19 Wing Comox has a new wing commander, as Col. J.P. Gagnon relinquished his role to Col. Chris Shapka at a formal ceremony at the base Tuesday (July 23).

Shapka joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1997. He began his career in the 407 Maritime Patrol Squadron in 2002 after graduating from the Royal Military College of Canada. He also completed the Aerospace Engineering Officer Basic course.

In 2009, Shapka was promoted to major and posted to the Maritime Directorate of DGAEPM where he was the deputy weapon system manager for the CH-124 Sea King. While in this position he served as a member of the Joint Task Force Games for the 2010 Olympics as a liaison officer to the Washington National Guard in Camp Murray, Washington.

This is a return to Comox for Shapka as he was previously posted to Comox in 2011 and commanded the 19 Air Maintenance Squadron. He was then posted to the Canadian Forces School of Aerospace Technology and Engineering as the Aerospace Engineering Squadron commander. He was promoted to Lt.Col. in 2015 and became responsible for training the RCAF鈥檚 aircraft technicians and aerospace engineering officers.

Shapka was posted to the 1 Canadian Air Division in 2017. While there he was deployed to Al Udeid Air Base to the 609th AOC where he was the deputy director of combat operations.

In 2020, Shapka was promoted to his current rank and became Chief of Staff of 1 Canadian Air Division. Following that he became the Director of A4 Maintenance in August 2021.

Shapka has a bachelor鈥檚 degree in mechanical engineering from the Royal Military College of Canada, a master鈥檚 degree in leadership from Royal Roads University, and a master鈥檚 degree in defence studies from the Canadian Forces College. 

At the ceremony at 19 Wing, Shapka thanked the support of his wife and daughters in his career in the armed forces.