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.

Commander of the Canadian Army and Chief of the Army Staff
Incumbent Lieutenant General Wayne Eyre since 20 August 2019
Canadian Army
Type	Commissioned Officer
Status	Currently constituted
Abbreviation	CCA
Reports to	Chief of the Defence Staff
Term length	At Her Majesty's pleasure
Precursor	Chief of the Land Staff
Deputy	Deputy Commander of the Canadian Army
Website	Official website

History of the position

Prior to 1904, militia forces in Canada were commanded by senior British Army 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. From 1903 to 1904, the Canadian Army embarked on a new period of modernization that included the creation of a new office of Chief of the General Staff. Between 1904 and 1964, eighteen officers held the position of Chief of the General Staff, with the last of these, Lieutenant General Geoffrey Walsh, having officially stood down the appointment on 31 August 1964 following the official integration of the three armed services into a single Canadian Armed Forces.[2]

Following the unification of Canada's military forces[3] in February 1968, the majority of Canada's land element was assigned to the newly created Force Mobile Command and the senior Canadian army officer was then known as Commander of Mobile Command from 1965 to 1993. The command was renamed Land Force Command and the senior Canadian army officer was known as Chief of the Land Staff from 1993 to 2011.[4] Land Force Command was officially re-designated as the Canadian Army in 2011, at which time the appointment was also renamed Commander of the Canadian Army to reflect this.[5]

Appointees

Flag of the Chief of the General Staff

The following table lists all those who have held the post of Commander of the Canadian Army or its preceding positions. Ranks and honours are as at the completion of their tenure:[6]

No.	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office
General Officer Commanding the Canadian Militia
1		Lieutenant-General Sir E.S. Smyth (1819–1896)	1875	1880	4–5 years
2		Major-General R.G.A. Luard (1827–1891)	1880	1884	3–4 years
3		Major-General Sir F.D. Middleton (1825–1898)	1884	1890	5–6 years
4		Major-General The Rt Hon Lord Treowen (1851–1933)	1890	1895	4–5 years
5		Major-General Sir W.J. Gascoigne (1844–1926)	1895	1898	2–3 years
6		Major-General Sir E.T.H. Hutton (1848–1923)	1898	1900	1–2 years
7		Major-General R.H.O. Haly (1841–1911)	1900	1902	1–2 years
8		Major-General The Rt Hon Earl of Dundonald (1852–1935)	1902	1904	1–2 years
Chief of the General Staff
1		Major-General Sir P.H.N. Lake (1855–1940)	1904	1908	3–4 years
2		Major-General Sir W.D. Otter (1843–1929)	1908	1910	1–2 years
3		Major-General Sir C.J. Mackenzie (1861–1956)	1910	1913	2–3 years
4		Major-General Sir W.G. Gwatkin (1859–1925)	1913	1919	5–6 years
5		Major-General Sir A.W. Currie (1875–1933) ("Inspector-General and Military Counsellor")	1919	1920	0–1 years
6		Major-General Sir J.H. MacBrien (1878–1938)	1920	1927	6–7 years
7		Major-General H.C. Thacker (1870–1953)	1927	1929	1–2 years
8		Major-General A.G.L. McNaughton (1887–1966)	1929	1935	5–6 years
9		Major-General E.C. Ashton (1873–1957)	1935	1938	2–3 years
10		Major-General T.V. Anderson (1881–1972)	1938	1940	1–2 years
11		Major-General H.D.G. Crerar (1888–1965)	1940	1941	0–1 years
12		Lieutenant-General K. Stuart (1891–1945)	1941	1943	1–2 years
13		Lieutenant-General J.C. Murchie (1895–1966)	1944	1945	0–1 years
14		Lieutenant-General C. Foulkes (1903–1969)	1945	1951	5–6 years
15		Lieutenant-General G.G. Simonds (1903–1974)	1951	1955	3–4 years
16		Lieutenant-General H.D. Graham (1898–1986)	1955	1958	2–3 years
17		Lieutenant-General S.F. Clark (1909–1998)	1958	1961	2–3 years
18		Lieutenant-General G. Walsh (1909–1999)	1961	1964	2–3 years
Commander of Mobile Command
1		Lieutenant-General J.V. Allard (1913–1996)	1965	1966	0–1 years
2		Lieutenant-General W. Anderson (1915–2000)	1966	1969	2–3 years
3		Lieutenant-General G. Turcot (1917–2010)	1969	1972	2–3 years
4		Lieutenant-General W. Milroy (1920–2006)	1972	1973	0–1 years
5		Lieutenant-General S. Waters (1920–1991)	1973	1975	1–2 years
6		Lieutenant-General J. Chouinard (1922–2008)	1975	1977	1–2 years
7		Lieutenant-General J.J. Paradis (1928–2007)	1977	1981	3–4 years
8		Lieutenant-General C.H. Belzile (1933–2016)	1981	1986	4–5 years
9		Lieutenant-General J. Fox	1986	1989	2–3 years
10		Lieutenant-General K. Foster (born 1938)	1989	1991	1–2 years
11		Lieutenant-General J. Gervais (born 1938)	1991	1993	1–2 years
Chief of the Land Staff
1		Lieutenant-General G. Reay (1943–2000)	1993	September 1996	2–3 years
2		Lieutenant-General M. Baril (born 1943)	September 1996	September 1997	1 year
3		Lieutenant-General W. Leach (1942–2015)	September 1997	August 2000	2 years, 11 months
4		Lieutenant-General M. Jeffery	August 2000	May 2003	2 years, 9 months
5		Lieutenant-General R. Hillier (born 1955)	May 2003	4 February 2005	1 year, 9 months
6		Lieutenant-General M. Caron (born 1954)	4 February 2005	June 2006	1 year, 3 months
7		Lieutenant-General A. Leslie (born 1957)	June 2006	June 2010	4 years
8		Lieutenant-General P. Devlin	June 2010	21 July 2011	1 year, 1 month
Commander of the Canadian Army and Chief of the Army Staff
1		Lieutenant-General P. Devlin	21 July 2011	July 2013	1 year, 11 months
2		Lieutenant-General M. Hainse (born 1964)	July 2013	January 2016	2 years, 6 months
3		Lieutenant-General P.F. Wynnyk (born 1964)	January 2016	16 July 2018	2 years, 6 months
4		Lieutenant-General J. Lanthier	16 July 2018	20 August 2019	1 year, 1 month
5		Lieutenant-General W. Eyre	20 August 2019	Incumbent	1 year, 5 months

See also

• Chief of the Defence Staff, the second most senior member of the Canadian Armed 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 Archived 2012-07-20 at Archive.today University of Toronto Press
2. "Lieutenant-General Geoffrey Walsh". Army cadet history. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
3. Integration and Unification of the Canadian Forces Archived January 15, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
4. Chasing the Silver Bullet: the Evolution of Capability Development in the Canadian Army by Major Andrew B. Godefroy CD, Page 59
5. Canadian Navy, Air Force 'Royal' Again With Official Name Change Huffington Post, 15 August 2011
6. "List of commanders of the Army". Government of Canada. Retrieved 14 March 2020.

External links

• Official website