Officer Commanding
C Squadron
Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians)
Major Derek Chenette was born in Haileybury, Ontario on 18 May 1974 and was raised in the small northern community of Temagami. He enrolled in the Canadian Forces in June 1994 and attended the Royal Military College where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration. Upon graduation and commissioning in 1998 he was posted to Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) in Edmonton, Alberta.
During his first Regimental tour (1998 – 2002) he commanded a Sabre Troop in A Squadron and a Reconnaissance Troop in Recce Squadron. In 1999 as a Recce Troop Leader he deployed to Kosovo, as part of Op Kinetic and the multinational Kosovo Force (KFOR). On return to Canada Major Chenette was employed as the Regimental Reconnaissance Troop Leader until he became the Battle Captain of B Squadron. As the Battle Captain he was tasked to re-roll the squadron from sabre to reconnaissance prior to the squadron’s deployment to Bosnia-Herzegovina as part of the United Nations Protection Force. Prior to posting in 2002, Major Chenette was employed as the Regimental Intelligence Officer and reconnaissance advisor to CO LdSH(RC) for Op GRIZZLY, the Canadian Forces deployment to Kananaskis in support of the RCMP security effort for the G8 Summit.
Major Chenette returned for his second tour of duty at the Regiment in 2005 and was employed as the Second-in-Command of Headquarters Squadron for a short stint where he planned the Regiments support to the Brigade Training Event 05, preparing TF 1-09 for deployment to Afghanistan. Major Chenette completed this second tour at the Regiment as the Operations Officer.
Major Chenette’s extra regimental employment has included tours at the Land Forces Western Area Headquarters (2002 – 2005) and the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School (2006 – 2009). At the Headquarters he held the positions of G3 Coordinator, Chief of Staff Coordinator and G3 Operations 2, while at the Recruit School he was a Training Division Commander and completed his tour there as the Chief Instructor.
Major Chenette is a graduate of the Army Operations Course and the British Combined Arms Tactics Course from the Land Warfare Center in Warminster, United Kingdom. He is currently the Regimental Major and Senior Liaison Officer for Task Force Vancouver.
Major Chenette and his wife Marilynn have a son, Tyler (6), and a daughter, Briana (2). Major Chenette is an avid fisherman and the family thoroughly enjoys outdoor activities, leaving the city for a campground or day on the boat at every opportunity.
