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The Vanguard Podcast

Welcome to the Vanguard Podcast, a weekly radio show discussing news, trends, and event coverage for the Canadian Defence Industry. Vanguard is Canada’s oldest trade journal of record that provides a forum for Canada’s security and defence community, discussing strategic perspectives and overviews of government and military policy and practice, through interviews with leading practitioners and contributions from renowned experts, including representatives from industry. Intersecting strategy, technology and policy, Vanguard explores emerging trends and best practices to help enhance Canada’s holistic approach to defence and security, both domestically and internationally.
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Now displaying: 2020
Nov 27, 2020

In this episode of Vanguard Radio, J. Richard Jones talks with MK Palmore, VP, Field CSO (Americas) for Palo Alto Networks about accelerating digital transformation with the use of cloud and security solutions.

MK is responsible for supporting initiatives headed up by the office of the global Chief Security Officer and to provide thought leadership in the cybersecurity arena through both writing and speaking engagements. Prior to joining Palo Alto Networks, MK served as the Head of the Cyber Security Branch for the FBI, San Francisco capping a career of public service spanning 32-years. His leadership and investigative experiences while in the FBI included: Cybersecurity, Crisis Response/Management, Risk-Management Advisory Services, and Counter-Terrorism Investigations. MK began his professional career as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Palo Alto Networks has been instrumental in helping governments around the world accelerate their digital transformation initiatives. Hear about some examples of how their company is helping to accelerate digital transformation, the takedown of an international bad actor through collaborative efforts by the FBI, the RCMP, and Palo Alto Networks Unit 42, their recent commitment to the Canadian Federal Government to invest in Canada to address data residency and privacy needs, and how Palo Alto is helping governments worldwide.

To learn more about security in the cloud for federal organizations, download two free whitepapers from Palo Alto Networks.

Oct 7, 2020

In this podcast, J. Richard Jones talks with Jason Reid, Director of International Maritime Programs for Serco Canada Marine.

Hear more about the giant steps that Serco is taking in the maritime domain. As most listeners will know, Serco has had a significant and stable presence in Canada for several decades with a focus in the air domain. Last August, the company acquired Alion Canada, as part of a broader acquisition of Alion Science and Technology’s Naval Systems Business Unit. This acquisition has dramatically expanded Serco’s potential for growth in the maritime defence market – especially given Serco’s global bench strength in the design, build, operation and maintenance of ships.

Jul 22, 2020

In this episode of Vanguard Radio, J. Richard Jones talks with Col Richard Fawcett (Ret’d) about the concept of Brigade as a Platform, and where the Canadian Army is headed with the modernizing of its C4ISR capability. What are some of the risks and how they can mitigate them?

Rick served 34 years in the Canadian Armed Forces and is now Director of Strategy and Customer Engagement, Land and Joint Solutions at General Dynamics Mission Systems - Canada, with a focus on supporting the Canadian Army’s Land Command Support System. 

During his military career, he served in a variety of command and staff appointments, locally in Canada and also internationally with both NATO and the United Nations. After a long and successful career with the Canadian Armed Forces, Rick retired in January 2013. A year later, he joined General Dynamics as the Director of Business Development focusing on Canadian land and joint markets. His responsibilities today are primarily on the Canadian Army, engaging with the customer in support of both current and future programs. He also supports international opportunities with customer engagement.

Hear about the origin of Brigade as a Platform concept, why it is being introduced now, where the Canadian Army is with its C4ISR solutions, a look at the future, and the modernizing of the Army’s C4ISR capabilities, risks and how could they mitigate them and how General Dynamics is approaching future programs.

 

 

May 10, 2020

In this episode of Vanguard Radio, J. Richard Jones talks with Valarie Findlay, Research Fellow, National Police Foundation, American Society for Evidence-Based Policing about the controversial topic of Canada's gun legislation.

Mass shootings are becoming more rampant. Many blame guns as the cause while others believe that it's not about guns but there are other factors at play. Would implementing gun laws solve the deadly issue of mass shootings? What are the impacts of the new gun legislation, how does it affect hunters, our rights, and will it actually work?

To get a copy of Valarie’s presentation on Gun-Involved Crime and Violence: Technology, Evidenced-Based and Sociological Considerations delivered at DCJS Gun-Involved Violence Elimination Symposium, Albany, NY in Oct 15-16, 2018, go (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328563031_Gun-Involved_Crime_and_Violence_Technology_Evidenced-Based_and_Sociological_Considerations_Presented_at_DCJS_Gun-Involved_Violence_Elimination_Symposium_Albany_NY_Oct_15-16_2018) or you can view it on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw7v8o-bhW0.

