Canadian Army Aviation
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Colonel Juris (George) Zvanitajs was born in Ventspils, Latvia in June 1942. Fearing what might happen with the return of the Russians in 1944, his mother took him and his older brother and fled to Sweden where they lived for 5 years. They immigrated to Canada in 1949. Colonel Zvanitajs attended school in Toronto and in the farming community of Dundalk, Ontario. On graduating from High School in 1962, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force's flying training program as an Officer Cadet. He received his Pilot’s Wings in 1964 and was commissioned as a Flying Officer in the RCAF. Due to a surplus of pilots in the Air Force in the early sixties he was offered a re-muster to Navigator or Air Traffic Control.. He left the Air Force and shortly after joined the Royal Canadian Service Corps with the intention of becoming a helicopter pilot. After training and employment at the RCASC School in Camp Borden he was selected for helicopter training and received his Army Wings in December 1966.
He served as a pilot with 1 Transport Helicopter Platoon in St. Hubert, Quebec for 3 years, including an unforgettable summer during The World`s Fair, Expo 67, and then another 3 years with 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron in Edmonton, Alberta. In 1973 he and his family moved to Gagetown, New Brunswick where he became an Instructor Pilot on the CH-135 Twin Huey helicopter at 403 Helicopter Operational Training Squadron. He was promoted to the rank of Major in 1974 and assumed the additional duties of Flight Commander and Senior Instructor for the Squadron. In 1977 Colonel Zvanitajs attended the Canadian Armed Forces Command and Staff College in Toronto. On completion of the course he returned to St. Hubert, where he served as a Staff Officer and Group Instrument Check Pilot at 10 Tactical Air Group Headquarters. In July 1981 Colonel Zvanitajs was appointed the Commanding Officer of 447 Transport Helicopter Squadron in Edmonton. His Command tour was followed by three years in Winnipeg, at Air Command Headquarters where he served as the Senior Staff Officer for Tactical Helicopters, responsible for operational issues for all rotary winged aircraft across Canada and in Germany. He moved back to Toronto in 1987 to the Command and Staff College where he served as a member of the Directing Staff for two years. On promotion to Colonel in June 1989 he was appointed the Canadian Contingent Commander and Chief of Liaison of the Multinational Force and Observers in El Gorah, Egypt. The MFO, an 11 country military organization is tasked with monitoring the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, which came about as a result of the Camp David Accord. He also served as the Chief of Staff for the MFO for 4 months and was fully involved in the supervision of all day to day operations of the Force. On his return from the Sinai, Colonel Zvanitajs attended a one year French language course and was then posted to National Defense Headquarters in Ottawa where he was appointed Director of Military Planning |
