Volume 16, issue 8
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Editor/Publisher | Scott Taylor |
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Categories | Military, news, history |
Frequency | Monthly |
Circulation | 30,000 |
Year founded | 1988 |
Company | Esprit de Corps |
Country | Canada |
Based in | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
Language | English |
Website | www |
Esprit de Corps is a Canadian military magazine operating out of Ottawa, Ontario, by publisher and former soldier Scott Taylor. The magazine reports on Canada and international military issues, politics, military history and current events. Esprit de Corps was originally designed to be an in-flight reading magazine in 1988 for passengers on Canadian Forces aircraft. Each issue features "On Target", an article written by Scott Taylor about current events. The magazine features a letter to the editor section where readers may comment on earlier issues, as well as a "hit and miss" page of short articles on current events. The magazine also features sections on military history such as "The Fight for Canada" and Les Peate's "The Old Guard."
Esprit de Corps boasts such influential subscribers as former Chief of Defence Staff General Rick Hillier, former Minister of National Defence Gordon O'Connor, Chief of the Land Staff Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie, former Air Command Lieutenant-General Steve Lucas and Canadian Senator Colin Kenny.
Esprit de Corps was first created in 1988 by Scott Taylor and his wife Katherine Taylor. The idea for the magazine began during a flight from Canadian Forces Base Lahr (CFB) to Germany, when the couple noted that Canadian Air Force planes lacked any on-board entertainment system or reading material. Scott and Katherine Taylor submitted their proposal — which was eventually accepted — to create an in-flight magazine for the Canadian Forces five passenger aircraft.
In the première issue of Esprit de Corps, Taylor explained the purpose of the publication: "By focusing on the past and present accomplishments of the Canadian Forces, it is our aim to contribute to the 'esprit de corps' that has made the Canadian military one of the finest professional armed forces in the world today." The content began as a bilingual seatback magazine, designed with many illustrations and small articles that provided entertainment and reading for the aircraft passengers.
Due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Canadian government's subsequent downsizing of its military expenditures, the Canadian Forces were experiencing budget cuts and changing the way in which their personnel would be transported. This affected Esprit de Corps drastically, as Canadian Forces personnel would now be transported on flights chartered by Air Canada. Because of the loss of its Canadian Air Force distribution and the cost-cutting atmosphere of the military community, the Taylors decided to convert their magazine to a newsstand monthly.