The Commanding Officer

Lieutenant-Colonel Doug Poitras, CD

Lieutenant-Colonel Poitras was born in Calgary, Alberta in 1958 and was raised in the Greater Vancouver and Victoria areas. In 1976 he enrolled in the Regular Force and was commissioned upon graduation of Armoured Officer Cadet Training in 1980.

Through his 28 years in the Regular Force Lieutenant-Colonel Poitras served in a variety of operational, instruction, and staff positions. He was first posted to C Squadron, The Royal Canadian Dragoons as a Leopard tank troop leader, and participated in a number of NATO Canadian exercises. Later he re-badged to the Lord Srathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) and served as Battle Captain Reconnaissance Squadron: highlighted by winning the Merritt Cup for best reconnaissance squadron in the Canadian Army. For one year he served in El Salvador as a United Nations Military Observer and participated in the ultimate separation and disarming of forces there.

He helped develop future leaders during his postings at the CF Officer Candidate School in Chilliwack and both the Armour and Tactics Schools in Gagetown. He also severed in a variety of staff positions including Operations Officer of the Armoured School, Coyote Reconnaissance Vehicle Implementation Officer, Deputy Commanding Officer of the Administration Branch at the Combat Training Centre and as the G3 of 39 CBG. His achievements during those tours include planning and hosting the 1997 NATO Armour Schools Commandant’s Conference, assisting with the plans for Y2K, the establishment of the Kosovar Refugee Camp and deploying reservists to fight the forest fires of 2003.

Since retiring from the Regular Forces in 2004, Lieutenant-Colonel Poitras joined The Royal Westminster Regiment and served as a full-time reservist, first as the G5 Plans for 39 CBG Headquarters and initiated Canadian Forces planning with the RCMP for security of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. From December 2007 to August 2008 he served as the J5 for the US Army Afghanistan Regional Security Integration Command (South) with the focus on rebuilding the Afghanistan National Police.

Lieutenant-Colonel Poitras has an under-graduate degree in psychology from the University of New Brunswick and a Masters in Business Administration and Executive Management from Royal Roads University. He also graduated from the Canadian Land Force Command Staff College at Kingston and is qualified as a Combat Team Commander. A volunteer for The Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada since 1993, Lieutenant-Colonel Poitras has serve as a director on the national board for the past thirteen years including chair of the marketing and governance committees. In a civilian capacity he is a management consultant presently is a business partner with www.asims.ca.

Lieutenant-Colonel Poitras is married to Lois and they parent their remaining two children at home in Burnaby, British Columbia.