1RCHA welcomes new commander

CFB SHILO — The 1st Regiment, Canadian Horse Artillery welcomed a new commanding officer on Thursday morning with a ceremony and march.

Lt.-Col. Patrick Knox was brought on as the new leader of the regiment, which operates M777 Howitzer artillery weapons for the Canadian Armed Forces and will be the first unit to use Canada’s newly procured HIMARS rockets.

Knox assumed command from outgoing Lt.-Col. Jordan Beatty following the change of command ceremony in the CFB Shilo parade square. The national anthem played, about 100 soldiers marched past and a light armoured vehicle and tank drove by.

Knox told the Sun his focus will be on building “awesome” leaders in the regiment.

“By the time I’m leaving, I want to have good non-commissioned officers and officers,” he said, adding that good leaders blend tactical expertise with a human touch.

The commander said it’s important to have people skills and be able to work through human challenges.

“As leaders, it’s our role to have that piece,” he said. “Flexibility. Empathy. Humanity.”

Preparing for the arrival of HIMARS rockets will be part of his work as commander of the regiment, he said. In the next 18 months, efforts will be made to build expertise around the weapons.

CFB Shilo was chosen to be the primary operation centre for 26 High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) weapons that were procured earlier this year by the federal government.

The weapons — six-barrelled rocket launchers mounted on army trucks — are set to be delivered starting in 2029.

Knox said he will oversee a growing team dedicated to the new systems — it currently consists of two people, is expected to expand to 12 next year and will then continue to grow, he said.

In the meantime, a team this year will visit Australia, where HIMARS are on hand, to gain experience with the weapons. A team just returned this summer from Alaska on a similar mission.

In the coming year, Knox will help the regiment prepare for its next deployment to Latvia in June 2027 to deter aggression along the Russian border as part of Operation Reassurance. He noted the regiment will also be training for a military exercise at CFB Shilo in October called Operation Limber Gunner.

From a broad perspective, he said his work will be “making sure we are fit and in the right mindset to deploy and do what Canada needs us to do.”

Knox spent 13 years at CFB Shilo earlier in his military service — starting in January 2010 and stretching to 2023, when he served as a commander of a M777 Howitzer troop and as a forward observation officer. He was posted to CFB Petawawa before his return to Shilo.

Beatty told the Sun he will be moving on to Ottawa to work in current operations, dealing with the Canadian Armed Forces’s day-to-day tasks from headquarters. He expects to be involved with work to modernize the army, among other things, and expects to be in Ottawa for at least three years.

“It’s exciting to move on,” he said. “I enjoyed my time here in Shilo, but it’s an inevitable thing.”

Beatty said he knew he would only be in the commanding role for two years, and that regular change of command keeps the regiment strong and moving.

Beatty was driven off the parade grounds in a light armoured vehicle, with applause, to signify the end of his command at 1RCHA. He was also awarded with a branding iron from the 1st Mechanized Brigade Group.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com