Randall Wakelam Assistant Professor

War Studies Post Graduate Degree Programme

Brief History

Randall Wakelam joined the military as a Reservist in 1969.  After graduating from the Royal Military College of Canada (RMCC) and completing pilot training he went on to fly helicopters for the army, ultimately commanding 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron from 1991 until 1993.  Subsequently he has been a military educator serving on the faculty of the Canadian Forces College and at the Canadian Defence Academy prior to joining the War Studies faculty of RMCC.  He is a graduate of the Canadian Land forces Command and Staff Course, the Canadian Forces Command and Staff Course and holds the National Security Programme qualification.  He has an MA War Studies from RMC and a PhD in History from Wilfrid Laurier University. 

He has written extensively on military command and decision making as well as military education, with a particular focus on the air force.  His first book The Science of Bombing: Operational Research in RAF Bomber Command was published by University of Toronto Press in 2009.  He has recently coedited The Report of the Officer Development Board Maj-Gen Roger Rowley and the Education of the Canadian Forces which will be available in early 2010.  Currently he is finalizing a manuscript on early post war fighter design and manufacture in Canada for UBC Press and is beginning research for a biography of Air Marshal Wilfred Curtis who was Chief of the Air Staff during that same period.