Lieutenant-Colonel Burbee will be departing the CF after 23 years of service to take up a position with the public service at CFB Esquimalt as the Manager of Real Estate Services. Originally from Prince George, BC, Lieutenant-Colonel Jon Burbee joined the Canadian Forces in 1988 under the Regular Officers' Training Plan. After graduating and commissioning from Royal Roads Military College in Victoria, BC in 1992 and a brief stint as an Air Navigator ending in 1993, he was welcomed into the Military Engineer Branch. For the next eighteen years, Lieutenant-Colonel Burbee enjoyed many rewarding experiences and considers himself lucky to have been able to work with exceptional people from all ranks and trades, military and civilian, particularly from the Engineer family.
Lieutenant-Colonel Burbee served at the base level in a number of locations such as Shilo, Greenwood, Winnipeg, Comox, Borden, and Esquimalt. He took part in domestic operations as an Airfield Engineering Flight Commander during the Manitoba Floods in 1997, in the Command Suite as the EA to the Deputy Commander of the Continental US NORAD Region in Tyndall AFB, Florida, and as the Joint Engineer during Op PODIUM in support of the 2010 Winter Olympics. LCol Burbee deployed as the Squadron Second-in-Command of the general engineer support unit from 1 CER during the initial CF deployment into Kosovo in 1999 and culminated his career as the Base Engineer in the multi-national headquarters supporting Kandahar Airfield in 2011. Staff duties included an assignment to the Contingency Capability Center in Trenton responsible for force protection and disaster recovery programs for the air force and as the Joint Engineer in Joint Task Force Pacific. In July 2009 LCol Burbee was named an Honourary Aide de Camp to the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.
LCol Burbee has a Bachelors of Science Degree in Physics and Oceanography (RRMC 1992) and a Masters of Defence Studies (RMC 2007). He is a graduate of the Unit NBC Officer Course, the US Air Force Civil Engineer Course, the NATO Tactical Evaluator (Survive to Operate) Course, the Advanced Air Operations Course, and the Joint Command and Staff Programme. Following commissioning in 1992, his dates of promotion were 1995, 1996, 2000, and 2005 to his present rank. LCol Burbee was a member of the national CF basketball team 1993-1997 and the national CF volleyball team in 2005. He remains a solid contender to join the third line on the BCE Esquimalt inter-section hockey team and will eventually run that marathon.
Jon looks forward to spending as much time as possible enjoying the next phase of life with his wife Connie and two daughters Hannah and Sophia as well as facing fresh challenges in his new career. There will be a reception held at the Wardroom at CFB Esquimalt to mark his departure from the CF Thursday September 8th 2011. Messages, anecdotes, and greetings may be sent to Major Mark Kierstead at mark.kierstead@forces.gc.ca or to Major Peter Weatherley at Peter.Weatherley@forces.gc.ca in his absence.