Command team of Maritime Forces Pacific

Rear-Admiral Robinson grew up in Hudson Québec. He began his military career in the Canadian Army Reserves as a Combat Engineer serving in the 3rd Field Engineer Regiment in Montréal. He subsequently joined the Royal Canadian Navy and underwent Naval Warfare Officer training aboard patrol craft, mine-sweepers, and destroyers before volunteering for the silent service.

He served aboard the Canadian submarines Onondaga, Ojibwa, Victoria, Corner Brook, Windsor, and the British submarine Unseen. He was privileged to command Corner Brook between 2007 and 2009. During this command tour, in addition to normal fleet duties, Corner Brook deployed to the Canadian North for Operation Nanook and the Caribbean Sea to conduct a counter-drug patrol as part of Operation Caribbe. In recognition of its outstanding contribution to Canadian sovereignty, Corner Brook was awarded the Canadian Armed Forces Unit Commendation in 2008.

Rear-Admiral Robinson was appointed as the inaugural Commander Submarine Sea Training in 2011 and served in that role until 2014. He was delighted to be appointed as Commander of the Canadian Submarine Force and Commander 4th Maritime Operations Group in 2017 and relinquished the appointment two years later. Feeling fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve as the Commander Canadian Fleet Atlantic between 2021 and 2022, he was appointed Commander Maritime Forces Pacific & Joint Task Force Pacific in May 2022.

His ashore assignments have included the Joint Command and Staff Programme at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, the Naval Command College at the United States Naval War College in Rhode Island, and serving three times on the Naval Staff, initially as the Submarine Requirements Section Head, next as the Director of Naval Requirements, and most recently as the Director General Naval Force Development.

Rear-Admiral Robinson is a graduate of the Royal Norwegian Navy’s Submarine Command Course, the United States Navy’s Submarine Command Course, and the Royal Australian Navy’s Submarine Executive Officer Course. He holds a Master of Business from the University of Ottawa, a Master of Defence Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada, a Bachelor of Commerce from Concordia University, and a Certificate in Fire Service Leadership from Dalhousie University.

Chief Petty Officer 1st Class Arvid Lee was born and raised in Saskatoon, Sask., and joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1991. He has had an extremely rewarding and successful career in the Royal Canadian Navy as a Naval Combat Information Operator (NCIOP) and within his new occupation, CPO1/CWO Corps.

Starting in 1992, upon completion of his QL3 course, his first posting was to Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Restigouche for a small time prior to being posted to HMCS Yukon until decommissioning in 1993. A mariner at heart, most of his career has been at sea, conducting several operational deployments to the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, South America, Atlantic and Indo-Asia-Pacific.  His missions included enforcing United Nations’ sanctions against Iraq, counter-terrorism operations in the Persian Gulf region, two deployments to South America to operate with the Chilean, Peruvian and Ecuadorian navies, participation in piracy disruption patrols in the Arabian Sea, and Operation Projection and Operation Neon in 2018 where he participated in exercises with allied nations and United Nations’ sanctions against North Korea.

One of the most memorable highlights in his career includes being a member of the commissioning crew of HMCS Calgary, circumnavigating the globe and taking HMCS Calgary on the first deployment overseas as a young Leading Seaman in 1995.  He finally had the honour of returning to HMCS Calgary between 2017 and 2019, serving as the Coxswain.

CPO1 Lee has occupied positions ashore, including Senior Instructor at Canadian Forces Fleet School Esquimalt, a French Language student in 2013 at the Language Training Division, Personnel Coordination Center (Pacific), and Honours and Recognition Coordinator for Maritime Forces Pacific and Joint Task Force Pacific. In July 2022, CPO1 Lee was named Maritime Forces Pacific Formation Chief Petty Officer 1^st Class.

Away from the military, CPO1 Lee is extremely active within his community participating in local events. Between 1995 and 2000, CPO1 Lee saw the need and seized the opportunity to provide sports for children within the local military community. Starting a Little League Sports program and coordinating his efforts with several outside agencies, he was able to provide soccer, softball and T-ball for the military families within the western communities of Victoria. Since 2006 he has volunteered as a foster parent and respite provider where he and his family open their home to help families whose children and adults have developmental disabilities.