You can connect with Valarie on Twitter @janemoneypenny.

Apr 2, 2020

Situational awareness is an integral part of C4ISR. It plays a huge part in operations for airborne, land-based, and maritime platforms.

In this episode of Vanguard Radio, J. Richard Jones talks with Carl Daniels, Chief Operating Officer of CarteNav. Hear more about a software that enhances situational awareness by processing and managing imagery and data from a variety of sensors and some of the trends in C4ISR.

Also, Carl delves into what CarteNav is doing in the C4ISR space, their acquisition by PAL Aerospace, their involvement in the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) contract, and some of the Canadian programs CarteNav looking at.

 

Mar 31, 2020

COVID-19 is affecting all facets of society today and life as we know it. This pandemic is creating havoc around the world and is being used by threat actors to perpetrate grey zone actions and to infiltrate security vulnerabilities.

In this episode of Vanguard Radio, J. Richard Jones talks with Valarie Findlay, American Society for Evidenced-Based Policing member and a research fellow for the Police Foundation (USA). Valarie has two decades of senior-level expertise in cybersecurity and policing initiatives. She has worked extensively on federal cyber initiatives and is a member of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police eCrimes Cyber Council and AFCEA DC. She has a Masters in Sociology and a Masters in Terrorism Studies with her dissertation addressing the impacts of terrorism on law enforcement in Western Nations.

In a time of crisis, there are a number of areas of potential exposure for malicious threats and non-malicious threats. The latter is more a part of a pandemic. Learn more about how one aspect is affecting other aspects of society, resulting in a broader state of vulnerability.

Hear about grey zone actions that can create vulnerabilities for a nation to be attacked and who it can be used to erode a nation's democracy. These are covert and often hard to detect actions. But how we respond to them is important in maintaining a democracy and the overall stability of a nation. When a country is in a state of crisis or vulnerability like the COVID-19 pandemic, it leaves that nation more susceptible to grey zone actions. The question at that point is, does that nation have the ability to handle additional threats in a state of crisis?

Valarie talks about Prevention, Detection, Response and Recovery strategies and how these can help in a crisis, the inconsistency of messages across social media, how governments need to have a consistent message for the social wellbeing of citizens and result of misinformation as a grey zone action that results in destabilization and phycological impact on people.

 

Mar 30, 2020

There is increased awareness of the secondary impact trauma has on children, especially those with a parent diagnosed with Operational Stress Injuries (such as PTSD) from service-related experiences. While several treatment programs have been designed for caregivers, limited programs exist that support children/youth through the stressors connected to parental Operational Stress Injuries.

Today, joining us to talk about a program for kids who face this type of trauma is Dr. Helena Hawryluk.

Mar 17, 2020

In this episode of Vanguard Radio, we continue our series of supporting ill and injured Veterans, First Responders and their families.

Hear from Dr. Megan McElheran, a Clinical Psychologist with WGM Psychological Services in Calgary, AB. She completed her graduate training at the Stanford University clinical psychology consortium, during which she obtained specialized training in the treatment of PTSD through the National Center for PTSD in Menlo Park, CA. Dr. McElheran has been in practice in Calgary since 2008.

She also continues to focus her work with first responders, and her clinical practice involves work with active-duty members of the Canadian Forces, members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, members of the Calgary Firefighter Department, medical personnel and others who are directly or vicariously impacted by traumatic events. She routinely engages in teaching and supervisory activity to ensure sound dissemination of empirically-grounded interventions for trauma.

She also works closely with Wounded Warriors Canada on their Before Operational Stress (BOS) program. BOS has been designed to provide Military, Police, Fire, Paramedic and Corrections officials with theoretical, practical and experiential learning to enhance their resilience and mental health as they continue to operate within their public service positions.

Hear more about this program, how you can participate in it, where and when the program is delivered and how it aligns with other services of Wounded Warriors Canada.

To support this program, sign up for Vanguard magazine. We have a partnership with Wounded Warriors Canada where a portion of all subscriptions is donated to help them with their various programs.

Feb 20, 2020

In this episode of Vanguard Radio, we continue our series on veterans and some of the challenges they face. In our last episode, J. Richard Jones spoke with LCol Chris Linford (Ret'd) about his journey with PTSD.

