“It was a complete surprise,” said the Royal Canadian Air Force’s Colonel Chris McKenna, who completed his tour as commander of Task Force Mali on January 25, 2019.

Colonel McKenna handed over command of the Operation Presence Task Force to Colonel Travis Morehen during a transfer of command authority ceremony held at Camp Castor in Gao, Mali.

But unbeknownst to Colonel McKenna, an addition had been made to the ceremony: Lieutenant Colonel René Le Noble, commander of the Dutch contingent in Mali, co-located with the Canadians at Camp Castor, presented Colonel McKenna with the Dutch Medal of Merit in Bronze.

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