Key Appointments
- Colonel-in-Chief - His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent, GVCO, CD
- Honorary Colonel - Joseph Ouellette
- Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel - Lauren Bradley
- Commanding Officer - Lieutenant-Colonel Gord Prentice, MB, CD
- Deputy Commanding Officer- Major Sean Wilkins, CD
- Regimental Sergeant Major - Chief Warrant Officer Jeremy Clark, CD
- Pipe Major - Corporal Alex Rocheleau
- Regimental Major - Major (Retired) Greg Childs, CD, ESM
HRH Prince Michael of Kent, GVCO, CD
Prince Michael entered the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst in January 1961 and was commissioned into the 11th Hussars (Prince Albert’s Own), a cavalry regiment in the British Army, in 1963. He saw service in Germany, Hong Kong and Cyprus where his squadron formed part of the UN peacekeeping force in 1971. Subsequent tours of duty, during a military career that spanned twenty years, included a number of appointments on the Defence Intelligence Staff.
A keen sportsman, Prince Michael represented the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in rowing, and was part of the team that won the Maiden Fours at Bedford in 1961. He is now Patron of the Thames Rowing Club. Prince Michael represented Great Britain as a bobsleigh driver for many years and was a reserve for the 1972 Olympics. As a vintage car enthusiast, he was part of the team in 1992 that broke the 1,000-mile record for cars over 5,000cc in a 1929 Bentley Special. A competitive rally driver, he is also a qualified pilot of both fixed wing aircraft and helicopters.
Prince Michael of Kent has been Colonel-in-Chief of the Essex and Kent Scottish since 14 November 2001. He first visited his Regiment in Canada in March 2002 with subsequent visits in October 2007 and June 2009. He also attended with unit members at Dieppe, France in August 2012 for the 70th Anniversary of the Dieppe Raid. On 19 October 2015 in London, UK he was presented with his Canadian Forces Decoration (CD) for 12 years of service in the Canadian Forces by LCol J. Hodgins. His appointment follows that of his father HRH Prince George, Duke of Kent (1937-1942) and his mother HRH Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (1942-1968).
Prince Michael married Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz in Vienna in 1978. Their son Lord Frederick Windsor is an Executive Director at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, and their daughter Lady Gabriella Windsor is a Writer.
Visit His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent online at https://princemichael.org.uk/.
Honorary Colonel Joseph Ouellette
Joseph Ouellette is a lifelong resident of Essex County/Windsor Ontario. He is President and Chair of the Board of Acrolab Ltd, a heat transfer engineering company. His day-to-day role is Chief Technology Officer. Mr Ouellette attended The Western Ontario Institute of Technology with a concentration in electronics. He grew Acrolab from a small local process controls service company to its current position as a leading international research and development engineering company participating in projects worldwide in the heat transfer sector.
A firm believer in volunteerism, Mr. Ouellette has been a Scoutmaster, Venture advisor, Rover skipper, business mentor and educator. In the early 1970s, he worked with the Addiction Research Foundation as a group leader using the Scouts Canada model for teaching life skills to multiple drug dependent homeless adolescents. In the 1980s, as a member of the Chamber of Commerce he created and lead a highly successful program to enhance Windsor retail merchants marketing to combat cross border shopping. In response to US trade protectionism, Mr. Ouellette created and was the founding president of the Windsor Association of Mold Makers which grew to become the current national Canadian Association of Mold Makers. In his capacity as president, Mr. Ouellette testified before the US Trade Representative senate panel in Washington, DC to successfully argue Canada?s case in an unfair trade action brought by US mold makers.
Mr. Ouellette was the first Executive-in-Residence at the Odette School of Business, University of Windsor in 2002-2003 where he taught marketing and presentations skills symposiums at the MBA level. He was also guest lecturer at the Faculty of Education and the School of Nursing. He has lectured in Business English at the Lublin Business School in Lublin, Poland.
Mr. Ouellette was honoured with both The President's Medal, City of Lublin as well as the Medal of The Lublin Union, Provence of Lubelski for his work in twinning the cities of Lublin, Poland and Windsor, Ontario. He is also a recipient of the Clark Award, University of Windsor for his volunteer work associated with that institution.
