Lieutenant-General Alain Pelletier is the Deputy Commander North American Aerospace Defense Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
In 1978, Lieutenant-General Alain Pelletier joined the Air Cadets unit of La Pocatière, Québec where he earned his glider and private pilot license.
Lieutenant-General Pelletier joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1983 as a student pilot. After graduating from Royal Military College of Kingston where he obtained his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, he proceeded with pilot training and received his wings in 1989. He was then selected to fly the CF-18 fighter aircraft.
Lieutenant-General Pelletier carried out four tours of operational flying and instructional training on the CF-18 at 433, 410 and 425 Tactical Fighter Squadrons. He participated in two tours of duty in the Balkans theatre, the second one saw him employed as part of Operation Allied Force, where he took part in combat missions.
Lieutenant-General Pelletier has had a number of assignments at the strategic level as the Executive Assistant to the Assistant Chief of Air Staff, and to the Chief of Air Staff; as section head for air requirements for fighters and trainers, as the Director of Air Requirements, and as Chief Fighter Capability Program in National Defence Headquarters.
He has held a number of command positions: Commander of 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron, Commander of 3 Wing Bagotville, Québec, Commander of Task Force Libeccio, the Canadian Air Component to NATO’s Operation Unified Protector over Libya. He also was the Deputy Commander Continental U.S. NORAD Region based at Tyndall AFB, Florida, where he was responsible for the Continental U.S. daily air defense readiness in addition to the defense of the U.S. National Capital Region.
In 2016 he deployed in support of U.S. Air Force Central Command as the Combined Air Operations Center Director responsible for the daily air tasking orders of AFCENT’s area of responsibility including Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria. Lieutenant-General Pelletier was appointed Commander 1 Canadian Air Division/Canadian NORAD Region in 2019. In July 2020 he assumed his role as Deputy Commander NORAD.
Lieutenant-General Pelletier is a distinguished graduate of the United States Air Force Air War College where he received a Master of Strategic Studies. He is also a graduate of the Canadian Fighter Weapons Instructor Course and has over 3,000 hours of flying time, of which over 2,500 hours are in the CF-18. His interest in running and physical health had him nominated as the Canadian Forces patron for the sport of running in 2010 and appointed as Commander of Joint Task Force Nijmegen in 2014.