Lieutenant-Colonel M.J.D. Mallette

Commanding Officer

Following commissioning as an Army officer in 2000 and completion of armour qualification training in 2003 Lieutenant-Colonel Mallette joined Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) as a Tank Troop Leader in B Squadron.

During his first Regimental tour, he moved to Reconnaissance Squadron as Troop Leader where he deployed to Afghanistan. Upon return to Canada he assumed the duties of Reconnaissance Squadron Battle Captain before being posted later in the year. He returned to the Regiment and to Reconnaissance Squadron in 2009 as Second in Command then onward to Regimental Headquarters as Regimental Operations Officer. He was extremely fortunate to serve as Officer Commanding in both Reconnaissance and Headquarters Squadrons (2013-2015).

During his extra-Regimental employment he has had the opportunity to serve as Regimental Operations Officer with the British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught’s Own) and in HQ 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group as G3 Operations, G1 and G5. During his recent posting to the National Capital he has served at National Defence Headquarters as the Staff Officer to the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff; as the Section Head for the Canadian Army International Program in the Directorate of Army Staff in Canadian Army Headquarters; and most recently as the Army G33 during a particularly demanding period of force generation and readiness for both expeditionary and domestic missions during Canada’s COVID-19 pandemic response.

Lieutenant-Colonel Mallette’s operational experience includes tours to Afghanistan as both Recce Troop Leader (2004) and on the Task Force Kandahar staff as a planner and advisor to Afghan National Security Forces (2009). He has served on operations domestically as a Troop Leader during Op PEREGRINE in response to the 2003 Okanogan Mountain Park forest fires in British Columbia and as a Squadron Second in Command on Op PODIUM during the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. As Brigade G3 Ops he deployed on Op LUSTRE as part of 1 Brigade’s Immediate Reaction Unit to support the Province of Manitoba during the 2011 Assiniboine River flood. He was also deployed twice during his tenure as a Squadron commander, first as Officer Commanding Headquarters Squadron on Op LENTUS in response to flooding in Southern Alberta in 2013 and again as Officer Commanding Reconnaissance Squadron during Op NANOOK in Iqaluit, Nunavut in 2014.

Lieutenant-Colonel Mallette holds a BSc in Biology, a Master’s degree in Defence Studies and is a graduate of the Joint Command and Staff Program. He is happily married to the very patient and understanding Tristy (née Granger) of Hornepayne, Ontario and the proud father of two spirited boys and a precocious little girl; Wyatt (age 13), Owen (age 10) and Eleanor (age 7). He is committed to volunteer work with Scouts Canada and, during increasingly rare moments each fall, Lieutenant-Colonel Mallette tries to find the time to wander logging roads or prowl wetlands hunting grouse, geese and ducks.