In 2018 CPO1 Lee was invested into the Order of Military Merit. The success of CPO1 Lee’s career could not have been possible without the support of his wife, Lisa, and their three children Alexandria, Kaleb and Meghan. They all currently reside in Langford, B.C.

A native of Kitchener Ontario, Commodore (Cmdre) Mazur enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces on completion of High School, completing his Basic Officer Training in Chilliwack, BC in December 1988.

Following training ashore and at sea, Cmdre Mazur went on to specialize in Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), in Her Majesty’s Canadian (HMC) Ships Skeena and Gatineau.

After instructing ashore, and fulfilling various sea going positions, Cmdre Mazur was posted to the West Coast to join HMCS Regina as the Operations Officer for a deployment to the Middle East. Successfully challenging his Command Board during this period, Cmdre Mazur was employed in the Pacific Coast Fleet Staff, before returning to sea in 2006 as the Executive Officer in HMCS Vancouver.

In 2007, he was promoted to Commander, and after a short period in Maritime Forces Pacific Headquarters (MARPAC HQ), he was posted to Canberra Australia to attend the Australian Command and Staff College where he also completed a Master of Maritime Studies from the University of Wollongong. Upon graduation, he and his family were posted to Ottawa where he served as the Senior Staff Officer Maritime in the Canadian Special Forces Command (CANSOFCOM) HQ.

Cmdre Mazur returned to the Navy fold in January 2012 and assumed Command of HMCS Vancouver. After a short but intense 18 months of sailing, he relinquished Command of the ship and assumed Command of Sea Training Pacific. Promoted to the rank of Captain(N) in May 2015, Cmdre Mazur assumed the duties of N3/J3 in MARPAC/Joint Task Force (Pacific). In September 2016, Cmdre Mazur was posted to Ottawa as the Director Strategic Plans within the Strategic Joint Staff. In 2018, Cmdre Mazur was posted to Halifax, where he spent the next two years as the commander of Canada’s largest base.

Most recently, Cmdre Mazur graduated the year-long National Security Programme (NSP) designed to prepare selected military, public service, international and private-sector leaders for future leadership responsibilities.

Promoted on completion of the NSP course in June 2021, and supported by his wife and two sons, Cmdre Mazur assumed Command of Canada’s Pacific Fleet based in Esquimalt in August 2021

Chief Petty Officer 1st Class (CPO1) David Bisal enrolled in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in June 1990 in Victoria, BC, as a Boatswain. Throughout the early years of his career, he predominantly served on the west coast abord various ships, including His Majesty’s Canadian Ships (HMCS) Saskatchewan, Chaleur, Winnipeg, Huron and Protecteur. While on HMCS Protecteur, he deployed to the Arabian Sea for Operation ALTAIR.

He also served two shore postings in Esquimalt as a seamanship instructor.

In 2009 CPO1 Bisal was promoted to CPO2 and had his first posting in Ottawa at the Canadian Operational Support Command (CANOSCOM) Headquarters as a level 0 tasker. In 2011 he returned to Esquimalt as the Chief Boatswain Mate of HMCS Regina, where he deployed for nine months to the Arabian Sea on Op ARTEMIS. Following this deployment, he completed SLT and served as Chief Boatswain Mate of Sea Training Pacific and as Coxswain of Patrol Craft Training Unit.

Bisal was promoted to his current rank of CPO1 in 2016 and returned to Ottawa to join the staff of the Commander of the RCN in the O&E section. In 2018 CPO1 Bisal was lucky enough to be selected as Coxswain of HMCS Regina, during which he completed another Op ARTEMIS deployment to the Arabian Sea. In 2020 CPO1 Bisal was posted as Assistant Judge Advocate General Pacific.The following year, he assumed the position of Coxswain Sea Training Pacific, and in 2022, was appointed Fleet Chief Petty Officer of the Canadian Pacific Fleet.

