William Ross MacBrien

{{Short description|Canadian Air Force officer (1913–1986)}}

{{Infobox military person

|name= William Ross MacBrien

|birth_date=1913

|death_date= 1986

|birth_place=

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|image= AVM W R MacBrien.jpg

|caption= Air Vice-Marshal MacBrien

|nickname=

|allegiance= {{flag|Canada|1921}}

|serviceyears= 1935 to 1969

|rank= Air Marshal

|branch= {{air force|Canada|1924}}

|commands=

|unit=

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}}

Air Marshal William Ross MacBrien, OBE, CD, RCAF (1913–1986), commonly known as Bill MacBrien or Iron Bill, was a senior Royal Canadian Air Force officer during World War II and a senior commander in the 1950s and 60s.

MacBrien was born in 1913{{Cite web|url=http://www.interment.net/data/canada/ontario/ottawa/beechwood/|title = Beechwood Cemetery, Ottawa, Ontario}} in the United Kingdom. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1935 and during World War II he commanded a Canadian fighter sector in continental Europe. In the early 1950s, he was a senior staff officer at the Headquarters of Canada's Air Defence Command in Saint-Hubert, Quebec before being appointed to further staff duties at No. 4 ATAF at Lansberg in Germany.{{cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1953/1953%20-%200530.html |title=squadron {{!}} air station {{!}} air force {{!}} 1953 {{!}} 0530 {{!}} Flight Archive |website=www.flightglobal.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103100022/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1953/1953%20-%200530.html |archive-date=2012-11-03}}

In September 1958 MacBrien took over as Air Officer Commanding Air Defence Command.{{cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1958/1958-1-%20-%200285.html?search=MacBrien |title=flying wing {{!}} sea vixen {{!}} 1958 {{!}} 1- - 0285 {{!}} Flight Archive |website=www.flightglobal.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103100744/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1958/1958-1-%20-%200285.html?search=MacBrien |archive-date=2012-11-03}} Deputy commander in chief at the SHAPE HQ in Belgium in 1967. From August 1967 to January 1969 MacBrien was the Deputy Commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).{{cite book |last1=Veale |first1=Thomas F. |title=Guarding What You Value Most: North American Aerospace Defense Command, Celebrating 50 Years |year=2008 |publisher=Government Printing Office |isbn=978-0-16-080436-6 |page=49}}

MacBrien died in 1986.