021 Yearbook. Jostens.
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