Major General Michel Natali, a Watertown native, served as senior U.S. advisor to Canadian military command

Natali, an Immaculate Heart Central High School graduate and 10th Mountain Division veteran, served with Canadian Joint Operations Command in Ottawa in 2023

Watertown, New York (02/27/2024) — Major General Michel Natali, a Watertown native who serves as the assistant adjutant general, Army, for the New York National Guard, spent six months serving as the American military advisor to the head of Canadian Joint Operations Command last year.

During his 36-year career, Natali-a graduate of Immaculate Heart Central High School-was stationed in Germany and with the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum where he deployed to Haiti, and Somalia. He also deployed to Iraq in 2005 as deputy intelligence officer for the New York National Guard's 42nd Infantry Division.

His parents Franco and Giuseppa Natali, still live in Watertown.

Last year, he added Ottawa, the capital of Canada, to the list of places he's served.

From July to December 2023, Natali, was assigned as an advisor to Vice Admiral Robert Auchterlonie, Commander of the Canadian Joint Operations Command.

Canada's Joint Operations Command, according to the Canadian Department of National Defence, "leads most Canadian Armed Forces operations in Canada, North America and around the world."

It's like taking all 11 American worldwide combatant commands -and the National Guard- putting one commander in charge of everything, Natali said.

His role in that headquarters was to advise and assist Canadian partners on integration of US military capability with a focus on preparedness and response events impacting the Canadian-US border regions.

The Canadians, he explained, wanted an American general officer serving in the Joint Operations Command headquarters to ensure smooth coordination and cooperation with the United States Northern Command and the rest of the U.S. military.

Natali commanded at the battalion, brigade, and general officer levels before moving into his current full-time role as the Assistant Adjutant General.

In that position, he oversees operations of the 11,000 Soldiers of the New York Army National Guard on behalf of the adjutant general.

At the Canadian Joint Operations Command his role was to link the Canadians with the U.S. military.

"If we could facilitate or we could bring some resources to bear, how could we help?" he explained.

For example, although the Canadian military wants to increase its Arctic presence, they don't have large ski-equipped planes to move troops and equipment there. So, they ask for U.S. support for those exercises, Natali said.

The New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing, which flies the LC-130 ski-equipped Hercules transport, and the 105th Airlift Wing, which flies the C-17 Globemaster III, have both participated in Canadian Arctic exercises and support.

His other role was to keep U.S. Northern Command informed about issues that Canadian Joint Forces Command was involved with, Natali said.

While he was there, wildfires in the Canadian north were a significant issue for the Canadian military, Natali said. When the Canadian provinces or territories needed federal help fighting major forest fires they turned to the Canadian Forces, he explained.

Other key issues the operations command worked on during his tenure were sourcing a Canadian-led NATO brigade force in Latvia and assisting the British Army in training Ukrainian troops in the United Kingdom, Natali said.

The best part of his six-month mission was seeing the Canadian military in action, Natali said.

Natali had a chance to see operations and visit troops around Canada, ranging from the Canadian naval base in Halifax to the Canadian Forces Station Alert, the northernmost inhabited place globally.

The U.S. military counts on the Canadians to keep an eye out on what happens in the Arctic, and Alert plays a key role, he said.

Natali said he noticed many opportunities for the National Guard to conduct joint training with the Canadians.

The Vermont and Maine Army Guards have good relationships with the Canadian Army Reserve, and Canadian Forces personnel train regularly at Michigan's Camp Grayling, he said.

There are also opportunities for the New York Army Guard, Natali said.

For example, New York's 53rd Digital Liaison Detachment, which specializes in linking U.S. forces to coalition partners during corps-level operations, is planning to take part in a Canadian division-sized command post exercise, Natali said.

"The opportunities exist there to partner more," Natali said.

Along with the joint missions conducted with the New York Air Guard's airlift wings, a Canadian contingent serves alongside New York Air Guardsmen assigned to the Eastern Air Defense Command in Rome.

There could be new training opportunities with the New York Air Guard now that the Royal Canadian Air Force is acquiring a version of the MQ-9 Reaper that the New York Air Guard has been operating for 14 years, he said.

New York's 107th Attack Wing and 174th Attack Wing, based in Niagara Falls and Syracuse, respectively, are close enough to Canadian bases to provide training opportunities, Natali said.

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