After a 28-year military career, Bob joined BRC in San Antonio, Texas. His job included the analysis of severe crashes, most notably STS-107 Space Shuttle Columbia. He has been recognized for his original research and contributions to books on aviation and space medicine. He will be inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame in September 2026.

WO Vincent C. Benoit is a Search and Rescue Technician with the Directorate of Diving Safety, specializing in rescue medicine and complex operations. His medical foundation began during his 2009 deployment to Kandahar, where he provided Tactical Combat Casualty Care under combat conditions. A former sniper and advanced mountain instructor, he transitioned to SAR after a pivotal 2015 mountain rescue.

He has served at 424 and 435 Squadrons, leading demanding missions including the Diavik mine plane crash in 2023, critical humanitarian missions, and other rescues in austere, remote environments. He now oversees national diving safety while continuing to apply extensive frontline SAR and medical experience across the CAF.

Captain Erin Edwards
NASA Deputy Branch Chief for Crew Operations, NASA TH-57 Project Pilot
(RCAF Dir Air and Space PAO approved for publication)

Capt Erin Edwards was born in Port Moody, British Columbia. Following high school she completed a diploma in Mining Engineering Technology from the British Columbia Institute of Technology and worked for five years in the geological exploration sector in Northern Canada and Alaska as a technical project manager in remote camps. During this time she enrolled in the Naval Reserves in 2010 as a Maritime Surface (MARS) Officer as a member of HMCS DISCOVERY in Vancouver, BC. She completed her Ship’s Team Diving Officer qualification in 2012, and MARS IV training in 2013, shortly after which she transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Pilot.

Capt Edwards, who has held a private pilot’s licence since 2002, completed an Aviation Sciences degree with Seneca College as a second lieutenant, earned her military wings in 2016, and was then posted to 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron in Petawawa, Ontario to fly the CH146 Griffon helicopter. She completed the Special Operations Tactical Aviation Course (SOTAC) selection in 2019. During her posting, Capt Edwards participated in operational deployments as a pilot and flight safety officer. She deployed to Iraq in 2020 and 2021, flying the CH146 Griffon, amassing over 300 combat hours earning her the General Campaign Star – Expedition (GCS-EXP) medal with bar for her overseas service with CANSOFCOM.

While a line pilot at 427 SOAS, she also served as a Flight Safety Officer, the Standards and Training Flight Operations Officer, and created the Space Liaison Officer position all while completing a Masters in Space Science from the University of North Dakota.

In 2023, Capt Edwards was selected amongst a competitive field of military applicants and posted to the Johnson Space Centre in 3 Canadian Space Division’s billet as the first-ever Canadian Astronaut Coordination Officer. Following the completion of NASA’s Space Flight Controller Academy, she was quickly appointed as NASA’s Deputy Branch Chief for Crew Operations, the first time a non-astronaut has held this senior position. She and her small staff are responsible for the approximately 40 astronauts currently not assigned to a specific mission while also providing direct support to the Canadian corps of astronauts in Houston.

Capt Edwards is also qualified as an International Space Station Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) and instructor, the critical voice link between the astronauts aboard the International Space Station and the technical control team on the ground in mission control. Her qualification marks the first time a non-astronaut Canadian has held this vital position. Recently, Capt Edwards was the lead CAPCOM for the Northrup Grumman 23 cargo mission which used the Canadarm2 to capture the vehicle. As of January 2026, Capt Edwards moved to the Aircraft Operations Division to the TH57 Project Pilot position to integrate helicopters into NASA flight training to support a pivot to lunar missions. For her immense efforts in creating the helicopter training program vital for lunar analog training to mitigate risks to astronauts as they return to the Moon, Capt Edwards received the Stephen D. Thorne “Top Fox” Award from NASA.

In the little spare time she has, Capt Edwards reminds herself that she is human by playing and refereeing rugby, climbing, diving, or reading a good book with coffee. She is married to someone equally as active, and they are both currently enjoying the challenges of raising a teenager!

Teamwork, clinical excellence and performance under pressure have been paramount to Dr. John Froh’s decades-long career in emergency and transport medicine.
Whether calmly leading teams through mass-casualty incidents or helping lead the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s COVID-19 pandemic response, Dr. Froh knows that it takes the skilled hands of many to save a life.

After obtaining a Bachelor of Science at the University of Regina, he completed his medical degree followed by residencies in family and emergency medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. In 2025 he obtained his MBA from Queen’s and Cornell Universities.

Dr. Froh has enjoyed his clinical practice of emergency and trauma care as Attending Emergency Physician and Attending Trauma Service Physician in the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Surgery with the Saskatchewan Health Authority in Saskatoon.

Dr. Froh joined the STARS team in 2012 as a transport physician and medical director of the then newly opened Saskatoon base, helping to ensure the clinical care and movement of critically ill and injured patients throughout the province.

He moved into the role of Chief Medical Officer for STARS in 2022 playing an integral role in enhancing the clinical and education practice at STARS.
Dr. Froh has enjoyed contributing to leadership teams throughout his career; prior to him joining STARS, he was the Deputy Chief Medical Officer with the Saskatchewan Health Authority and previously as Area Chief of Staff in Saskatoon.