Today, we have joining us is Capt Phil Ralph (Ret'd) to talk about an Animal Assisted Therapy program that is helping injured and ill veterans and first responders. Phil currently serves as the National Program Director of Wounded Warriors Canada and has served in various capacities with the charity since its founding in 2006, including serving as Chair for two years. As Program Director he oversees the implementation of a robust and exciting slate of transformative programming benefiting Veterans, First Responders and their Families.

For over a quarter-century until releasing from the Canadian Armed Forces in 2016, Phil served our nation as the Regimental Chaplain to the 32 Combat Engineer Regiment (formally 2nd Field Engineer Regiment) in Toronto. In that capacity, he was exposed to the challenges and needs of today’s veterans.

Having seen firsthand the effects of deployments on our Veterans, he has a passion to contribute to assisting today’s Veterans towards wholeness and healing. As the son of a Firefighter whose families service extends back into the 1800’s, he has also witnessed first-hand the challenges that face first responders and their families as well.

Hear more about some of the highlights of his career in the Canadian Armed Forces, his current work as Director Health Services at Wounded Warriors Canada, and the Wounded Warriors' Animal Assisted Therapy program. Learn more about how this program is helping Veterans and First Responders and how you can participate.

Vanguard has an active program in place where we are partnering with Wounded Warriors to spread the news of what Wounded Warriors is doing and also supporting financially through our subscription program. For each subscription to Vanguard magazine, we are donating a portion of it to Wounded Warriors so that Veterans, First Responders, and their families can benefit from programs like Animal Assisted Therapy.

To support, subscribe to Vanguard magazine by going to vanguardcanada.com/subscription.

 

Feb 18, 2020

As a family-owned Canadian business, Thordon Bearings Inc. has made a mark on the international scene by designing and manufacturing non-polluting bearing systems in the marine and clean power generation industries. The 100-year old company has an international network of agents, distributors and regional sales representatives in 90 countries, its stellar marketing support providing high performance, oil and grease-free bearing systems, seals and other shaft line products.

Thordon Bearings Inc. is a true Canadian success story. In this episode of Vanguard Radio, J. Richard Jones talks with George A. ‘Sandy’ Thomson, Innovator at Thordon Bearings Inc.

Feb 13, 2020

Serge Carignan, Superintendent, Quality Engineering Test Establishment at the Department of National Defence will be speaking at ShipTech Forum 2020. In this episode of Vanguard, Serge shares some of the highlights of what he will be speaking, his experience and his role at DND.

Serge joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1979 and graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 1984. After completing initial training in Borden, he served in various maintenance organizations in Canada and Germany. He was also the Commanding Officer of 5 Service Battalion and deployed to Afghanistan in 2004. Serge Carignan has been the Superintendent of the Quality Engineering Test Establishment since 2012, responsible for failure investigations, and specialized test and evaluation for the Canadian Armed Forces.

Vanguard's ShipTech Forum will take place on Feb 25 at The Westin in Ottawa. As a one-day conference, ShipTech brings together members of industry, government, and military to share knowledge and lessons learned from a technological perspective to showcase successful investments in cutting-edge technologies for the shipbuilding and marine industries.

To learn more about ShipTech Forum 2020, visit vanguardcanada.com/shiptech2020. We have a few seats remaining, register today to hear more from Serge Carignan and other speakers.

 

Jan 27, 2020

As Canada continues to ramp up for the execution of the Future Aircrew Training program (FAcT), the shortlist of qualified suppliers is getting ready for the release of the RFP. One such supplier is Lockheed Martin Canada.

In this episode of Vanguard Radio, J. Richard Jones talks with Amy Gowder, Vice President and General Manager for Lockheed Martin’s Training and Logistics Solutions line of business within the Rotary and Mission Systems (RMS) business area about their capabilities and what they can offer to Canada if selected for FAcT.

In her current role, Amy is responsible for the execution and strategic growth of Lockheed Martin’s mission readiness and sustainment programs with more than 5,400 employees around the globe. Before joining RMS, Amy served as Vice President of Supply Chain Management for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. In this role, she was responsible for developing and implementing acquisition policies and strategies for all Lockheed Martin Aeronautics lines of business and oversaw a procurement budget of approximately $10B annually. She was also the President & General Manager of Lockheed Martin’s Commercial Engine Solutions, with locations in San Antonio, Texas, and Montreal, Canada where she was responsible for the maintenance, repair and overhaul of 11 engine product lines that powered more than 15 military and commercial aircraft.

