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Written by Bill Rowsell on 19 September 2010.



Richard Goette Air Force HistorianDr. Richard Goette is an air force historian who specializes in command and control, leadership, maritime air power and air defence issues in the period from the First World War to the Early Cold War.  Richard received his BA (Honours) in History from McMaster University in Hamilton, a MA in History from Queen’s University in Kingston, and in December 2009 Richard completed his PhD in History at Queen’s.  Richard is very active at conferences, having presented over 25 papers at academic, air force, and aviation symposia.  He has taught Canadian military history, Canadian external relations, war and society and command and management courses at Queen’s University, the Royal Military College of Canada, St. Jerome’s University, and the Canadian Forces College.  Dr. Goette has also worked extensively in research and writing roles for the Department of National Defence, including the Canadian Forces Leadership Institute (CFLI) and the Canadian Air Force.

Richard currently holds a Department of National Defence Security and Defence Forum Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies (LCMSDS).  He also teaches in the Department of Defence Studies at the Canadian Forces College for the Royal Military College of Canada.  Besides preparing his dissertation for submission to a university press, Richard is currently conducting research on air power issues related to strategic airlift, the Arctic, and professional writing on air power and doctrine by Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) officers during the Early Cold War period.  In addition to being an Associate Air Force Historian with the Office of Air Force Heritage and History (1 Canadian Air Division) and a National Director of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society (CAHS), Richard is also a member of the Air Force Association of Canada and the CAHS Ottawa and Toronto Chapters.

Richard is a native of Hamilton, Ontario, and currently lives in Milton, Ontario.  He is available for select speaking engagements and media interviews in Southern Ontario and especially the Greater Toronto Area.  If you are interested in contacting him for these purposes or if you are a researcher wishing to speak to Richard, please contact him via email at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Dissertation Titles:

PhD (2009): “Canada, the United States and the Command and Control of Air Forces for Continental Air Defence from Ogdensburg to NORAD, 1940-1957”

MA (2002): “The Struggle for a Joint Command and Control System in the Northwest Atlantic Theatre of Operations: A Study of the RCAF and RCN Trade Defence Efforts During the Battle of the Atlantic”

 

Sample Publications:

  • “Raising RCAF ‘Arctic Mindedness’ in the Pages of The Roundel During the Early Cold War,” in William March, ed., Sic Itur Ad Astra: Canadian Aerospace Power Studies Volume 2: The Historical Dimension of the Canadian Air Force’s Experience in the Arctic.  Ottawa: Her Majesty the Queen as represented by the Minister of National Defence, forthcoming 2011.
  • “The Acid Test of Sovereignty: Canada, the United States, and the Command and Control of Combined Forces for Continental Defence, 1940-1945,” in Abe Roof and Christine Leppard, ed. Seventy Years On: Canadian Military History.  Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, forthcoming 2010 or early 2011.
  • “Air Defence Leadership During the RCAF’s ‘Golden Years,’” in William March, ed., Sic Itur Ad Astra: Canadian Aerospace Power Studies Volume 1: Historical Aspects of Canadian Air Power Leadership.  Ottawa: Her Majesty the Queen as represented by the Minister of National Defence, 2009, 51-64.
  • “Billy Bishop: Leader of Men? Examining the Leadership Characteristics of Canada’s Greatest Air Hero,” in Neither Art, nor Science - Selected Canadian Military Leadership Profiles, Colonel Bernd Horn and Craig L. Mantle, eds.  Kingston: Canadian Defence Academy Press, 2007, 41-84.
  • “Britain and the Delay in Closing the Mid-Atlantic Air Gap.”  The Northern Mariner.  Volume 15, Number 4 (October 2005), 19-41.
  • “The RCAF and the Creation of a RCN Air Arm: A Study of the Command and Control of Maritime Air Assets.”  Canadian Military History.  Volume 13, Number 3 (Summer 2004), 5-13.
  • “Squadron Leader N.E. Small: A Study of Leadership in the RCAF’s Eastern Air Command, 1942,” Canadian Military Journal.  Volume 5, Number 1 (Spring 2004), 43-50.
  • “Command and Control Implications for Canadian Forces Air Expeditionary Operations,” in Canadian Expeditionary Air Forces.  Allan D. English, ed.  Bison Paper no. 5.  Winnipeg: Centre for Defence and Security Studies, University of Manitoba, 2002, 67-82.
  • “Coastal Command and D-Day.”  Airforce.  Volume 30, No. 1, (Spring 2006), 17-22.
  • Review of: Joseph T. Jockel, Canada in NORAD 1957-2007: A History.  Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, in association with The Queen’s Centre for International Relations and The Queen’s Defense Management Program, 2007.  ISBN 978-1-55339-134-0, for Canadian Military Journal, Volume 9, Number 3 (2009), 100-101.