Speakers

Jay “Hoss” Ballard, Vice-President Defence, Calian Limited

Jay Ballard is a retired US Naval Aviator, Topgun graduate and combat veteran with more than 3,800 flight hours in four different fighter aircraft, 538 arrested landings on aircraft carriers and five international deployments. He had combat time over Iraq, flew presence missions over Mogadishu and Bosnia and ran flight operations off the USS Abraham Lincoln during the 2005 Indian Ocean Tsunami relief efforts at Banda Ache, Sumatra. Jay was directing staff (DS) for 13 years at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, ON and DS for six years at the RCAF Aerospace Warfare Centre at Trenton, ON.

He currently leads the 1,200 person Defence Division within the Calian Defence & Space business unit which is responsible for all Canadian military next generation training and simulation delivery and the technology to support those efforts.

He lives in Stirling, ON with his wife, Dale, dogs Stanley and Prunelle and two cats Smudge and Soot.