Commander of the Canadian Army

Commander of the Canadian Army and Chief of the Army Staff
Flag of the Chief of Staff of the Canadian Army
Canadian Army
Type	Commissioned Officer
Status	Currently constituted
Abbreviation	CCA
Reports to	Chief of the Defence Staff
Deputy	Deputy Commander of the Canadian Army

The Commander of the Canadian Army (French: commandant de l'Armée canadienne) is the institutional head of the Canadian Army. This appointment also includes the title Chief of the Army Staff (French: chef de l'état-major de l'Armée) and is based at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario.

History of the position

Prior to 1904, militia land forces in Canada were commanded by British Army senior officers appointed as General Officer Commanding the Canadian Militia.^[1] British regular forces in the Dominion had their own commander until the withdrawal of the last British garrison in 1906. In 1903–1904, Canada's Army embarked on a new period of modernization that included the creation of a new office of Chief of the General Staff. Eighteen officers held the position between 1904 and 1964. The last of these, Lieutenant General Geoffrey Walsh, officially stood down the appointment on 31 August 1964 following the official integration of the three armed services into a single Canadian Armed Forces. Following the unification of Canada's military forces^[2] in February 1968, the majority of Canada's land element was assigned to the newly created Mobile Command and the senior Canadian army officer was then known as Commander of Mobile Command from 1965–1993. The command was renamed Land Force Command and the senior Canadian army officer was known as Chief of the Land Staff from 1993–2011.^[3] In 2011 Land Force Command was officially re-designated as the Canadian Army, at which time the appointment was also renamed Commander of the Canadian Army to reflect these organizational changes.^[4]

Commanders

General Officer Commanding the Canadian Militia

1. Lieutenant-General Sir E.S. Smyth 1875–1880
2. Major-General R.G.A. Luard 1880–1884
3. Major-General Sir F.D. Middleton 1884–1890
4. Major General The Rt Hon Lord Treowen 1890–1895
5. Major-General Sir W.J. Gascoigne 1895–1898
6. Major-General Sir E.T.H. Hutton 1898–1900
7. Major-General R.H.O. Haly 1900–1902
8. Major-General The Rt Hon Earl of Dundonald 1902–1904

Chief of the General Staff

1. Major-General Sir P.H.N. Lake 1904–1908
2. Major-General Sir W.D. Otter 1908–1910
3. Major General Sir C.J. Mackenzie 1910–1913
4. Major-General Sir W.G. Gwatkin 1913–1919
5. General Sir A.W. Currie 1919–1920*
6. Major-General Sir J.H. MacBrien 1920–1927
7. Major-General H.C. Thacker 1927–1928
8. Major-General A.G.L. McNaughton 1929–1935
9. Major-General E.C. Ashton 1935–1938
10. Major-General T.V. Anderson 1938–1940
11. Lieutenant-General H.D.G. Crerar 1940–1941
12. Lieutenant-General K. Stuart 1941–1943
13. Lieutenant-General J.C. Murchie 1944–1945^[5]
14. Lieutenant-General C. Foulkes 1945–1951
15. Lieutenant-General G.G. Simonds 1951–1955^[6]
16. Lieutenant-General H.D. Graham 1955–1958^[7]
17. Lieutenant-General S.F. Clark 1958–1961
18. Lieutenant-General G. Walsh 1961–1964

• The position of Chief of the General Staff was renamed "Inspector-General and Military Counsellor" between 1919 and 1920.

Commander of Mobile Command

1. Lieutenant-General J.V. Allard 1965–1966^[8]
2. Lieutenant-General W. Anderson 1966–1969^[9]
3. Lieutenant-General G. Turcot 1969–1972^[10]
4. Lieutenant General W. Milroy 1972–1973^[11]
5. Lieutenant-General S. Waters 1973–1975^[12]
6. Lieutenant-General J. Chouinard 1975–1977^[13]
7. Lieutenant General J.J. Paradis 1977–1981^[14]
8. Lieutenant-General C.H. Belzile 1981–1986^[15]
9. Lieutenant-General J. Fox 1986–1989^[16]
10. Lieutenant General K. Foster 1989–1991^[17]
11. Lieutenant-General J. Gervais 1991–1993^[18]

Chief of the Land Staff

1. Lieutenant-General G. Reay 1993–1996
2. Lieutenant-General M. Baril 1996–1997
3. Lieutenant General W. Leach 1997–2000
4. Lieutenant-General M. Jeffery 2000–2003
5. Lieutenant-General R. Hillier 2003–2005
6. Lieutenant-General M. Caron 2005–2006
7. Lieutenant-General A. Leslie 2006–2010
8. Lieutenant-General P. Devlin 2010–2011

Commander of the Canadian Army

1. Lieutenant-General P. Devlin 2011–2013
2. Lieutenant-General M. Hainse 2013-2016
3. Lieutenant-General P.F. Wynnyk 2016 to present

See also

• Chief of the Defence Staff, the second most senior member of the Canadian Forces after the Commander-in-Chief
• Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, institutional head of the Royal Canadian Navy
• Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, institutional head of the Royal Canadian Air Force

References

1. British Strategic Withdrawal from the Western Hemisphere, 1904–1906 University of Toronto Press
2. Integration and Unification of the Canadian Forces Archived January 15, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
3. Chasing the Silver Bullet: the Evolution of Capability Development in the Canadian Army by Major Andrew B. Godefroy CD, Page 59
4. Canadian Navy, Air Force 'Royal' Again With Official Name Change Huffington Post, 15 August 2011
5. CANADA SHIFTS STAFF; Maj. Gen. J.C. Murchie New Chief at Home Headquar... – Free Preview – The New York Times
6. NewspaperARCHIVE.com – Search old newspaper articles online
7. Canadian Ex-Private Is New Chief of Staff – Free Preview – The New York Times
8. Generals.dk
9. Seventh Generation
10. Lieutenant-General Gilles Turcot, C.M., C.M.M., CD
11. Death Notice: Lieutenant General William Alexander Milroy
12. The Alberta Soldier: Answering the call of duty
13. VI Commandant of CMR: 1968–1970
14. To serve Canada: a history of the Royal Military College since the Second World War By Richard Arthur Preston, Page 130
15. Biography: Lt Gen Charles Belzile
16. Karlheinz Schreiber
17. An expedient re-organisation: The NDHQ J-staff system in the Gulf War
18. Northern Gold Press Release

External links

• The Armed Forces of Canada 1867–1967 p. 270