The Command Team

Lieutenant-Colonel (LCol) Mike Onieu joined the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in 1993 in Regina, Saskatchewan (home of the Roughriders). 

He attended CMR St. Jean and graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 1998 as an Armoured Officer posted to Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) in Edmonton, Alberta.  

LCol Onieu has served four tours on Regimental duty in various line and staff positions: Tank Troop Leader in C Squadron, Regimental Training Officer, Assistant Adjutant, Battle Captain and Second in Command A Squadron, Officer Commanding B Squadron and Regimental Second-in-Command.  

He has deployed on operations with the 1st Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Battle Group in Kosovo as the tank troop leader in 1999, the 1st Battlion Royal Canadian Regiment Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team in Afghanistan as the Operations Officer in 2009, and with MONUSCO HQ on Operation CROCODILE in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo in 2014.

His service outside the Strathcona’s includes postings to The South Alberta Light Horse in Medicine Hat as the Regimental Support Staff Officer, the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Center in Wainwright as Exercise Plans Officer and then Adjutant, 3rd Canadian Division Headquarters in Edmonton as G3 Operations, and the Chief Force Development Group in Ottawa.  Most recently, he served as the Base Commander of Canadian Forces Base Suffield.  

LCol Onieu is a graduate of the British Joint Command and Staff College’s Advanced Command and Staff Course. He holds a Masters in Defense Studies from King’s College London and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Royal Military College of Canada.  

LCol Onieu returned to The South Alberta Light Horse as the Commanding Officer on 18 October 2020.

LCol Onieu’s immediate family includes his amazing and talented wife Carolyn, their son Edan and their daughter Aurora, a Siamese cat and one very rambunctious dog.   

CWO Marcel Chenier, who began his military career in 1989, is originally from Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. 

 After completing basic training at Canadian Forces Recruiting School Cornwallis, and trades training at Combat Training Centre Gagetown, he arrived at the Armoured Regiment of the Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians).   

A career “Strathcona”, over the next thirty years, CWO Chenier has served in every Squadron within the Regiment, and in all capacities, typical of an armoured soldier.  These included all crew positions, as well as crew commander of numerous Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFV’s), Troop Warrant Officer, Squadron Quarter-Master, Squadron Sergeant-Major, and Technical Quarter-Master Sergeant.

His postings include the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps School (RCACS), where he was employed as an Instructor on courses ranging from DP1 (recruits) to DP4 (sergeant-majors), and covering all aspects of gunnery, driving and mechanics, crew commanding and leadership.  He also spent time with the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre (CMTC) as an Observer Controller Trainor (OCT).  where he assisted in the mentoring and development of soldiers and senior leadership.  CWO Chenier was both promoted to his current rank, and appointed as the Base Regimental Sergeant-Major (BRSM) of CFB Suffield in June 2019.  At the end of this tenure, he component transferred from the Regular Force to the Primary Reserve and was appointed as the RSM of the South Alberta Light Horse effective 10 September 2022. 

CWO Chenier’s operational experience is a mix of international and domestic Aid to Civil Power deployments, such as: Op MARQUIS in Cambodia 1993; Op CAVALIER in Bosnia 1994; Op ASSISTANCE to the Winnipeg flood of 1997; Op PALLADIUM in Bosnia for 1997, 2000, and 2002; Op GRIZZLEY G-8 Summit in 2002; Op PEREGRIN for BC wildfires in 2003; Op ATHENA in Afghanistan 2009; Op LUSTRE of the Manitoba flood of 2011; Op LENTUS 13-1 for the South Alberta flood of 2013; and Op LENTUS 18-03 for the BC flood of 2018.

CWO Chenier is married to Erin, and they are blessed with three children who are all either tenaciously stubborn or stubbornly tenacious, only time will tell.