Mr. Ouellette was the inaugural Officer Commanding Delta Company from 2003 to 2005, a group of civilians volunteers whose prominence in the community assists The Essex and Kent Scottish and informs the community on the virtues of the Regiment. Mr. Ouellette was appointed by the Minister of National Defence on 01 November 2017 as the Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel of the Regiment for a three-year term then in 2022 appointed as the Honorary Colonel for three years.
He resides in Windsor and has three adult children and two grandchildren.
Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel Lauren Bradley
Biographical information is not available at this time.
Lieutenant-Colonel Gord Prentice, MB, CD
Lieutenant-Colonel Gord Prentice began his military career while attending high school in Chatham joining the local Army Cadet Corps (#59) in 1978 followed by The Essex and Kent Scottish in 1980. Following completion of infantry training and the basic parachute course he transferred to the Regular Force in September of 1983 and was subsequently commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and posted to 3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment (3 RCR) Winnipeg in September 1984. He deployed on UN operations to Cyprus in 1986 as a platoon commander on the "Green Line"; he was awarded the Medal of Bravery for actions while on patrol in Nicosia. Returning to Canada, he was promoted to Captain and posted to Hamilton in 1987 as the Regular Force advisor to the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry. In 1990 a posting to London saw him assigned to HQ 1 RCR followed in 1991 by a posting to CFB London. After a short stint as a Military Observer in El Salvador, he left the Regular Force in 1993 transferring briefly to the Primary Reserves (4 RCR) before accepting overseas civilian employment with the UN.
In 1997 he rejoined The Essex and Kent Scottish and soon deployed as part of the 1 RCR Battle Group to Bosnia in 1998. Soon after returning to Canada saw completion of his Bachelor's degree requirements (Political Science) at UWO. After a leave of absence from the Primary Reserve to again accept UN civilian employment, he started long-term Class B (full-9time Reserve) service with The Essex and Kent Scottish in 2000. Promoted to Major, a tour to Afghanistan followed in 2003. On return to Canada, a new Class B was taken up at 31 Canadian Brigade Group (CBG) HQ in London where he was employed, with the exception of a Military Observer task to Sudan in 2007, in various staff capacities until 2010. Transferring back to the Regular Force, Maj Prentice was posted to what is now called Canadian Army Doctrine and Training Centre in Kingston and assigned to work on capability development issues related to the Canadian Arctic. In 2011 he was posted back to London as G3 of 31 CBG HQ where he remained until retiring from the Regular Force in 2016. He was then employed as a Reserve member of 31 CBG HQ assigned to specific planning functions primarily related to the Canadian Arctic until assuming command of The Essex and Kent Scottish on 28 September 2019.
He is married to Sanja whom he met in Zagreb, Croatia while working for the UN. They have two daughters, Maya 10 and Emma 9, attending primary school in London. A recent graduate of the Joint Command and Staff Programme, he is currently completing the final requirements necessary for award of the Master of Defence Studies at Royal Military College.
Major Sean Wilkins, CD
Biographical information is not available at this time.
Chief Warrant Officer Jeremy Clark, CD
Biographical information is not available at this time
Pipe Major (Cpl) Alex Rocheleau
Biographical information is not available at this time.
Major (Retired) Greg T. Childs, CD, ESM
Born and raised in Chatham, Ontario Major Childs attended the John McGregor Secondary School, joining their Cadet Corps at an early age. On the recommendation of his father, an Essex Scottish WWII veteran, he joined The Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment (E&K Scot). As a Master Warrant Officer, he joined the Regular Army with the rank of Lieutenant for a limited engagement, then transferred back into E&K Scot. Major Childs has held the appointments of Platoon Commander, Company Commander, Regimental Major and Deputy Commanding Officer. For many years he was the CO's representative on the Regimental Association Board of Directors. Major Childs has completed 44 years of service with E&K Scot and retired in August 2010.
After 33 years service, he is a retired Detective from London Police Force as a Forensic Identification expert investigating homicides and other major crimes. He was a bomb-disposal Sergeant for 20 years, instructing frequently at the Canadian Police College. Police Sergeant Childs was the protocol officer for London Police.
He is married with two adult children.