415 Squadron Association
Lieutenant – Colonel Keith Fugger, CD
COMMANDING OFFICER – June 2022 to April 2024
Lieutenant-Colonel Keith Fugger grew up on an orchard in Kelowna, BC surrounded by his childhood passions: airplanes, tractors, sports, and the outdoors. He joined the military in 1996 as an Air Navigator, graduating from the Royal Military College in 2000 with a BSc in Space Science. He was posted to 405 Squadron as an Acoustics Sensor Officer and deployed on Op APOLLO in 2003 enforcing UN sanctions in the Southern Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. He deployed in 2004 on Op ATHENA in Kabul, Afghanistan to command the venerable SPERWER unmanned aircraft system operated by the 5e Régiment d’artillerie légère du Canada.
Upon his return to Canada, he became a Tactical Navigator and rejoined 405 Squadron before completing the Aerospace Systems Course in Winnipeg. He was posted to the Maritime Proving and Evaluation Unit for a year, and then in 2010 was sent to the Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment (AETE) in Cold Lake as part of the Block III test team. In 2012, he was posted to AETE’s Air Mobility Detachment in Trenton as Integrated Test Team Lead to certify CC150 avionics updates, and in 2014 was posted to the Canadian Forces Aerospace Warfare Centre’s Concept Development and Experimentation Branch. He was posted back to Greenwood in 2017 as Deputy Commanding Officer of 415 Squadron and then attended Staff College, earning a Masters in Defence Studies in 2020.
Posted yet again to Greenwood, he led Block IV implementation until assuming the duties of Deputy Commanding Officer of 14 Operations Support Squadron in 2021. He was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel in 2022 and assumed command of 415 Long Range Patrol and Force Development Squadron.
In April 2024, Lieutenant-Colonel Fugger decided to retire from the Air Force. Throughout his career in the military he was overwhelmingly supported by his wife Tanya and their children Taylor, Owen, Abi, Kali, Kiara, Kensie and Sofia, and granddaughter Arabella.