In 2021 he received the prestigious Dr. Dennis A. Kendel Distinguished Service Award for outstanding contributions to physician leadership and to physician engagement in quality improvements in health care in Saskatchewan.

When not helping to save lives, Dr. Froh loves spending time his wife and three children on his acreage. He enjoys basketball, outdoor cooking and is a car enthusiast.

Capt(N) Greg Haley joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1997 through the Medical Officer Training Plan. Since completing his residency in Family Medicine through Dalhousie University in 1999, he has served in as a medical officer and Base Surgeon at various Canadian Forces bases including St.-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Gagetown and Ottawa. His operational experience including two tours on OP PALLADIUM (Bosnia-Hercegovina), sea duty on OP SEXTANT (North Atlantic and Mediterranean) as Squadron Medical Officer, OP ATHENA (Afghanistan) as Battlegroup Medical Company Commander, and OP LASER (Pandemic) as Task Force Surgeon Domestic.

Qualified as a Flight Surgeon and Diving Medical Officer, following his deployment to Kandahar, he served at the Canadian Forces Health Services Training Centre as a company commander and the school’s medical director, helping to create the Advanced Medical Officer Course. Completing a posting as Regional Surgeon East (Quebec), 2013-2015, he was posted to Canadian Forces Health Services Headquarters in Ottawa, where he has served as Senior Staff Officer to the Surgeon General, Senior Staff Officer for Health Services Governance and as the Royal Canadian Navy Command Surgeon. He was promoted to his current rank in 2020 and appointed Director of Force Health Protection. He has since served as Chief of Staff Clinical Services, 2022-2024, and assumed his current duties as Canadian Army Command Surgeon in Jun 2024.

Committed to life-long learning, Capt(N) Haley is currently a part-time student at the Royal Military College of Canada. His academic interests include policy development, organizational design, and health system integration. He enjoys the study of military and medical history, and he has formerly served as a Director of the Royal Canadian Medical Service Association.

David Jerome is a CCFP(EM) trained Emergency Physician working full time with the Canadian Armed Forces. He was the founding president of the Canadian Association of Wilderness Medicine, and continues to serve on the Association’s Board of Directors. He is in the process of completing a Masters in Disaster Medicine. His research interests focus on the management of trauma in austere conditions, and triage during mass casualty incidents.

Sean has made of career balancing work as a rural and remote emergency physician with expedition medicine and outdoor pursuits. He has climbed and worked widely across North and South America, Africa, Europe and Asia. He is Associate professor of emergency medicine at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine University, Chief of Staff at Lake of the Woods District Hospital, and Northern Medical Director at Ornge Transport.

Brodie Nolan is an emergency physician and trauma team leader at St. Michael’s Hospital and a transport medicine physician for Ornge. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto and Director of FIRST60: Prehospital, Trauma, Resuscitation Sciences at Unity Health Toronto. Dr. Nolan also Chairs the Research and Scholarly Activities Committee at Ornge. He is the PI on the SWiFT Canada study, exploring the efficacy of whole blood in the Canadian prehospital environment.

25 years ago, in a Twin Otter at 10 000’, with a crashing patient & frozen IV lines, Dr. Kavi Singh learned 2 things:
1. Body heat & armpits were ineffective at thawing IV lines at -30C
2. His training had not set him up for success in the harsh reality of austere
medical care in N. Quebec.

Subsequent attempts to find solutions using the medical training paradigms of the day resulted in little change and large frustration.

An epiphany occurred when he realized that, for high stress situations, his sport training in white water kayaking and combat sport was much more structured than his medical training.

Spurred on by his need to get better or get out, he applied performance training principles from sport, aviation and music to acute care medicine.

The dramatic success of this cross disciplinary exchange led to the realization that for performance under pressure, 'This was the Way’.

Taking these lessons to heart, after working for 15 years, Kavi returned to residency for an EM fellowship, with the primary goal of advancing and modernizing acute care education.

Kanwal is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Trauma and Critical Care Surgery at St. Michael’s Hospital/University of Toronto, a Defense Scientist with the DRDC and holds a Fellowship with the Canadian Blood Services. He is also a medic with the Canadian Armed Forces. Kanwal completed his PhD in Medical Sciences, specializing in thrombosis and hemostasis at McMaster University. His PhD studies focused on understanding the biochemistry and structural biology of clotting proteins.

Dr. Joan Saary is the Director of the Division of Occupational Medicine in the University of Toronto’s Department of Medicine. With unique expertise in aerospace and dive medicine she consultants to various organizations including the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Space Agency. She is spearheading Aerospace Medicine training initiatives.

Dr. Bruce Sawadsky is the Chief Medical Officer at Ornge and has over 20 years of experience within the Ontario provincial air ambulance program. His primary focus is clinical care provided in austere environments, such as transport and disaster medicine, as well as the measurement of quality of care and simulation-based training.