CPO1 Bisal lives in his hometown of Victoria BC with his wife Jo-Lee, son Owen and daughter Evangeline. In his spare time, he likes to spend time with his family when he is not on one of the many golf courses in the Victoria area.

Captain(N) Kevin Whiteside was born in Scarborough, Ontario on 12 March 1979. He joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1998, graduating in 2002 from the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario. He was first commissioned as an Infantry Officer but medically transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in 2004. He is the father of three awesome children, and married to his life partner, Lesley Whiteside, an elementary school teacher in Victoria, BC.

Since joining the Fleet in 2005, Kevin has served on many different ships in his roles as Frigate Navigator, Fleet Navigation Instructor, Deep Draft Navigator, Operations Room Officer, Operations Officer Sea Training (Pacific), and in his various Command roles. His operational experiences span the globe and many of the missions in which the RCN participate, including Operations Altair, Artemis, Active Endeavour, Caribbe, Projection, Reassurance, and Neon.

Kevin’s Command level appointments have included Executive Officer (XO) His Majesty's Canadian Ship (HMCS) Winnipeg (October 2014 - May 2016), XO Sea Training (Pacific) (June 2016 - December 2017), Executive Secretary to the 35th and 36th Commanders of the RCN (January 2019 - December 2020), and most recently, Commanding Officer, HMCS Vancouver (January 2021- February 2023).

Kevin has a Masters degree in Military and Defence Studies from the Australian National University and is a graduate of the Australian Command and Staff College. His amazing family has been active members of the Greater Victoria community for over 15 years. They look forward to furthering their involvement and strengthening their relationships with the community as they enter this next stage of their journey.

Chief Petty Officer 1st Class (CPO1) Susan ‘Sue’ Frisby was born and raised in Corner Brook, NL. She joined the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) at the age of 18 in January 1998, as a Tactical Acoustic Sonar Operator. She completed her Basic Training in Saint-Jean, QC and her initial Operator training in Victoria, BC, before being posted to her first ship, His Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Huron, in the fall of 1998.

CPO1 Frisby has served in various roles both ashore and at sea. A sailor first, she has spent much of her career onboard ships, serving on both Iroquois Class destroyers (HMCS Huron and Algonquin) and Halifax-class frigates (HMC Ships Ottawa, Calgary, Vancouver, Regina, and Winnipeg).

In 2002, she sailed onboard HMCS Ottawa in support of anti-terrorism operations in the Persian Gulf, during Operation APOLLO. Maintaining an impressive level of fitness, she has been a ship’s diver and boarding party team member. When not posted to a ship, she has proven her ability as both an Instructor at the Canadian Forces Fleet School (CFFS) and an Analyst at the Acoustic Data Analysis Centre (ADAC).

Throughout her career CPO1 Frisby has continually challenged herself by taking on increasingly difficult positions.  In June 2018 she was promoted to CPO2, which saw her head back to HMCS Ottawa for a third time as the Operations Chief, a role she considers one of the highlights of her career.

In 2019, she left the ship and joined the CFB Esquimalt Base Command Team as Deputy Base Chief Petty Officer, a challenging role especially during the continuous adjustments of public health orders and restrictions during the pandemic.

CPO1 Frisby was promoted to her current rank in May 2021 and appointed to the position as the Unit Chief Petty Officer of MARPAC HQ in June. Her time there was short, as in February 2022 she achieved a milestone every naval chief strives for by becoming the Coxswain of a warship, HMCS Winnipeg. That posting saw her travel the world, once again, as Winnipeg deployed overseas to the Indo-Pacific in support of Operation PROJECTION where she supported the objectives of the Government of Canada and the 250 personnel, she had the pleasure of calling family for six months. In July of 2023, she was appointed to her current position of Base Chief CFB Esquimalt.

CPO1 Frisby is actively supported by her husband Aaron, daughter Mackenzie and son Jaxson.  Together they enjoy spending time as a family, taking full advantage of the West Coast Lifestyle through various outdoor activities.