Roy Slemon
| Charles Roy Slemon | |
|---|---|
Air Marshal Roy Slemon
|
|
| Born |
7 November 1904 Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Died | 12 February 1992 (aged 87) Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs |
| Allegiance |
 Canada
|
| Service/branch |
 Royal Canadian Air Force
|
| Years of service | 1922–1964 |
| Rank | Air Marshal |
| Commands held | Western Air Command Training Command |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards |
Companion of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Canadian Forces Decoration |
Air Marshal Charles Roy Slemon, CB, CBE, CD (7 November 1904 – 12 February 1992), known as Roy Slemon, was the Royal Canadian Air Force's Chief of the Air Staff from 1953 to 1957. In 1957 he was appointed as the first Deputy Commander of NORAD.
Slemon joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1922. After an early military career flying Vickers Vedettes, he served as Senior Staff Officer and then as the Commander of Canada's Western Air Command from 1938 to 1941. After a posting to the United Kingdom, Slemon became Senior Air Staff Officer at No. 6 (Canadian) Bomber Group in 1942. During the last year of World War II, Slemon was Deputy Air Officer Commander-in-Chief of the RCAF Overseas.
Slemon became Air Officer Commanding Training Command at CFB Trenton in 1949, Chief of the Air Staff in 1953 and Deputy Commander in Chief of NORAD in 1957.
On 5 October 1960, warning lights in Cheyenne Mountain Complex indicated that the BMEWS site in Thule, Greenland was detecting a possible ICBM attack. On the five-position scale, the reports were level three, requiring Cheyenne to contact NORAD headquarters, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Canadian Chiefs of Staff Committee, and Strategic Air Command (SAC). The commander on duty at that time was Colonel Robert Gould, whose first call was to NORAD's commander General Laurence Kuter, who was at that time flying and could not be contacted.
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