Special Ops: The Pioneers Part 3: Somalia, JTF2, and the Birth of SOF Aviation – Todd O’Malley

Colonel Todd O’Malley continues our four-part journey through the history of Canadian tactical and special operations aviation. In Part 3, Todd recounts flying the CH-135 Twin Huey in Somalia, where severe brownouts made every takeoff and landing dangerous, and an unexpected mission gave him his first experience supporting U.S. special operations forces.

Todd also reflects on the Somalia Affair, its painful aftermath and the difficulty of returning home from a deployment overshadowed by scandal. He then takes us inside the earliest days of JTF2—from flying with the RCMP and becoming the unit’s first Air Liaison Officer to developing new helicopter insertion tactics at Dwyer Hill. The episode explores the people, missions and “refuse to lose” culture that helped transform a fragile domestic counterterrorism capability into the foundation of modern Canadian special operations aviation.

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CHAPTERS

(00:00:00) Introduction and Welcome

(00:01:57) Somalia with 427 Squadron

(00:05:58) The Danger of Dustballs

(00:10:51) A Helicopter Crash in a Dustball

(00:13:21) A First Taste of Special Operations