Learn more about Lockheed Martin's development and delivery of integrated, performance-based military training solutions, the full scope of the FAcT program in Canada, similarities of other global training programs to FAcT, how to partner with Lockheed Martin or become a potential supplier for this program, ITBs and what sets Lockheed Martin Canada apart for this training program.

To learn more, go to: https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-ca/future-aircrew-training-fact.html

Jan 20, 2020

The legal, intelligence and ethical perspectives of surveillance along with a focus on its associated opportunities and challenges will be discussed at C4ISR and Beyond 2020, taking place on January 28 in Ottawa.

This panel will be moderated by LGen D. Michael Day (Ret’d). In this episode of Vanguard Radio, Day shares a teaser of what we can expect from this discussion. The panelists will tackle the complications associated with the legal, intelligence and ethical perspectives for ISR so that industry can build capabilities with these considerations “baked” in.

LGen D. Michael Day (Ret’d) joined the Canadian Forces in 1983 and had the privilege of serving and commanding within his Regiment. He spent the majority of his career as an Operator within Canada’s Counter Terrorist and Special Forces community commanding both Joint Task Force Two ( JTF 2) & Canada’s Special Operations Forces Command. He was deployed operationally to Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Afghanistan and was responsible for the preparation, training, and oversight of NATO’s Response Force, with distributed command throughout Europe.

He has served in a variety of Senior Staff appointments including the Canadian Armed Forces Senior Military Officer in the Defence Policy Group, and the Chief Strategic Planner for the CAF where he also oversaw the development of the Department of National Defence’s Space and Cyber Programs. After retiring in September 2015, he began consulting with many companies, with a particular focus on the Tech Sector specifically ISR, Space and Cyber. 

The panelists:

Jessica Davis, President & Principal Consultant, Insight Threat Intelligence

Leah West, Lecturer of International Affairs at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University

Stephanie Carvin, Assistant Professor Assistant Professor of International Affairs - National Security Issues, Terrorism, Critical Infrastructure Protection, International Law, Humanitarianism, Foreign Policy, Carleton University

Hear more about this panel, the speakers and what they will be talking about, some of the takeaways and why you should attend C4ISR and Beyond 2020.  

We have a few seats remaining. Be sure to register today!

Jan 13, 2020

Post-traumatic stress disorder or as is commonly called, PTSD, is a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it, according to the Mayo Clinic. Some of the symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about a terrifying event.

Some who have gone through traumatic events may have temporary difficulty adjusting and coping, but with time and good self-care, they usually get better. Symptoms can sometimes get worse, last for months or even years, and may interfere with day-to-day functioning.

By getting effective treatment after PTSD symptoms develop is critical in reducing symptoms and improve function.

In this episode of Vanguard Radio, J. Richard Jones talks with LCol Chris Linford (Ret'd) who served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 33 years. During his service, he completed three operational deployments - The Gulf War in 1991, Rwanda in 1994, and Afghanistan from 2009-2010.

In 2004, he was diagnosed with PTSD. With proper treatment, he returned to health and went back out serving his country. While serving in Afghanistan, his PTSD returned. This led to him writing a book about his experience - “Warrior Rising- A Soldier’s Journey to PTSD and Back” which was published in 2013. 

Today, he and his wife Kathryn are National Ambassadors of Wounded Warriors Canada, a national charity providing innovative programming for veterans and first responders with PTSD and their spouses/partners. They are actively involved in promoting Wounded Warriors Canada programs called “COPE” or Couples Overcoming PTSD Every Day and the Trauma Resiliency Program or TRP. 

Tune in to listen to LCol Linford's story. His years of service in the Canadian Armed Forces, PTSD, the specific event that caused it, getting better, the return of PTSD, and the impact on his family. He shares tips to help those suffering from PTSD, Wounded Warriors' COPE and TRP programs and their impact and how someone who is suffering from PTSD can be a part of these programs. 

You can help support these programs and the work that Wounded Warriors Canada is doing by donating at WoundedWarriors.ca or subscribe to Vanguard magazine, the organisation behind this podcast. We recently partnered with Wounded Warriors Canada to give a portion of each subscription to our bi-monthly magazine to them to help support Canada’s ill and injured Armed Forces members, veterans, first responders, and their families.

Go to vanguardcanada.com/subscription, to subscribe today to help support a great cause. 

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