Community Service Club Luncheon With Colonel Colin Keiver

The Banquet Centre was the host for the 2016 Community Service Club luncheon.  An annual tradition of the Rotary Club of Belleville and the Kiwanis Club of Belleville, this year representatives from the Kente Kiwanis Club, the Rotary Club of  Quinte Sunrise, Lions Club, Kinettes of Belleville, Kiwanis Club of Tweed, Kiwanis Club of Trenton, Probus Club of Belleville and Probus Club of Quinte joined together to hear our guest speaker Colonel Colin Keiver Commander of 8 Wing CFB Trenton.  Over 130 members of the various service clubs were in attendance.

Past Lieutentant Governor of the Kiwanis Club Armin Quickert introduced Colin Keiver who was raised in Alberta on a farm and whose brothers went on to have one of the largest farming operations in Alberta.  Colonel Keiver had a different calling and earned his pilot wings in 1994 after joining the RCAF in 1991.  Colonel Keiver found his love of flying while attending cadets as a high school student where he met his other love, his wife Jennifer in 1985.  Colonel Keiver has 2 children and has held postings at Moose Jaw, Winnipeg, North Carolina and Trenton and has over 4000 hours of flying.

 

Also joining Colonel Keiver at the head table were Wing Chief Darcy Elder, Marilyn Quickert, BRC President Kelly McKinney and the President of the Belleville Kiwanis Club.

Colonel Keiver spoke about the importance of connecting the base with the people of Belleville.  He provided a CFB Trenton 101 for those in attendance.  CFB Trenton was opened in 1931 and is celebrating its 45th anniversary this year.  CFB  Trenton is the largest employer in the region with over 4400 military and civilian personnel and 15,000 dependents who represent 18% of all students in the HPEC Board of Education.

The annual operating budget of 8 Wing Trenton is 160,000, 000 with an annual payroll of 110 million, which obviously has tremendous impact upon the local economy. 
The CFB Trenton Search and Rescue area as Colonel Keiver displayed on a map of Canada is a huge area, in fact is the largest SAR area covered in the world. From the northern tip of their search area to the southern tip, the distance if you fly directly south would take you to almost Buenos Aires Argentina.
 

Three missions are currently being serviced by CFB Trenton personnel, including 3 missions in Africa and a number of smaller missions. Due to the vast area where these missions are being undertaken, the staff of CFB Trenton are even busier than during the campaign in Afghanistan.
 

Colonel Keiver talked about the return of the Quinte International Air Show on June 25th and 26th and his hopes to draw over 100,000 people to the base over the weekend and a number of the events and shows being held and the opportunity to create partnerships with local businesses and service clubs to support the weekend.
 

A special recognition event held during the weekend will commemorate the BCATP which was the training of pilots during WWII that was coordinated and ran at Trenton and also the time when Canadian squadrons were created and the now familiar 4 numbers such as 424, 436 etc were developed depicting their true Canadian roots.
 

Colonel Keiver talked about some other aspects of CFB Trenton 8 Wing which may not be as well known as the base and the work that goes on there.  He talked very proudly of Roundell Golf Course and his favourite hole the 6th and its dogleg and also the availability of excuses from planes landing or taking off for errant shots.
 

Colonel Keiver talked about the work of the MFRC and the support they provide to military families and personnel during postings and deployments as almost inevitably something goes wrong for the families the minute their loved ones are deployed and the MFRC is there to support them. He further talked about the importance of the Invisible Ribbon Gala which recognizes the family of military personnel and the Gala which raises funds to provide support to our military families.
 

Colonel Keiver closed his presentation talking about the National Air Force Museum and how great an asset it is to our local community in terms of providing a historical perspective of Canadian military aviation history and as having one of only 2 Cdn bombers that saw action in WWII that exists in the world.  He talked very proudly of its growth as a centre used by many non profit organizations as great venue for their events.
 

Colonel Keiver answered a number of questions from the audience including the fact that the Prime Mininster’s plane is under his command and is maintained at the Base until required to be flown to Ottawa to take the Prime Minister to wherever he needs to go.  Other questions, Colonel Keiver answered include use of drones in SAR, capacity for the Base for the Air Show, what role could our service clubs provide for the Air Show, the status of the Base as a temporary home for Syrian hostages and the outlook for the cadets program this summer with the potential of Syrian refugees being housed there if policy is changed.  Colonel Keiver said that the cadets are in for a treat as this will be the first summer cadet barracks are air-conditioned.

Colonel Keiver was thanked for his presentation with a standing ovation.

A 50/50 draw was held with the proceeds going to the National Air Force Museum Foundation and $67 was won by one of the attendees.